Charles Floyd was the first and amazingly the only person to die on the Lewis & Clark expedition. Likely a victim of appendicitis, Floyd passed away on the 20th of August, interestingly my mother's birthday, in 1804 and was buried on a bluff overlooking the Missouri river. Late August is generally a lovely time in Iowa and Floyd's last days though full of pain may have been tempered by good weather. Any restfulness ended there as the poor ole guy could not seem to get any peace in death as looters and thieves forced the movement of his remains 4 times, until they finally came to a final resting place outside of Sioux City. This monument honoring Floyd was finished in 1901 and named the first National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior in 1960.
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