Pompeys Pillar National Monument
On a road trip to North Carolina in April 2014 I stayed overnight in Billings Montana, whilst in my hotel I searched for places of interest nearby which I could use to break up my journey. Pompeys Pillar fit the bill perfectly, located just 30 minutes east of Billings on I-94 and requiring a short walk to reach (this time of year) I decided it would make for a nice morning leg stretcher.
The monument can be reached by car from May to September for a fee of $7 but the rest of the year it is a 'walk in only' venue (though free as a result) There is a parking lot sited a short way west of the main entrance with an information board and a brochure box. The walk is approximately 1km each way with the short ascent of the pillar additional to that.
So it was that I arrived on Friday April 4th 2014 just after sunrise, the frost still clung to exposed wood and grasses and the parking lot was, as I anticipated, empty.
The monument can be reached by car from May to September for a fee of $7 but the rest of the year it is a 'walk in only' venue (though free as a result) There is a parking lot sited a short way west of the main entrance with an information board and a brochure box. The walk is approximately 1km each way with the short ascent of the pillar additional to that.
So it was that I arrived on Friday April 4th 2014 just after sunrise, the frost still clung to exposed wood and grasses and the parking lot was, as I anticipated, empty.
The walk to the pillar passed quickly, I was momentarily entertained by a pair of blackbirds that danced along the barbed wire fence beside the track and by a gaggle of Canada geese who thought it better to walk whilst honking loudly than to simply fly away when I approached.
The pillar itself stands only 150 feet above the nearby Yellowstone river though it's not the actual pillar that I came to see but the engravings upon it. One engraving in particular, that of William Clark, a true explorer who just over 200 years ago with his colleague Captain Meriwether Lewis was the first to map a practical route across the western US via an expedition that took 3 years from 1803 -1806.
The pillar itself stands only 150 feet above the nearby Yellowstone river though it's not the actual pillar that I came to see but the engravings upon it. One engraving in particular, that of William Clark, a true explorer who just over 200 years ago with his colleague Captain Meriwether Lewis was the first to map a practical route across the western US via an expedition that took 3 years from 1803 -1806.
Access to the engravings/carvings is via a well constructed wooden stair complete with non slip surfaces and handrails, and (I suppose as a sign of the times) is overlooked by multiple CCTV cameras
There on the pillar at the very first landing (now protected behind a framed glass screen) is the carving of W Clark dated July 25th 1806. I can't help but admire a man who would spend three years of his life crossing uncharted territory and detailing every aspect of that territory so that others might make the same journey avoiding the pitfalls that the Lewis & Clark Expedition encountered.
It should be said that Clark was no saint, as a slave owner he reportedly dealt very harshly with his slaves, something which cannot be simply "of the times" slave ownership may have been "of the times" but harsh treatment of others is a personal choice that Clark clearly made; it has to be said that it casts a shadow across the achievements of the man.
It should be said that Clark was no saint, as a slave owner he reportedly dealt very harshly with his slaves, something which cannot be simply "of the times" slave ownership may have been "of the times" but harsh treatment of others is a personal choice that Clark clearly made; it has to be said that it casts a shadow across the achievements of the man.
From the tower I can see across the whole site, below in the trees is the ablutions block and in the distance to the right is the visitor centre which remains closed until May. As the sun rises higher it casts long shadows across the frosted surfaces making a beautiful contrast.
As I ascend higher the view of the Yellowstone River opens out showing the route Clark took to reach this point, at over 692 miles in length the Yellowstone River is a significant channel in the western US.
The view from the top of the pillar is no longer that described by Clark in his journal in which he writes of seeing "immense herds of buffalo, elk and wolves" The view now is farmland, railroad and a scattering of buildings however, at sunrise when you are all alone on the summit it is not too difficult to imagine that wonderful sight which greeted Clark as he stood here such a relatively short time ago.
With the exception of a road bridge the views to the north are perhaps unchanged (other than the lack of buffalo, elk and wolves) The Yellowstone River cuts a wide strip through the sandstone rocks as it did when Clark stood here admiring the herds around him.
As I returned along the walkway the sun rose higher and reflected perfectly off the frost covered planks allowing me to make a photo of the bright reflected light cutting through the wooded flanks of the pillar. Though lacking in almost any colour at all it remains my favourite shot from this location.
In the remainder of the 50 acre park is a walkway that runs beside the river and has information boards and replica dug-out canoes along the way, I've got to say that is not something I'd want to spend much time in on a millpond let alone a river.
This shot shows the pillar as you would approach it from the visitor centre having paid your $7 and driven in to the parking lot there, personally I think the short walk adds to the experience of this location, and having it all to yourself on a frosty morning out of season adds to it even further.
As I walked back to the truck the sun rose higher and melted away the frost as I considered Clark the explorer versus Clark the slave owner. For the duration of the expedition Clark had a slave named York along with him, according to Brian Hall writing in Time magazine in June 2002 "York undertook manual labour in extreme conditions yet received no compensation" . It leaves an unresolved conflict of thought on a man who treated the indigenous people he met along the way with great respect and dignity yet treated York with none of either, without Clarks thoughts on the matter ever being recorded in his journals I guess we'll never know why he was that way but it does (for me at least) leave a shadow on his more notable achievements.