Last updated: November 27, 2020
Place
Bellefontaine Cemetery
Quick Facts
Location:
4947 West Florissant Avenue St. Louis, Missouri
MANAGED BY:
Lewis and Clark NHT Visitor Centers and Museums
Visitor Centers (shown in orange), High Potential Historic Sites (shown in black), and Pivotal Places (shown in green) along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
Bellefontaine Cemetery contains the grave site of William Clark, who died in St. Louis on September 1, 1838. Located in the northern part of the cemetery above Meadow Lane and near the Broadway Avenue entrance is a 35-foot tall granite obelisk on a pedestal. At the base is a bust of Clark with the inscription: “William Clark – Born in Virginia August 1, 1770 – Entered Into Life Eternal September 1, 1838 – Soldier, Explorer, Statesman, and Patriot – His Life Is Written in the History of His Country.”
Clark, aged 69, died at the home of his eldest son, Meriwether Lewis Clark. He was buried in the family tomb at the farm of his nephew John O’Fallon, a wealthy St. Louis businessman. In the 1850s, after Bellefontaine Cemetery opened, Clark’s sons bought a large family plot on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. The graves of William Clark, his wife Harriet, and several of their children were moved to the new cemetery. The memorial was unveiled in 1904 during the centennial of the expedition with funds donated by Clark’s youngest son, Jefferson Clark. Despite a family endowment, by the late 20th century the grave site had fallen into disrepair. Clark’s descendants raised $100,000 to rehabilitate the obelisk and celebrated the rededication with a ceremony on May 21, 2004, the bicentennial of the start of the expedition.