Pompeys Pillar National Monument is a rock formation located in south central

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Designated a National Monument on January 17, 2001, and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in conjunction with The Friends of Pompeys Pillar, it consists of only , making it one of the smallest National Monuments in the U.S. The community of Pompeys Pillar lies just east of the monument.

History

It was previously designated a

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 ...

on July 25, 1965. The new Pompeys Pillar Interpretive Center opened in 2006. Exhibits in the 5,700-square foot center relate the journey of Captain William Clark and his detachment, including Sacagawea and her son

Pomp Pomp or pomps may refer to: * POMP, a proteasome maturation protein * Pomp, Kentucky, a community in the United States * Pomps, a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France * ''Pompḗ'' ( el, πομπή, link=no), ...

, down the Yellowstone River Valley in 1806. The pillar itself stands 150 feet (45 m) above 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 a ...

and consists of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

from the late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

Hell Creek Formation The Hell Creek Formation is an intensively studied division of mostly Upper Cretaceous and some lower Paleocene rocks in North America, named for exposures studied along Hell Creek, near Jordan, Montana. The formation stretches over portions of ...

, 75 – 66 million years ago. The base of the pillar is approximately . The pillar features an abundance of Native American petroglyphs, as well as the signature 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 Miss ...

, co-leader 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 gr ...

. Clark's inscription is the only remaining physical evidence found along the route that was followed by the expedition. The inscription consists of his signature and the date, July 25, 1806. Clark wrote that he climbed the sandstone pillar and "had a most extensive view in every direction on the Northerly Side of the river". He named the outcropping after Jean Baptiste Charbonneau—the son of expedition member Sacagawea—whom he nicknamed "Pompey". His original name for it was "Pompey's Tower"; it was changed to the current title in 1814. Situated 25 miles (40 km) northeast of

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

, along Interstate 94, the pillar gets 50,000 visitors annually. Archeological evidence suggests that the outcropping has been witness to 11,000 years of human involvement in the area. Consequently, in addition to the pictographs and the signature of William Clark, hundreds of other people have carved their initials into the rock, including early pioneers to the area.

References

External links

* * * * {{authority control National Monuments in Montana Bureau of Land Management National Monuments Bureau of Land Management areas in Montana Archaeological sites in Montana Lewis and Clark Expedition Hell Creek Formation Native American history of Montana Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana National Historic Landmarks in Montana 2001 establishments in Montana Protected areas established in 2001 Units of the National Landscape Conservation System National Register of Historic Places in Yellowstone County, Montana Federal lands in Montana Cultural depictions of Sacagawea

History

See also

References

External links