Lewis and Clark Campsite, September 7, 1804

The hill Clark called the Tower is also known as Old Baldy, about seven miles north of Lynch. It is Pierre Shale, laid down in the Late Cretaceous seaway some 70 to 80 million years ago, and a chalky layer at the summit supports little plant growth, which keeps the top bare. In 1860 surveyors used it to lay out the Fort Randall Military Reservation. Listed on the National Register in 2004 as the Tower, across about 1,082 acres, it is private land, and a 524-acre conservation easement bought in 2005 covers the hill.

What the plaque says

Lewis and Clark Campsite September 7, 1804 On this day the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean camped on the bank of the Missouri River at the base of a river land- mark near here, now called The Tower. Clark wrote, "Capt Lewis & my Self walked up to the top which forms a Cone and is about 70 feet higher than the high lands around it." Nearby they "discovered a Village of an annamale the french Call the Prarie Dog... the Village of those animals Covs. about 4 acrs of Ground on a Gradual decent of a hill and Contains great numbers of holes on the top of which those little animals Sit erect make a Whistleing noise and whin allarmed Slip into their hole." They "attempted to dig to the beds of one of thos animals, after diging 6 feet, found by running a pole down that we were not half way to his Lodges." They finally "Cought one a live by poreing a great quantity of water in his hole." Nebraska State Historical Society National Park Service

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Randall — 16 mi
  The ruined stone chapel of an 1856 Missouri River post below Fort Randall Dam, where Sitting Bull and his band were held as prisoners of war for twenty months.
• Ponca Tribal Museum and Old Ponca Agency — 21 mi
  The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska's museum, powwow arena, talking trail and bison herd at the old agency near Niobrara, on homeland the nation was forced from in 1877.

More markers nearby

• Yankton, Sioux, Dakota, Ihanktunwan — 7.7 mi
• Marty Mission — 12 mi
• Commanding Officers Quarters — 16 mi
• Fort Randall Chapel — 16 mi