January 2003 will begin the 200 anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The celebration is 2 years long. One of the men who made the expedition across the western part of our country was a black man named York. He was a slave of Lewis. Without York the expedition would have failed for he had an aptitude for learning Indian languages and the Indians trusted him. Because of his hair texture he was called "Buffalo hair" by the Indians. I am hoping that the A.M.E churches will do research and share information about York in our communities. For a lot of money is being spent on this celebration. It is important that the African American contribution along with the Indian contributions will be lifted up. God bless and the telling of York's story would be great during Black History month. I wanted to put the information out now so people could think about it in terms of planning for the year.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2002

Answers

Oops actually Clark was the slave holder of York. There is an article about York that can be found at www.montana.edu./wwwpb/univ/york.html The article does not portray the true story of York. I would like someone to do a direct link for me thanks. Denise

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2002

Thanks Rev. Rogers,

Our history is wonderful and too often we have not spent enough time exploring the many wonderful thing we have done.

Lewis, Clark & York Expidition

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2002

Sorry the first link was non-productive so let me try it again, Hope this one works.

Lewis, Clark and York Expidition

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2002

My Sister: So much has been written about this subject. The following link gives what might be the pro-York view.

http://www.lewis-clark.org/YORK/yo_menu.htm

You might try the Google search engine: http://www.google.com and search for "Lewis, Clark, York" That should keep one busy for years just reading all of this.

Be blessed Pastor Paris

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2002

Thank you Robert and Rev. Paris for your help, you would be surprised how many people do not know the story of York. I do not want York to be forgotten and I hope our denomination will lift him up next year. I shared the information about York with Bishop Bryant since the travels of the expedition took place in what is now the fifth district of the A.M.E church. York was a brilliant man and was linguists for he was able to learn various Indian languages. It is important that the contribution of a black man to the Lewis and Clark expedition also be told.

-- Anonymous, July 05, 2002