On this day in 1808, the 38-year-old explorer, Captain William Clark (left) married 17-year-old Julia Hancock in Fincastle, Virginia.
Clark first met Julia when she was 14 while he was visiting William Preston, Jr., a friend from their service together in the Indian Wars. Preston was married to Julia’s older sister, Caroline.
Julia’s family was a Who’s Who of early Virginia. Her father, Colonel George Hancock, (right) a successful planter and lawyer, served in the House of Representatives and an uncle, John Strother, was an explorer and map maker, having surveyed North Carolina and Tennessee.
At the time of the Louisiana Purchase, Fincastle was the edge of the frontier. President Thomas Jefferson had designed the local courthouse and continued to have strong ties to the community. It was no surprise that Lewis and Clark chose to start their historic journey there in 1803.
Unacceptable by today’s standards, Clark had apparently decided to woo young Julia before embarking on the three-year trek that would take him across the continent. On the return trip from the Pacific in 1805, Clark named a Montana river in her honor, or thought he had. The Crow people knew it as the Buluhpa’ashe or “Plum” river. In addition, Captain Lewis had already christened it the “Bighorn.” Knowing the young Julia only by her familiar name as “Judy,” the captain, misnamed the Missouri River tributary the “Judith.”
Assigned to head the militia of the new Louisiana Territory in 1809, Clark moved with his new bride to St. Louis. He soon became additionally responsible for publishing the Expedition journals following Lewis’s suicide that same year. Never a man of letters, Clark felt inadequate for the task and persuaded Philadelphia financier Nicholas Biddle to take over the project. In turn, Biddle eventually surrendered the editing to professional writer Paul Allen, when Biddle was elected to the Pennsylvania State Legislature.
William and Julia had four surviving children; Meriwether Lewis, William Preston and John Julius and a daughter Mary Margaret. In addition, Julia was mother to Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, (left) son of Sacagawea after Clark accepted guardianship of the child.
Julia’s closest friend and first cousin, Harriet Kennerly Radford, moved to St. Louis in 1817 to join her brother, James Kennerly following the death of her husband. James was serving as Governor Clark’s secretary.
The cousins’ reunion was short-lived. In 1819, Julia became seriously ill and on the advice of her doctors, the Clarks and their three sons moved back to Virginia to her uncle’s estate. By 1820 her condition was much improved and Clark was summoned back to St. Louis on territorial business. Barely upon arriving, however, a messenger brought him news of Julia’s death. She was buried in Shawsville, Virginia. Clark’s seven-year-old daughter Mary Margaret died the following year.
Keeping it all in the family, Clark remarried just one year later, wedding Julia’s favorite cousin, Harriet Radford. The second Mrs. Clark (right) was mother to two children. Just one child survived to adulthood. Harriet Clark died in 1831 at age 41 and was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis. Clark outlived Harriet by seven years. He died in St. Louis in 1838 at the age of 68 and is also buried at Bellefontaine.
According to Nez Percé oral tradition, however, there was yet another Clark son, Tzi-Kal-Tza Clark. (Below right) He was said to be the child of the famous 
explorer and Daytime Smoke, sister (or possibly the daughter) of Nez Percé leader Red Grizzly Bear. If in fact he was Captain Clark’s offspring, he was treated badly. Captured during the 1877 Nez Percé War, he was imprisoned in Oklahoma where he died in 1878 or 1879 at the age of 72.
Of Clark’s Anglo American children, William and Julia’s firstborn, Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr. was the only one noted by history. An engineering graduate of West Point, he fought for the
Confederacy and was captured at the Battle of Sayler’s Creek Virginia.
Following the war he returned to a career in engineering and served as architect for a number of significant public buildings for the state of Kentucky. But William Clark’s grandson, Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., (left) was perhaps the most famous of his direct descendants. Founder of Louisville, Kentucky’s Jockey Club, he was the builder of the legendary race track, Churchill Downs.
The Churchill Downs Racetrack Museum, while not the typical Western history venue, is a present-day link to William Clark’s legacy. Located at Gate 1, 704 Central Ave in Louisville, it is highly rated by visitors and features two floors of interactive exhibits, a 30-minute walking tour of the
racetrace, in addition to a resident Thoroughbred and miniature horse, favorites of youngsters and adults alike. Both the museum and the walking tour are wheelchair accessible and a limited number of wheelchairs are available free of charge.
Summer hours, March 15 through Nov. 30, are Monday through Saturday, 8 to 5, and Sunday 11 to 5. Winter hours begin Dec. 1 through March 14. Open Monday through Saturday, 9 to 5 and Sunday 11 to 5. Closed Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Admission is $15 for adults, $14 for seniors, $8 for children 5 to 14 and children under 5 are free. The museum’s gift shop and Derby Cafe are open to the public without admission to the museum. For more information, go to derbymuseum.org, call (502) 637-1111 or write Churchill Downs Racetrack Museum, 704 Central Avenue, Louisville, KY 40208.
© Text Only – 2017 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain.