President's letter

The Lewis and Clark Expedition is familiar to all school children. President Jefferson had both men organize a group (Corps of Discovery) to explore the Louisiana Purchase. History is filled with odd connections. George Washington’s sister married a man whose surname was Lewis. His second or third cousin was the Lewis who led the expedition with his pal Clark.

Clark brought a slave by the name of York on the expedition. Oddly for the time (1804-1805), York was given the same rights on the trip as any other man. He was often mentioned in the trek's journals. Knowing that part of the Expedition’s purpose was to “discover” unknown species, York kept his eyes open for unusual plants or animals. He carried a rifle (Illegal in some parts of America at the time) and brought down game.

His dark color amazed the indigenous tribes and made them more receptive to the other explorers.  According to Robert Betts in his book In Search of York: The Slave Who Went to the Pacific with Lewis and Clark (2000, Revised edition, University Press of Colorado) memories of York continued in indigenous oral traditions well into the twentieth century.

Back home Clark refused to free York, separated the man from his wife, and claimed later York starved to death when he was free because he could not take care of himself. A more uplifting story came from Zenas Leonard (1809-1857), a mountain man. He traveled west to collect furs. In 1832, he described meeting a large, very old, black man living amongst the Crows. The man did not give his name, but claimed to have come west with Lewis and Clark. Leonard described him in his book as:

                  Quite a considerable character, or chief, in their village; at least he

                  assumes all the dignities of a chief, for he has four wives (Narrative of the

                  Adventures of Zenas Leonard. 1839, page 27)

Many researchers hope this proves York survived and possibly escaped his bondage with Clark and made his own happy ending. I do, too.

Our monthly meeting will be on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at the Center for Spiritual Awareness

522 Central Ave, Pacific Grove, CA. It is across the street from the Pacific Grove Public Library. If you want to help set up, doors open at 5:30. Scotty Cornfield, our Vice-president, will lead a fifteen-minute networking discussion beginning about 6 p.m. Our meeting will start soon after. This month's speaker is Georgia Hughes who will be speaking on What Writers Need to Know about Traditional Publishing and Working with Agents and in-house editors.

Our next Literary Salon is on Sunday, February 23, 2025, at the PG Meetinghouse (formerly known as Juice N’ Java) at 599 Lighthouse Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Bring a piece of writing to share if you want. And meanwhile—

Keep writing,

Sarah E. Pruitt

CCW president