Clark is a community located approximately 30 miles (50 km) north of Cody on Wyoming Highway 120, in Park County,

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

, 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 parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

with 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 an unincorporated town, and is part of the Billings, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 218 at the 2010 census. It is located appro ...

. Clark borders the Shoshone National Forest, state, and BLM-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 rings 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; March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, was a leader of the wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) ...

of the

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

, 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 a United States Army officer who served in the American Civil War (1861–1865), the later American Indian Wars (1840–1890), and the Spanish–American War, (1898). From 1895 to 1903 ...

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 the upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountain ...

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 ante ...

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 ...

and whitetail deer,

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second 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. ...

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 horr ...

bear, Rocky Mountain Goats, and

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of Ovis, sheep native to North America. It is named for its large Horn (anatomy), horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates th ...

. Some

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

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

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

and mountain lions.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

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 cold ...

, 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