Beginning of Essay
The names Lewis and Clark have been branded into history, along with Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who helped guide their expedition across the uncharted American continent. How about York? Remember him? If not, you're not alone. York was a slave - the property of ....

Middle of Essay
.... believed to be the first black to cross the American continent. Yet there are no coins or stamps with his image. There is one known statue of York, standing on a bluff at the University of Portland, where he overlooks the long Columbia River valley that stretches to the Pacific. Holmberg says York was a valuable member of the expedition, helping smooth relations with Indian tribes, hunting and sharing the burdens of travel with men who otherwise may not have shared so much as a drink of water with York because of his color. Holmberg is the editor of a collection of letters that Clark wrote his elder brother, Jonathan. The cache, found in 1988 in t ....