Clark is a community located approximately 30 miles (50 km) north of

Cody Cody may refer to: People *Cody (given name) *Cody (surname) * Cody (wrestler), a ring name of Cody Runnels Places Canada *Cody, British Columbia United States * Cody, Florida *Cody (Duluth), Minnesota *Cody, Missouri *Cody, Nebraska *Cody, Wyo ...

Wyoming Highway 120 Wyoming Highway 120 (WYO 120) is a state highway in central Hot Springs and eastern Park County, Wyoming that travels northwest to Montana Highway 72 at the state line. Route description Wyoming Highway 120 begins its east end in Thermopolis ...

, in Park County,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, United States. Clark is unincorporated, and has no specific central "town site" per se, or town services. It is included in the Powell Zip Code area, which is approximately 30 miles (50 km) away, but has no other formal connection to Powell except the school district. Clark is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

with close relationships among the roughly 300 full-time residents (who share approximately of real estate). Residents are a mix of farmers (irrigation water from local creeks and rivers), ranchers, and retirees who come to the area for the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere. Otherwise those working generally have employment in Powell or Cody. There is an elementary school in Clark, which is part of Park County School District #1 in Powell, but most junior high and high school students bus to Powell and the rest to

Belfry, Montana Belfry is a census-designated place (CDP) in Carbon County, Montana, United States. It is part of the Billings, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 218 at the 2010 census. It is located approximately from the Wyoming border ...

. Clark borders the

Shoshone National Forest Shoshone National Forest ( ) is the first federally protected National Forest in the United States and covers nearly in the state of Wyoming. Originally a part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, the forest is managed by the United States ...

, state, and

BLM BLM most commonly refers to: * Black Lives Matter, an international anti-racism movement and organization * Bureau of Land Management, a U.S. federal government agency BLM may also refer to: Organizations * BLM (law firm), United Kingdom and ...

-administered lands and Clark's Fork River/Canyon, making it a prime area for the outdoor enthusiast. Winters are moderately mild, with elevation averages of approximately . The area is semi-arid high desert sagebrush plains with little rain or snowfall, averaging less than 10" per year, as the bordering mountains squeeze much of the moisture from the atmosphere. It was a wintering area for Indian tribes in the 19th century, due to the milder temperatures, relative lack of snow, abundant sunshine and game animals.

Tipi ring Tipi rings are circular patterns of stones left from an encampment of Post-Archaic, protohistoric and historic Native Americans.Cassells, Steve. (1997). ''The Archaeology of Colorado.'' Boulder: Johnson Books. pp. 224-227. . They are found primar ...

s can be found in the area.

History

John Colter John Colter (c.1770–1775 – May 7, 1812 or November 22, 1813) was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806). Though party to one of the more famous expeditions in history, Colter is best remembered for explorations he made ...

, a member of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

, and later well known mountain man, broke off from the expedition on the return trip in 1806, explored the Yellowstone area, and spent a winter near the future Clark.

Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa ...

of the

Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

, running from the US Army in 1877, came through the area, and out the mouth of Clark's Fork Canyon on his way to Canada. There was a battle between General

Nelson A. Miles Nelson Appleton Miles (August 8, 1839 – May 15, 1925) was an American military general who served in the American Civil War, the American Indian Wars, and the Spanish–American War. From 1895 to 1903, Miles served as the last Commanding Gen ...

and some Bannock Indians along Little Rock Creek. The creek was named for one of the scouts involved in that battle. For a thorough narrative and analysis of the battle, see Walpole, Kyle BENNETT BUTTE: "BIVOUAC OF THE DEAD" A Narrative of Miles' Fight on the Clark's Fork and Analysis of a Monumental Historical Mystery. Orig 1998. Digital iBooks publication 2013. Bennett Creek is named for a Captain Bennett who was killed in the engagement. Part of the saga of Earl Durrand, outlaw and backwoodsman, was played out in Clark. Clark plus the Clark's Fork of the

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountains an ...

were named for

William Clark William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Misso ...

, of the

Wildlife

The area is home to

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

antelope,

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

and whitetail deer,

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

and

grizzly The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

bear, Rocky Mountain Goats, and

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

. Some

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

also live in and along the nearby mountains, as well as

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

and

mountain lions The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Clark has a

warm-summer humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Clark was on July 26, 1985, while the coldest temperature recorded was on December 21, 1990.

References

External links

Clark Resource Council

Map of Clark, WY
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Park County, Wyoming Unincorporated communities in Wyoming