The Sergeant Floyd Monument is a monument on the
Missouri River at
Floyd's Bluff
Floyd's Bluff is a hill in southern Sioux City, Iowa that is named for Sergeant Charles Floyd.
Floyd, who was the quartermaster for the Lewis and Clark Expedition's Corps of Discovery, was the only fatality during the expedition. The bluff ...
in
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...
, US. The monument honors
Charles Floyd, 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 ...
, who died on the upstream voyage in 1804 and was buried here.
The monument is the first designated
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
of the United States.
History
Charles Floyd (1782–1804) was a United States
explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
, a non-commissioned officer and
quartermaster
Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...
in 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 ...
. A native of
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
, he was a relative of
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 ...
. He was one of the first men to join the expedition.
While exploring the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
with Lewis and Clark, Floyd took ill at the end of July 1804. On July 31, Floyd wrote in his diary, "I am very sick and has been for sometime but have recovered my health again." However, this apparent recovery was soon followed by a severe turn for the worse. William Clark described his colleague's death as one "with a great deal of composure", and said that before Floyd died, he told Clark: "I am going away. I want you to write me a letter." The sergeant died on August 20. The expedition held a funeral and buried Floyd on a bluff overlooking the
Missouri River; they named it Floyd's Bluff in his honor.
Clark diagnosed Floyd's illness as
bilious colic, though modern doctors and historians agree Floyd's death was more likely to have been caused by a ruptured
appendix. The brief "recovery" Floyd described may have represented the temporary relief afforded by the bursting of the organ, which would have been followed by a fatal
peritonitis
Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part or ...
. In those days, appendicitis was almost invariably fatal; while appendectomies had been performed as early as 1735, they were extremely hazardous and agonizing, and unfamiliar to most doctors of the era.
By 1857,
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...
had caused much of Floyd's grave—even the original
cedar post marker left by the crew of the expedition—to slide into the river and wash away. Concerned citizens rescued most of his skeleton, including his skull, and re-buried it 200 meters east of the original burial site. A forensic reconstruction of Sgt. Floyd's probable facial appearance based on a plaster cast of his skull is on display at the
Sergeant Floyd Riverboat Museum in Sioux City.
After Floyd's expedition journal was published in 1894, new interest was taken in him and his remains were buried again on August 20, 1895, the anniversary of his death. Sioux City residents Thomas J. Stone, John H. Charles, George D. Perkins, C. R. Marks, and G. W. Wakefield established the Floyd Association to erect a monument.
It took five years to raise $20,000 and development began in May 1900 with the pouring of a concrete base.
Floyd's remains were reinterred for the final time on August 20, 1900, the anniversary of his death. The obelisk of white sandstone standing high was completed on May 30, 1901. In 1960, the monument was recognized by the
U.S. Department of Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the man ...
as the first
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on June 30, 1960.
[. ]
The Floyd Monument is now within a park that overlooks the Missouri River valley.
Floyd's final resting place is located on old
U.S. Highway 75
U.S. Route 75 is a major north–south U.S. Highway that extends in the central United States. The highway's northern terminus is in Noyes, Minnesota, at the Canadian border, where it once continued as Manitoba Highway 75 on the other sid ...
, in the southern part of Sioux City,
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
.
See also
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Iowa
The List of National Historic Landmarks in Iowa contains the landmarks designated by the U.S. Federal Government for the U.S. state of Iowa.
There are 27 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in Iowa.
;Key
Current NHLs
...
*
References
* ''The Definitive Journals of Lewis and Clark: John Speedway and Charles Floyd''
External links
Sergeant Floyd MonumentGeorge Catlin's 1832 painting of "Floyd's Bluff"Floyd Biography
{{NRHP in Woodbury County, Iowa
National Historic Landmarks in Iowa
Buildings and structures in Sioux City, Iowa
National Register of Historic Places in Sioux City, Iowa
Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
Monuments and memorials in Iowa
Tourist attractions in Sioux City, Iowa
1901 sculptures
Obelisks in the United States
1901 establishments in Iowa