Charles Floyd (explorer)
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2008-07-01T11:23:05Z
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Robot - Moving category Deaths of peritonitis to Deaths from peritonitis per [[WP:CFD|CFD]] at [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2008 June 21]].
[[Image:Sergeant Floyd Monument, sunset.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Sergeant Floyd Monument, Sioux City, Iowa]]
[[Image:Lewis clark Boyer soldier littlesioux floyd.jpg|thumb|240px|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.]]
'''Charles Floyd''' (1782 – [[August 20]], [[1804]]) was a [[United States]] [[explorer]], a non-commissioned officer in the [[U.S. Army]], and [[quartermaster]] in the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]]. A native of [[Kentucky]], he was a relative of [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]] and Uncle to the politician [[John Floyd (Virginia politician)|John Floyd]] and brother to [[James John Floyd]]. He was one of the first men to join the expedition.
While exploring the [[Louisiana Purchase]] with Lewis and Clark, he took ill at the end of July 1804. On July 31st, Floyd wrote in his diary, "I am verry sick and has been for Sometime but have Recovered my helth again." However, this apparent recovery was soon followed by a severe turn for the worse. William Clark described Floyd's death as one "with a great deal of composure" and that before Floyd died he said to Clark: "I am going away. I want you to write me a letter."
A funeral was held and Floyd was buried on a bluff overlooking the [[Missouri River]], which the expedition named [[Floyd's Bluff]] in his honor.
Clark diagnosed the condition which led to Floyd's demise 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]]. If that were the case, because there was no known cure for [[appendicitis]] at that time, he would have been no better off had he been with the best [[physician]]s of the day.
==Legacy==
[[Floyd's Bluff]] is currently within the city limits of [[Sioux City, Iowa]]. The [[Sergeant Floyd Monument]] was declared a U.S. [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1960. This monument is now located in a 23 acre park that offers visitors a view of the Missouri River valley. 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]], in the [[United States]].
After Floyd's expedition journal was published in 1894, new interest was taken in him and his gravemarker was stolen by thieves. He was re-buried once more on [[August 20]], [[1895]] with a monument. A marble cornerstone three feet wide and seven feet long was placed in 1900. When the obelisk of white sandstone standing {{convert|100|ft|m|-1}} high was completed on [[May 30]], [[1901]], Floyd's grave was moved for the fourth time to rest nearby, where it remains to this day. 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">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=227&ResourceType=Structure
|title=Sergeant Floyd Monument |accessdate=2008-04-23|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref name="nrhpinv2">{{citation|title={{PDFlink|[http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000340.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Sergeant Floyd Monument]|239 [[Kibibyte|KiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 245155 bytes -->}}|date=July 2, 1975 |author=Stephen Lissandrello |publisher=National Park Service}}. {{PDFlink|[http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/66000340.pdf Accompanying 2 photos, from 1937 and 1964.]|195 [[Kibibyte|KiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 200680 bytes -->}}</ref>
The [[Interstate 129]] bridge between Sioux City and [[South Sioux City, Nebraska]] is named the [[Sergeant Floyd Memorial Bridge]] in his honor.
==References==
{{reflist}}
* ''The Definitive Journals of Lewis and Clark: John Speedway and Charles Floyd'' ISBN 0-8032-8021-1
==External links==
*[http://www.lewisandclarksiouxcity.com/history.htm Lewis and Clark Trail: Sioux City]
*[http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/lewisandclark/ser.htm Sgt. Floyd Monument NPS]
*[http://americanart.si.edu/images/1985/1985.66.376_1b.jpg George Catlin's 1832 painting of "Floyd's Bluff"]
*[http://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=716 Floyd Biography]
[[Category:1782 births|Floyd, Charles]]
[[Category:1804 deaths|Floyd, Charles]]
[[Category:Lewis and Clark Expedition people|Floyd, Charles]]
[[Category:Quartermasters|Floyd, Charles]]
[[Category:People from Kentucky|Floyd, Charles]]
[[Category:Woodbury County, Iowa|Floyd, Charles]]
[[Category:Deaths from peritonitis|Floyd, Charles]]
[[de:Charles Floyd]]
{{Registered Historic Places}}