The Sergeant York Historic Trail and Monument

The idea for the Sergeant York Historic Trail came from a desire to allow visitors to the area a chance to "follow the footsteps" of the brave men who fought for freedom.   The actual location where York earned the Medal of Honor had never been accurately documented and, with the passage of time, had been lost.  With years of research in the American and German archives complete, The Sergeant York Discovery Expedition was formed to locate and mark the "York Spot" so that it would never again be lost in time.  The trail and monument are designed to preserve the York legacy in the Argonne and honor all those who sacrificed for the cause of freedom in the "Great War"

After the discovery of the "York Spot" as it has been nicknamed, SYDE turned their efforts toward the creation of the York Trail.  This was no easy task because, in France, nothing of this nature happens quickly.  Even with SYDE's discovery of the .45 caliber ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) shells marking the spot where York fought off the bayonet attack, it took nearly two years of planning and preparation before visitors would take thier first steps into history on the Sgt. York Historic Trail.

It would take the help and coordination of the Boy Scouts, Volunteers, Military Liaisons, Political Leaders, Government Officials, and people willing to donate funds and time to make this dream a reality.

The first step after getting the go-ahead to build the trail was, of course, to decide where it would go exactly.  There were private landowners to deal with, communal land rights, road issues, and forest managers, not to mention the numerous natural obsticales to negotiate.  
 
    
Meetings with the Mayor of Châtel Chéhéry - Roland Destenay,  Mayor of Fléville - Damien Georges and a French Government official Senator Warsman to discuss the trail route.

    
In 2008 a new Mayor of Châtel Chéhéry, Mayor Alain Rickal (seated left above),
was elected and the meetings continued.

With the trail route chosen, a site for the monuments needed to be selected.  Because the actual York Spot stood on private land, a suitable location just above the spot was chosen for its flatter terrain and elevated view.

    
View looking up to the road.                                   View looking down from the road.

Although it might seem terrible from a layman's point of view, the forest manger had identified several trees with deep cracks in their trunks and insisted they be taken out for the safety of the site and visitors. 

    
View looking up to the road.                                   View looking down from the road.

In addition, grading was required to reach solid rock on which to mount the monument foundations.

    

Meanwhile, as the prep-work in the forest continued, the monument stone was designed and ordered.  The York Monument Tablet is a polished lava stone produced locally in France.  SYDE had it produced using the same stone and process used to make other monuments in the area such as the information tablet on the American Monument in Montfaucon, France.  The tablet is a very hard white lava-stone fired after the design is applied to seal the picture and print under a clear enamel glaze protecting the surface from the elements.


Malcome Steele checking the monument stone still in the shipping crate.

In addition to the Monument stone, SYDE recognized the fact that certain areas of the trail needed proper markings to ensure visitors did not take a wrong turn and get lost in the forest.  Much of the terrain in and around the York Spot can look the same, especially in the spring and summer when the leaves are in full bloom.  Despite the many trips into the Argonne west of Châtel Chéhéry, even the SYDE team had been know to get a bit turned around. 

Initially, stone markers were put in with the intention of being carved or painted with the letters, "YORK TRAIL", along with directional arrows.  Several of these stones were put in place the summer of 2007 as word of the trail had already begun to spread and visitors started to come in hopes of being one of the first to walk the York Trail.


Doug Mastriano organizes the first of several Boy Scout trips to build the trail.

    


A proud crew of scouts display their handy-work.

Later, in July of 2008, wooden directional signs produced through generosity of the Grandpre Developpement Department were delivered to Châtel Chéhéry by Richard Steffan.

          


On yet another work trip to the Argonne, the signs were loaded into the town tractor, driven by Forest Manager, Frederick Chopin, for distribution along the trail.  Nine signs in all mark the points of interest along the loop trail. 



    
Mayor of Châtel Chéhéry, Alain Rickal, supervises the sign distribution with several Boy Scouts

Signs were placed in the ground by members of the Boy Scouts of America and their families during a camping trip to the Argonne.  Nate Eggert was approved to use the building of the trail for his Eagle Scout project
      
    


Nate and his father Steve (in the red shirts) proudly stand at sign 5 with the Brown family and Kory O'Keefe. Sign 5 marks the far end of the York trail.  From here on the trail begins to look back to the start.

In early October 2008 an Information sign was placed at the west end of the main street in Châtel Chéhéry.  This sign marks the starting point of the Sgt. York Historic Trail giving visitors an overall map view and information about the 9 points of interest along the trail in English, French and German.  The back of the sign shows a diagram of the York Spot and highlights of the significant artifacts found there.

  
Front                                                                                      Back

After all the signs were placed along the trail route, the next step was to "connect the dots" and border the trail with natural timber from the forest.  All the wood used was first designated as "trail wood" by the local forest manager.

      

   

Fathers, sons, and moms all worked hard to border the trail over a three day weekend to ensure that no visitor would accidentally stray from the trail and get lost in the Argonne forest.

    

SYDE volunteers cut nearly 400 meters of trail by hand along a sloped section of the forest. 

         

When the work was complete, everyone enjoyed a "test walk" along the newly created trail.

   

Just days before the York Trail was to open, Kory O'Keefe and his Father-in-Law, LJ Hauss, Mother-in-Law, Margie Hauss and his wife Beth, finished the hard work of stabilizing the forest staircase.

    

    

 Near the midpoint on the trail, visitors will enter the Monument Park and can view the monuments while overlooking the exact location where Corporal Avlin C.York fought off the famous bayonet attack and earned the Medal of Honor.

   
The photo on the right shows the Weider Family Park Memorial stone honoring all 17 Americans engaged in the actions on 8 OCT 1918.  This was made possible through the generous gifts of the Weider Family and was added just prior to the opening of the trail on 4 OCT 2008.

Several improvements have been made since the trail opened in October 2008.  Drainage was added to the normally muddy section near sign 5 and the other was the addition of permanent signs, pictured below, describing the significant points in the battle on 8 OCT 1918.
   




Left to right, Kory O'Keefe, Josiah and Doug Mastriano, co-founders of the Sergeant York Discovery Expedition (SYDE) stand at sign one at the beginning of the trail. 
The SYDE team invites you to visit the trail whenever you are in the area to experience the beauty and quiet of the Argonne and reflect on the men and women who sacrificed then and now for the freedom we enjoy today.

The Sergeant York Discovery Expedition is accepting donations to help improve the
SGT. York Historic Trail and Monument.
Click HERE to learn more.