Focus on Bust of York and discuss the Description.
The bald head, looking down, was created by the artist. There is no contemporary image of York nor any description of him, except that he was a large man.
The bust was deliberately made of perishable materials: wood covered in urethane, which was then painted bronze. A sheet of paper resembling a plaque, attached to a sheet of plywood painted to resemble marble, had a printed message:The first African American to cross North America and reach the Pacific Coast.
Born into slavery in the 1770s to the family of William Clark, York became a member of the 1804 Lewis and Clark Expedition. Though York was an enslaved laborer, he performed all the duties of a full member of the expedition. He was a skilled hunter, negotiated trade with Native American communities and tended to the sick. Upon his return east with the Corps of Discovery, York asked for his freedom. Clark refused his request.The date and circumstances of his death are unclear.
York African American Lewis and Clark Expedition plywood bust