University of Virginia Library

[Clark:]

June 17th.. Monday 1805.

a fine morning wind as usial Capt. Lewis with the party
unloaded the Perogue & he determined to keep the party
employed in getting the loading to the creek about 1 mile over
a low hill in my absence on the Portage.

I set out with 5 men at 8 oClock, and proseeded on up the
creek some distance to examine that & if possable assend that
sufficently high, that a streight cours to the mouth of medison
river would head the 2 reveens, the creek I found confined
rapid and shallow [g]eneralley[18] passed through an open roleing
Prarie, so as to head the two riveens after heading two
we steared our course so as to strike the river below the great
pitch on our course to the river crossed a Deep riveen near
its mouth with steep clifts this riveen had running water
which was very fine, the river at this place is narrow & confined
in perpendicular clifts of 170 feet from the tops of
those clifts the countrey rises with a steep assent for about 250

feet more we proceeded up the river passing a succession of
rapids & cascades to the Falls, which we had herd for several
miles makeing a dedly sound I beheld those cateracts with
astonishment the whole of the water of this great river confined
in a channel of 280 yards and pitching over a rock of 97
feet 3/4 of an [inch], from the foot of the falls arrises a continued
mist which is extended for 150 Yds down & to near the
top of the clifts on L. Sd. the river below is confined [in] a
narrow Chanl. of 93 yards leaveing a small bottom of timber
on the Stard Side which is defended by a rock, rangeing cross
wise the river a little below the Shoot [chute], a short distance
below this cateract a large rock divides the stream. I in
desending the clifts to take the hite of the fall was near slipping
into the water, at which place I must have been sucked
under in an instant, and with dificuelty and great risque I
assended again, and decended the clift lower down (but few
places can be decended to the river) and took the hite with as
much accurecy as possible with a Sperit Leavels &c. dined at
a fine spring 200 yards below the pitch near which place
4 cotton willow trees grew. on one of them I marked my
name the date, and hight of the falls, we then proceeded on
up the river passing a continued cascade & rapid to a fall of
19 feet at 4 small Islands, this fall is diaguanally across the
river from the Lard Side, forming an angle of 3/4 of the width
from the Lard from which side it pitchs for 2/3 of that distance;
on the Stard. Side is a rapid decline, below this Shoot a Deep
reveen falls in in [which] we camped for the night which was
cold (The mountains in every derection has snow on them)
The plain to our left is leavel We saw one Bear & inumerable
numbers of Buffalow, I saw 2 herds of those animals
watering imedeately above a considerable rapid, they decended
by a narrow pass &c the bottom small, the river forced
those forwd. into the water some of which was taken down in
an instant, and seen no more others made shore with dificuelty.
I beheld 40 or 50 of those swiming at the same time
those animals in this way are lost and accounts for the number
of buffalow carcases below the rapids.