Pompey's Pillar

After visiting Little Big Horn Battlefield, we drove back towards Billings and headed east for Pompey's Pillar National Monument. We had seen the signs and flag flying on our way into Billings. After reading about it, we decided to drive the 30 miles east of Billings to see the monument. We again "saved" some money with our National Parks and Monuments pass.

The following description comes from the website www.pompeyspillar.org if you would like more information: "Pompeys Pillar bears the only remaining physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which appears on the trail today as it did 200 years ago. On the face of the 150-foot butte, Captain William Clark carved his name on July 25, 1806, during his return to the United States through the beautiful Yellowstone Valley. Captain Clark named the pillar "Pompeys Tower" in honor of Sacagawea's son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, whom he had nicknamed "Pomp." Nicholas Biddle, first editor of Lewis and Clark's journals, changed the name to "Pompeys Pillar."

Native Americans called the pillar "the place where the mountain lion lies." Some observers suggest that a sandstone formation, that is a part of the pillar, which resembles a mountain lion's head, is the reason for the name. Another theory cites live mountain lions being spotted in the area."

The Visitor Center is very well done and has many different displays for viewing as well as a short film on Lewis and Clark. The Visitor Center was a long walk from the truck and the pillar was even farther with something like 100 steps to climb. With my bum foot, I told John I would pass on seeing Clark's signature but by all means he needed to go ahead. The following picture are courtesy of John's trip up to Pompeys Pillar.

"A boardwalk leads to Capt. Clark's signature and to the top of the pillar. Trails lead visitors past a replica of Captain Clark's canoes and to a view of the 670 mile-long Yellowstone River."
William Clark's original signature is protected under glass. Hopefully, you can read his signature and the date of July 25, 1806
Here is a view of the Yellowstone River. John said that you got a full 360 degree view from the top of the pillar.
After visiting Pompey's Pillar, we stopped at a RV dealership to pick up some Protect All for the next time we wash the rig and we refueled in anticipation of our move on to West Yellowstone tomorrow.

While in Custer, we had several severe thunderstorm warnings but tonight we had our first severe thunderstorm alert. The TV was going off every few minutes warning us to take cover, as sky to ground lightning was possible, large hail, strong winds, and heavy rain were coming. This, I must say, is a little disconcerting. We never had any strong winds, some small hail, a little bit of rain, and lightning either south or north of us. It seemed that the storm split as it came over Billings so we were spared any major event. Thank goodness.