BILLINGS AND THE BIG OPEN - Montana and Wyoming - page 46

Pompeys Pillar National Monument
Twenty-five miles east of Billings is Pompeys Pillar (I-94 exit 23 to 2nd St. S., 406/
875-2400, www.pompeyspillar.org , 8am-8pm daily early May-Sept., pedestrians permitted
dawn-dusk Oct.-Apr., $7/vehicle/day), an age-old landmark that bears the signature of Cap-
tain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Named by Clark for Sacagawea's
son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, nicknamed “Pomp,” the sandstone pillar has a storied his-
tory both before and after Clark signed it on July 25, 1806: There were Indian pictographs
on the 200-foot-tall rock when he first laid eyes on it. In 1873, Custer's troops were camped
opposite the pillar along the banks of the Yellowstone River when they were fired on by
Sioux warriors. When the gate is locked, from October through April, pedestrians can park
along the road and walk the mile from the gate to the pillar.
Every year on the last weekend in July, the Pompeys Pillar Historical Association host
Clark Days (406/967-3281), a celebration of the pillar's past with lively history lectures
and presentations, nature walks, hot meals, and plenty of activities geared toward the whole
family. It is the only night of the year that camping is allowed on the grounds of the pillar,
and no admission fee is charged during the two-day festivities.