The Sergeant Floyd Monument in Iowa-- Part 1

From the National Park Service.

The Sergeant Floyd Monument commemorates Sergeant Charles Floyd, Jr., the only  member of the Corps of Discovery to die on the journey

Writing in his diary on July 31st, Floyd noted, "I am very sick and has ben for Sometime but have Recovered  my helth again."

However, that recovery proved short and he soon took a turn for the worse.  The night before his death, William Clark remarked, Serjeant Floyd is taken verry bad all at once with a Biliouse Chorlick we attempt to relieve him without success as yet, hr gets worst and we are much allarmed at his Situation, all attention to him."

In August 20, 1804, Floyd passed away, most likely from peritonitis, caused by  the inflammation or rupture of his appendix.  He died from an illness that even the best doctors of the day could not have cured.

--Cooter