View source for Sergeant Floyd Monument

{{Short description|Monument in Iowa, US, to honor Charles Floyd of the Lewis and Clark Expedition}}
{{Use American English|date = December 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = December 2019}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                 = Sergeant Floyd Monument
| nrhp_type            = nhl
| image                = Sergeant Floyd Monument, sunset.jpg
| caption              = Sergeant Floyd Monument, [[Sioux City, Iowa|Sioux City]], Iowa
| location             = S. Lewis Blvd.<br>[[Sioux City, Iowa]]
| coordinates          = {{coord|42|27|45.25|N|96|22|39.08|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin             = Iowa#USA
| area                 =
| built                = Original Memorial: 1804
Current Memorial: 1901
| architect            = Floyd Memorial Association of Sioux City
| architecture         = [[Obelisk]]
| designated_nrhp_type = June 30, 1960<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=227&ResourceType=Structure|title=Sergeant Floyd Monument|accessdate=2007-10-08|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606155558/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=227&ResourceType=Structure|archivedate=2011-06-06}}</ref>
| added                = October 15, 1966<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
| refnum               = 66000340
}}
The '''Sergeant Floyd Monument''' is a monument on the [[Missouri River]] at [[Floyd's Bluff]] in [[Sioux City, Iowa]], US.  The monument honors [[Charles Floyd (explorer)|Charles Floyd]], a member of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]], who died on the upstream voyage in 1804 and was buried here.

The monument is the first designated [[National Historic Landmark]] of the United States.

==History==
Charles Floyd (1782–1804) was a United States [[explorer]], a non-commissioned officer and [[quartermaster]] in the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]]. A native of [[Kentucky]], he was a relative of [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]].  He was one of the first men to join the expedition.

While exploring the [[Louisiana Purchase]] with Lewis and Clark, Floyd took ill at the end of July 1804. On July 31, Floyd wrote in his diary, "I am very sick and has been for sometime but have recovered my health again." However, this apparent recovery was soon followed by a severe turn for the worse.  William Clark described his colleague's death as one "with a great deal of composure", and said that before Floyd died, he told Clark: "I am going away. I want you to write me a letter."  The sergeant died on August 20.  The expedition held a funeral and buried Floyd on a bluff overlooking the [[Missouri River]]; they named it Floyd's Bluff in his honor.

Clark diagnosed Floyd's illness as [[abdominal pain|bilious colic]], though modern doctors and historians agree Floyd's death was more likely to have been caused by a ruptured [[vermiform appendix|appendix]].  The brief "recovery" Floyd described may have represented the temporary relief afforded by the bursting of the organ, which would have been followed by a fatal [[peritonitis]]. In those days, appendicitis was almost invariably fatal; while appendectomies had been performed as early as 1735, they were extremely hazardous and agonizing, and unfamiliar to most doctors of the era.

By 1857, [[erosion]] had caused much of Floyd's grave—even the original [[gravestone|cedar post marker]] left by the crew of the expedition—to slide into the river and wash away.  Concerned citizens rescued most of his skeleton, including his skull, and re-buried it 200 meters east of the original burial site.  A forensic reconstruction of Sgt. Floyd's probable facial appearance based on a plaster cast of his skull is on display at the [[Sergeant Floyd (towboat)|Sergeant Floyd Riverboat Museum]] in Sioux City.

After Floyd's expedition journal was published in 1894, new interest was taken in him and his remains were buried again on August 20, 1895, the anniversary of his death. Sioux City residents Thomas J. Stone, John H. Charles, George D. Perkins, C. R. Marks, and G. W. Wakefield established the Floyd Association to erect a monument.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubs.lib.uiowa.edu/annals-of-iowa/article/id/12888/|title=The Annals of Iowa 6 (1904), p.478|journal=The Annals of Iowa |date=July 1904 |volume=6 |issue=6 |doi=10.17077/0003-4827.3071 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://siouxcityjournal.com/special-section/siouxland_life/floyd-monument-stands-as-testimony-to-historic-expedition/article_b6d4d326-ab04-5a9a-b35d-cecc76e65ffa.html|title=Floyd Monument stands as testimony to historic expedition|last=Journal|first=Sioux City}}</ref> It took five years to raise $20,000 and development began in May 1900 with the pouring of a concrete base.<ref name=":0" /> Floyd's remains were reinterred for the final time on August 20, 1900, the anniversary of his death. The obelisk of white sandstone standing {{convert|100|ft|m|-1}} high was completed on May 30, 1901. In 1960, the monument was recognized by the [[U.S. Department of Interior]] as the first [[National Historic Landmark]].  It was designated a National Historic Landmark on June 30, 1960.<ref name="nhlsum"/><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{Cite journal|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Sergeant Floyd Monument|url={{NHLS url|id=66000340}} |format=pdf|date=July 2, 1975 |author=Stephen Lissandrello |publisher=National Park Service}}. {{NHLS url|id=66000340|title=Accompanying 2 photos, from 1937 and 1964.|photos=y}}&nbsp;{{small|(195&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KiB]])}}</ref>

[[Image:Lewis clark Boyer soldier littlesioux floyd.jpg|thumb|This excerpt from the Lewis and Clark map of 1814 shows the rivers of western Iowa. Floyd's Grave is noted at the left of the map.]]
The Floyd Monument is now within a {{convert|23|acre|m2|sing=on}} park that overlooks the Missouri River valley.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sergeant Floyd Monument (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/sergeant-floyd-monument.htm |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref> Floyd's final resting place is located on old [[U.S. Route 75|U.S. Highway 75]], in the southern part of Sioux City, [[Iowa]].

==See also==
*[[List of National Historic Landmarks in Iowa]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Woodbury County, Iowa]]
* [[Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* ''The Definitive Journals of Lewis and Clark: John Speedway and Charles Floyd'' {{ISBN|0-8032-8021-1}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Sergeant Floyd Monument}}
*[http://www.siouxcityhistory.org/historic-sites/102-sergeant-floyd-monument Sergeant Floyd Monument]
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110526224651/http://www.lewisandclarksiouxcity.com/history.htm Lewis and Clark Trail: Sioux City]}}
*[https://www.nps.gov/places/sergeant-floyd-monument.htm Sgt. Floyd Monument NPS]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060225161551/http://americanart.si.edu/images/1985/1985.66.376_1b.jpg George Catlin's 1832 painting of "Floyd's Bluff"]
*[https://lewis-clark.org/members/charles-floyd/ Floyd Biography]

{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{NRHP in Woodbury County, Iowa}}

[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Iowa]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Sioux City, Iowa]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Sioux City, Iowa]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Iowa]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Sioux City, Iowa]]
[[Category:1901 sculptures]]
[[Category:Obelisks in the United States]]
[[Category:1901 establishments in Iowa]]