22 April ‘09 Wednesday
While walking around Louisville we happened upon a large bronze statue overlooking the Ohio River. "His name was York - just York, nothing more, for he was a slave who had no legal right to own anything, even a last name. York was a slave, the personal body servant of Captain William Clark. York had been born into the Clark household and probably began his service to William Clark as a young boy. They were reported to be about the same age, but York was a servant to young William Clark. When William Clark joined with Meriwether Lewis to search for a route from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, he took his slave with him. York worked alongside the other men. He carried a gun and hunted for food like the others. He shared in the dangers, work, and he traveled to the shore of the Pacific Ocean.
While walking around Louisville we happened upon a large bronze statue overlooking the Ohio River. "His name was York - just York, nothing more, for he was a slave who had no legal right to own anything, even a last name. York was a slave, the personal body servant of Captain William Clark. York had been born into the Clark household and probably began his service to William Clark as a young boy. They were reported to be about the same age, but York was a servant to young William Clark. When William Clark joined with Meriwether Lewis to search for a route from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, he took his slave with him. York worked alongside the other men. He carried a gun and hunted for food like the others. He shared in the dangers, work, and he traveled to the shore of the Pacific Ocean.
York was the only African American member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, served as an equal member of the team, and was granted freedoms and responsibilities beyond anything he had known back East. When the expedition encountered Indians who had never seen a black man before, York was a marvel to them. His black complexion was seen as a mark of great honor. The very thing which marked York as mere property and a slave in the United States was seen as a sign of special worth and dignity by the Natives. The Arikara, for instance, were astonished at the Black man and considered him "big medicine." When the expedition returned to the United States every member received not just the money and land they were promised by the government, but double portions of land and money. Only York received no payment. As a slave, he was owed nothing. All of his work was the property of his master, William Clark. York and Clark soon moved apart and never made contact with each other again. Today was a day we would walk a lot… After taking in the river front, we headed back into town again to check out what Louisville offered for lunch. Bristol’s was going to be our choice, and what a great choice it was… We not only had a great meal, but we had a server that went above and beyond to make us welcome to Louisville. We stopped into a shop just across the street from the restaurant. They had a large display of “Derby Hats”
and we just had to check them out seeing as how the Derby was coming up next week. Located in the heart of historic downtown Louisville, Kentucky, we walked over to the Muhammad Ali Center.
It was set up as a cultural attraction and international education center inspired by the ideals of the hometown hero Muhammad Ali. They put together a great collection of pre-Ali to Ali today. Unfortunately we didn’t have to time to do the center justice, but we sure hope that the next time we get back we will find more time to enjoy it. We had previously made arrangements to view “The Kentucky Story” at the Kentucky Center and Brown Theatre. I was expecting it to be like “Flying Over Washington”, but it really let me down…it would rate “Fair” and barely worth the $6.
OK, our last stop for the day…The Louisville Slugger Museum and manufacturing plant.
OK, our last stop for the day…The Louisville Slugger Museum and manufacturing plant.
Surprising to us it was locate on Main Street, Louisville. Brass commemorative Home Plates were imbedded in concrete just outside of the museum for such baseball greats as Babe Ruth
and softball great Dr. Dot Richardson and others. Inside you could purchase Louisville Bats with your signature etched into it, tour the plant were they spin the bats to perfection, and…for a dollar, you could take swings at 10 balls in the batting cage to see what you could do with a 40mph baseball coming at you.
I must say, it has been a long time since I’ve had a bat in my hand and…I didn’t do too bad at hitting a few back to the fence with some force (I did it twice…).
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