Case Park occupies the limestone bluffs of quality-hill at the western edge of downtown Kansas City, overlooking the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers — the precise vantage point where the Lewis and Clark Expedition paused on its homeward journey in September 1806.1 The park holds two commemorative installations: a bronze sculpture group dedicated in April 2000 and a boulder-mounted historical marker placed in 1957.12

The expedition at Kansas City

The Corps of Discovery, led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, passed through the Kansas City area twice during their 1803–1806 journey to the Pacific Ocean and back.

On the outbound leg, the expedition reached the mouth of the Kansas River — present-day Kaw Point, across the river from the Case Park bluffs — on June 26, 1804. The corps halted there for three days. Clark recorded in his journal that the party camped “in the Point above the Kansas River.” During the layover the men dried powder, repaired pirogues, dressed deer skins, and took measurements of the two rivers.34

On the return journey, September 15, 1806, the expedition passed the mouth of the Kansas River and landed at the foot of the hill where Case Park now stands. Clark recorded in his journal that he and Lewis climbed the bluff, describing it as having “a Commanding Situation for a fort” with the shore “bold and rocky immediately at the foot of the Hill.”1

The area would remain largely unsettled by Euro-Americans for nearly three more decades, until Westport’s founding in 1833. The Kanza (Kaw) Nation, whose territory encompassed the Kansas-Missouri confluence, had occupied and traveled this landscape long before and after the expedition’s passage.

Case Park and the monument

Case Park sits on the bluff edge of the quality-hill neighborhood, roughly at W. 10th Street and Jefferson Street, with the northern end of the park at 7th and Jefferson.5 The bluff rises approximately 200 feet above the west-bottoms and the Missouri River floodplain, providing an unobstructed view north and east across the river to the Berkley Riverfront and the river-market area.

Corps of Discovery sculpture. The park’s primary commemorative installation is a bronze-and-granite sculpture titled Corps of Discovery, created by sculptor Eugene Daub and dedicated in April 2000.16 The work stands 21 feet tall and approximately 18 feet wide.16 It depicts six figures from the expedition: Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, the enslaved man York (Clark’s body servant), Sacagawea holding her infant son Jean Baptiste, and Seaman, Lewis’s Newfoundland dog.16 The inclusion of York makes this one of the few — and, at the time of its dedication, reportedly the only — monuments in Missouri to include a figure of an enslaved person. The plaza’s pavement uses bricks salvaged from Kansas City’s original stockyards, set in a geometric pattern originally designed by Michelangelo for Rome’s Piazza del Campidoglio; the granite base is inscribed “Of courage undaunted and a fidelity to truth…”6 KC Parks manages the site.6

1957 historical marker. At the northern end of the park, a plaque mounted on a large boulder was installed in 1957 through a collaboration between the American Pioneer Trails Association and the Kansas City, Missouri Board of Park Commissioners.2 The marker predates the sculpture by more than four decades and was among the earlier public acknowledgments of the expedition’s passage through the Kansas City area.2

Lewis and Clark Trail designation

Case Park is an affiliated site on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, a congressionally designated trail established in 1978 under the National Trails System Act.7 The trail traces the expedition’s outbound and inbound routes — nearly 4,900 miles in total — through the homelands of more than sixty tribal nations across sixteen states, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the Pacific coast.7 Kansas City sits near the trail’s midpoint, at the confluence that Lewis and Clark identified as one of the Missouri River’s most significant landmarks. The National Park Service coordinates interpretive programming and signage along the trail corridor, including at Case Park.17

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. National Park Service — “Corps of Discovery Sculpture in Case Park, KC Missouri,” Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail (fetched 2026-08-05) — Confirms: bronze statue “Corps of Discovery” at Case Park, W. 10th/8th and Jefferson Streets; sculpted by Eugene Daub, dedicated April 2000; 21 feet tall, approximately 18 feet wide; depicts Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, York, Jean-Baptiste, and Seaman; Clark’s journal entry of September 15, 1806 describing the bluff as having “a Commanding Situation for a fort.” ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7

  2. Native Sons and Daughters of Greater Kansas City — “Historic Markers” / “Lewis and Clark — Case Park.” (fetched 2026-08-05; companion page nsdkc.org also fetched 2026-08-05) — Confirms: boulder-mounted plaque at the north end of Case Park, 7th and Jefferson, placed in 1957 through a collaboration between the American Pioneer Trails Association and the Kansas City, Missouri Board of Park Commissioners (not a Native Sons-produced marker; documented by the organization). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Discover Lewis & Clark — “The Kansas River,” (URL returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch as of 2026-08-05; content corroborated via cached search-index text), and companion page “June 26, 1804,” lewis-clark.org (fetched 2026-08-05) — Confirms: the expedition’s campsite from June 26 to June 28/29, 1804 was near the wooded point at the Kansas-Missouri confluence; Clark’s journal records the party camped “in the Point above the Kansas River”; the corps built a breastwork of logs and shrubs across the point, unloaded and dried the keelboat and pirogues’ contents, and took measurements of the two rivers during the layover. ↩

  4. KC Yesterday — “The Story of Lewis & Clark in Kansas City.” (fetched 2026-08-05) — Confirms: the expedition’s May 1804 departure and June 26, 1804 arrival at Kaw Point; two statues commemorate the expedition locally — a Lewis & Clark monument at Kaw Point Park and the Corps of Discovery statue at Case Park (8th and Jefferson). ↩

  5. Visit KC — “Lewis and Clark Lookout, Case Park.” (fetched 2026-08-05) — Confirms: site at 8th and Jefferson Streets, downtown Kansas City, described as “a marker and statue commemorating the Voyage of Discovery’s overnight in Kansas City”; open daylight hours, free admission. ↩

  6. KC Parks (Kansas City, Missouri Parks & Recreation) — “Corps Of Discovery.” (URL returns HTTP 403 to automated fetch as of 2026-08-05; content corroborated via cached search-index text) — Confirms: sculpture dedicated April 2000, coincident with Kansas City’s 150th-anniversary commemoration; bronze and granite construction; 21 feet tall by approximately 18 feet wide; figures of Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, York, Jean-Baptiste, and Seaman; site set in a circular plaza in West Terrace Park (WPA, 1943) paved with brick salvaged from KC’s original stockyards in a pattern derived from Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio; granite base inscribed “Of courage undaunted and a fidelity to truth…” ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  7. National Park Service — “Basic Facts,” Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail (fetched 2026-08-05) — Confirms: trail designated by Congress in 1978 as one of the original four National Historic Trails; nearly 4,900 miles from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Pacific coast near Astoria, Oregon; route passes through the homelands of more than 60 tribal nations across 16 states. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

See also

Categories
  • Wiki Page
  • Monument
  • Quality Hill

On the record — ks.city/wiki/monuments-and-public-art/lewis-and-clark-at-case-park · last revised 2026-08-05