When a mysterious bust of York, the only Black member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, appeared on a pedestal on Mount Tabor Park in 2021, it sparked a wave of curiosity, prompting many to dive into the remarkable story of his life.
Born into slavery in Virginia around 1772, York gained freedom during the expedition and became a valued member of the team, helping with hunting, carrying boats, providing medical care and trading valuables for food on the journey home.
Despite his contributions, he was denied both the pay and freedom he had been promised, and his role was largely omitted from traditional accounts of the expedition that brought travelers from the Mississippi River Valley to the Columbia River Basin. Today, York’s presence in Portland has been mostly forgotten. When his bust was defaced with hate symbols and toppled over months after it appeared, many people had already moved on. For others, though, the incident sparked deeper reflection.
Portland-based composer and producer Aaron Nigel Smith couldn’t shake the moment. Best known as the founder of the nonprofit 1 World Chorus and as the education and community programs manager at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton, Smith is an accomplished musician with 10 reggae albums to his name, including a Grammy nomination for his collaborative children’s album “All One Tribe.”
Embarrassed about his unfamiliarity with York, Smith wanted to use music to amplify York’s story and important historical contributions. And after two years of research and composition, Smith completed his largest production to date.
On Oct. 24, Smith’s folk opera, “York the Explorer,” will premiere at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts as part of the weeklong York Fest presented by Oregon Black Pioneers. The festival marks the 220th anniversary of York’s arrival in what is today Portland. Taking place Oct. 17-25, the festival also includes presentations, discussions, film screenings and an outdoor tour.
“I think the story is inspirational,” Smith said about York’s history. “It’s just a story of hope, perseverance and courage. I think not only Black and brown people around the world, but all people can really benefit and learn and grow from knowing this story.”
Zachary Stocks, Oregon Black Pioneers’ executive director, said that York Fest was born from rising interests in the historical figure from multiple local Black-led organizations.
“It occurred to us … it would be better to work together,” Stocks said, which led to the decision to “schedule all of our adult related programs within the same general time frame, so that we can market this as one major opportunity for the public to come together and learn about this remarkable individual and celebrate his legacy together.”
York isn’t widely known today since much of his story has been overlooked in history books. What little information exists was written through the lens of his oppressors, said Smith, which is littered with misconceptions, stereotypes and buried history. His death is a mystery with one account suggesting he died of cholera while attempting to return to Clark after York’s freight hauling business failed, and another narrative claiming he was embraced by the Crow Nation and lived out his final days as a tribal chief.
“We see what we’re doing as making amends for York’s historical erasure,” Stocks said. “When he has been brought up for most of the past 200 years of Lewis and Clark historiography, it is only ever to talk about the fact that he was enslaved.”
York has often been portrayed as a buffoon, a comic relief or as sexually deviant, Stocks said, but there’s no evidence to support those depictions. The Lewis and Clark journals paint a different picture, showing York as reliable, a skilled hunter, physically strong and someone whose contributions were as significant as, if not greater than, many of his fellow expedition members.
“My hope is that we can use York Fest as an opportunity to make this legacy permanent and to show people that Black presence is real in Oregon and it goes back centuries,” Stocks said. “This is a chance for us to gather together as a community and advocate for one of our heroes.”
York Fest has also provided a stepping stone for many projects to come. In the next year, Smith plans to adapt “York the Explorer” for children and create an official cast recording of the show.
He is also part of the York Collective, whose mission is to build an urban village in Northwest Portland, which will consist of affordable housing, a walkable business district, Black empowerment business zone for small businesses and a tribute or museum to York.
The collective is currently focused on securing land for the project, with preliminary plans for the York Urban Village set to be unveiled during the York Fest event “Our Rooted Futures Festival” on Oct. 18, which will include storytelling, presentations and pop-up style networking.
“In times like these, it’s time for artists to step up and to step in and to really lean into creativity as a tool for bringing more understanding, building community and building connection,” Smith said. “If we take the time to sit and listen and ingest art and just beauty together. I think there’s a world where we can learn how to communicate, we can learn how to share and we can learn how to be a unified community.”
“York the Explorer” will premiere at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, with additional performances at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25. There are currently no other performances scheduled after the festival.
Other highlights at York Fest include a screening of “Big Medicine York Outdoors,” a documentary film screening about Black outdoor educators following York’s footsteps on the Missouri River with a post-film conversation featuring participants on Oct. 22; and “The Journey of York,” a living history presentation about York’s life, performed by Hasan Davis, a living history interpreter from Kentucky, on Oct. 23.
Find the full schedule of events for York Fest, taking place Oct. 17-25, at yorkfest.com.
This post has been updated to correct the spelling of Hasan Davis’ first name.
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