Administered by Bellefontaine Cemetery Association 4947 West Florissant Avenue St. Louis Missouri 63115
Located Bellefontaine Cemetery Burial site of General William Clark, lot #780, block 224 St. Louis Missouri 63115
Date:
1903-1904. Installed 1904
Notes:
Clark, John, 2000.
Inventory staff, 2001.
Image on file.
(On back of bust:) W. Ordway Partridge 1903 (On front of pedestal:) WILLIAM CLARK/BORN IN VIRGINIA/AUGUST 1, 1770/ENTERED INTO LIFE ETERNAL/SEPTEMBER 1, 1838/SOLDIER, EXPLORER,/STATESMAN AND PATRIOT/HIS LIFE IS WRITTEN/IN THE HISTORY OF HIS COUNTRY. (On north side of pedestal:) WILLIAM CLARK RECEIVED HIS COMMISSION AS LIEUTENANT/FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON IN 1791./HE WAS APPOINTED BRIGADIER GENERAL/BY THOMAS JEFFERSON IN 1807, AND REAPPOINTED/AS SUCH BY JAMES MADISON IN 1811./HE WAS MADE GOVERNOR OF MISSOURI TERRITORY BY/THIS PRESIDENT IN 1813, AND RECOMMISSIONED TWICE BY HIM,/BEING AGAIN APPOINTED GOVERNOR BY JAMES MONROE/IN 1820, WHO ALSO MADE HIM SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS IN 1822./HIS GREAT FAME AS AN EXPLORER WAS WON/ON THE EXPEDITION OF 1804-5-6 signed
(On opposite side:) THE EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK ACROSS THE CONTINENT/IN 1804-5-6, MARKED THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS OF/EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION WHICH THRUST OUR NATIONAL/BOUNDARIES TO THE PACIFIC (On left side of granite obelisk:) "BEHOLD THE LORD THY GOD/HATH SET THE LAND BEFORE THEE:/GO UP AND POSSESS IT."/DEUTERONOMY I.XXI. / THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED IN HONOR AND LOVING MEMORY OF/WILLIAM CLARK/BY HIS SON/JEFFERSON KEARNY CLARK
(On left pier:) THIS PRIMARY EXPLORATION THROUGH MORE THAN FOUR/THOUSAND MILES OF SAVAGE WILDERNESS, PLANTED THE FLAG/OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE FIRST TIME ON THE SHORES/OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN. IT COMPLETED THE EXTENSION OF/THE UNITED STATES ACROSS THE VAST WESTERN REGION/OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT AND GAVE US OUR OUTLOOK/TOWARD THE ORIENT
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
The memorial contains a bronze bust of William Clark atop a granite pedestal that stands in front of a granite obelisk. On each side of the obelisk there are three steps that lead to the back of the memorial. Flanking the steps are rectangular stone piers, one featuring a relief carving of a grizzly bear head, and the other featuring a relief carving of a lion's head.
