From Photograph, copyrighted by P. C. Waltermire, Sioux City.

FLOYD MONUMENT NEAR SIOUX CITY, IOWA, SHOWING BRONZE TABLETS ATTACHED TO THE EAST AND WEST FACES OF THE SHAFT

Sergeant Charles Floyd, the first soldier of the United States to die west of the Mississippi river, was a son of Chas Floyd, Sr., a grandson of Wm. Floyd, and was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, between 1780 and 1785. He was one of the "nine young men from Kentucky" who joined Lewis and Clark at Louisville in the fall of 1803, was formally enlisted April 1, 1804, and appointed one of the three sergeants of the expedition. Sergeant Floyd was taken ill August 19, 1804, died the following day, and was buried on "Floyd's Bluff," on the Iowa side of the Missouri river near the place of his death. His grave was marked by a cedar post properly inscribed. In 1857, when Floyd's grave was endangered by the river, his remains were removed 600 feet farther east. In 1895 the Floyd Memorial association was organized, and a monument erected at a cost of about $15,000, which was dedicated May 30, 1901. The shaft occupies a commanding position, three miles southeast of Sioux City, on the top of Floyd's Bluff -- the highest of the range of hills -- about 600 feet from the Missouri river, and 115 feet above low-water mark. The monument is of the style of an Egyptian obelisk; the underground foundation is a monolith of concrete 22 feet square at the base, 13 feet 6 inches at the top, and 11 feet deep. This Is surmounted by a base course of solid stone 2 feet high, and 10.92 feet square. The shaft is 100 feet 2 1/2 inches in height 9.42 feet square at the bottom, and 6.28 feet square at the top. It is a masonry shell of Kettle river sandstone, the core of solid concrete.