William Clark (explorer) - Legacy and Honors

Legacy and Honors

• In 2001, President Bill Clinton elevated Clark to the rank of Captain in the US Army posthumously. Descendants of Clark were there to mark the occasion.

• 2004 rededication of the obelisk: Although his family had established endowments to maintain his grave site, by the late 20th century, the grave site had fallen into disrepair. His descendants raised $100,000 to rehabilitate the obelisk. They celebrated the rededication with a ceremony May 21, 2004, on the bicentennial of the start of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The ceremony was attended by a large gathering of Clark's descendants, reenactors in period dress, and leaders from the Osage Nation and the Lemhi band of the Shoshone.

• The western American plant genus Clarkia (in the evening primrose family Onagraceae), is named after him, as are the cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki), and Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), a large passerine bird, in the family Corvidae. All were species which Clark identified during the expedition. The Clark's grebe "Aechmophorus clarkii" was not named for William Clark, but for J.H. Clark who collected the first specimen.

• He is included on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
• Counties were named in his honor in the following states: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, and Washington.
• The Clarks River in western Kentucky is named for him, as is the Clark Fork in Montana and Idaho, and the Clarks Fork Yellowstone River in Montana and Wyoming.
• Two US Navy Vessels have been named in honor of Clark; the Polaris nuclear submarine USS Lewis and Clark and the supply ship USNS Lewis and Clark were named for him and Lewis.
• The Clark Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge across the Mississippi River between West Alton, Missouri and Alton, Illinois, was named after him.
• Lewis and Clark Community College in Metro East was named for the explorers.
• Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon was named after Lewis and Clark.