University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER X.

Saturday 8. It continued to rain moderately all last night,
and the morning was cloudy till about ten o'clock, when it
cleared off, and became a fine day. They breakfasted about
sunrise and then proceeded down the river in the same way
as they had done yesterday, except that the travelling was
somewhat better, as they had not so often to wade, though
they passed some very dangerous bluffs. The only timber
to be found is in the low grounds which are occasionally on
the river, and these are the haunts of innumerable birds,
who, when the sun began to shine, sang very delightfully.
Among these birds they distinguished the brown thrush, robin
turtledove, linnet, goldfinch, the large and small blackbird,
the wren, and some others. As they came along, the whole
of the party were of opinion that this river was the true
Missouri; but captain Lewis being fully persuaded that it
was neither the main stream, nor that which it would be advisable
to ascend, gave it the name of Maria's river. After
travelling all day they reached the camp at five o'clock in the
afternoon, and found captain Clarke and the party very anxious
for their safety, as they had staid two days longer than
had been expected, and as captain Clarke had returned at
the appointed time, it was feared that they had met with
some accident.

Captain Clarke on setting out with five men on the 4th,
went seven miles on a course S. 25° W. to a spring; thence
he went S. 20° W. for eight miles to the river where was
an island, from which he proceeded in a course N. 45° W.
and approached the river at the distance of three, five, and
thirteen miles, at which place they encamped in an old Indian
lodge made of sticks and bark. In crossing the plains they
observed several herds of buffaloe, some muledeer, antelopes
and wolves. The river is rapid and closely hemmed in by high
bluffs, crowded with bars of gravel, with little timber on
the low grounds, and none on the highlands. Near the camp
this evening, a white bear attacked one of the men, whose
gun happening to be wet, would not go off; he instantly made
towards a tree, but was so closely pursued, that as he ascended
the tree he struck the bear with his foot. The bear
not being able to climb, waited till he should be forced to
come down; and as the rest of the party were separated from
him by a perpendicular cliff of rocks, which they could not
descend, it was not in their power to give him any assistance:
fortunately however at last the bear became frighted at their
cries and firing, and released the man. In the afternoon it
rained, and during the night there fell both rain and snow,
and in the morning,

June 5, the hills to the S. E. were covered with snow,
and the rain continued. They proceeded on in a course N.
20° W. near the river several miles, till at the distance of
eleven miles they reached a ridge, from the top of which on
the north side they could plainly discern a mountain to the S.
and W. at a great distance covered with snow; a high ridge
projecting from the mountains to the southeast approaches
the river on the southeast side, forming some cliffs of dark
hard stone. They also saw that the river ran for a great
distance west of south, with a rapid current, from which as
well as its continuing of the same width and depth, captain
Clarke thought it useless to advance any further, and therefore

returned across the level plain in a direction north 30°
east, and reached at the distance of twenty miles the little
river which is already mentioned as falling into the north
fork, and to which they gave the name of Tansy river, from
the great quantity of that herb growing on its banks. Here
they dined, and then proceeded on a few miles by a place
where the Tansy breaks through a high ridge on its north
side and encamped.

The next day, 6th, the weather was cold, raw and cloudy,
with a high northeast wind. They set out early, down the
Tansy, whose low grounds resemble precisely, except as to
extent, those of the Missouri before it branches, containing
a great proportion of a species of cottonwood, with a leaf
like that of the wild cherry. After halting at twelve o'clock
for dinner, they ascended the plain, and at five o'clock reached
the camp through the rain, which had fallen without intermission
since noon. During his absence the party had
been occupied in dressing skins, and being able to rest themselves
were nearly freed from their lameness and swollen
feet. All this night and the whole of the following day, 7th,
it rained, the wind being from the southwest off the mountains:
yet the rivers are falling, and the thermometer 40°
above 0. The rain continued till the next day, 8th, at ten
o'clock, when it cleared off, and the weather became fine,
the wind high from the southwest. The rivers at the point
have now fallen six inches since our arrival, and this morning
the water of the south fork became of a reddish brown
colour, while the north branch continued of its usual whitish
appearance. The mountains to the south are covered
with snow.

Sunday, 9th. We now consulted upon the course to be
pursued. On comparing our observations we were more
than ever convinced of what we already suspected, that Mr.
Arrowsmith is incorrect in laying down in the chain of
Rocky mountains one remarkable mountain called the Tooth,
nearly as far south as 45°, and said to be so marked from

the discoveries of a Mr. Fidler. We are now within one
hundred miles of the Rokcy mountains and in the latitude of
47° 24′ 12″ 8, and therefore it is highly improbable that the
Missouri should make such a bend to the south before it
reaches the Rocky mountains, as to have suffered Mr. Fidler
to come as low as 45° along the eastern borders without
touching that river: yet the general course of Maria's river
from this place for fifty-nine miles, as far as captain Lewis
ascended, was north 69° west, and the south branch, or what
we consider the Missouri, which captain Clarke had examined
as far as forty-five miles in a straight line, ran in a
course south 29° west, and as far as it could be seen went
considerably west of south, whence we conclude that the
Missouri itself enters the Rocky mountains to the north of
45°. In writing to the president from our winter quarters,
we had already taken the liberty of advancing the southern
extremity of Mr. Fidler's discoveries about a degree to the
northward, and this from Indian information as to the bearing
of the point at which the Missouri enters the mountain;
but we think actual observation will place it one degree
still further to the northward. This information of Mr. Fidler
however, incorrect as it is, affords an additional reason
for not pursuing Maria's river; for if he came as low
even as 47° and saw only small streams coming down from
the mountains, it is to be presumed that these rivulets do
not penetrate the Rocky mountains so far as to approach
any navigable branch of the Columbia, and they are most
probably the remote waters of some northern branch of the
Missouri. In short, being already in latitude 47° 24′ we
cannot reasonably hope by going farther to the northward
to find between this place and the Saskashawan any stream
which can, as the Indians assure us the Missouri does, possess
a navigable current for some distance in the Rocky mountains:
the Indians had assured us also that the water of the
Missouri was nearly transparent at the falls; this is the case
with the southern branch; that the falls lay a little to the
south of sunset from them; this too is in favour of the southern
fork, for it bears considerably south of this place which
is only a few minutes to the northward of fort Mandan;
that the falls are below the Rocky mountains and near the
northern termination of one range of those mountains: now
there is a ridge of mountains which appear behind the
South mountains and terminates to the southwest of us, at
a sufficient distance from the unbroken chain of the Rocky
mountains to allow space for several falls, indeed we fear
for too many of them. If too the Indians had ever passed
any stream as large as this southern fork on their way up
the Missouri, they would have mentioned it; so that their
silence seems to prove that this branch must be the Missouri.
The body of water also which it discharges must
have been acquired from a considerable distance in the
mountains, for it could not have been collected in the
parched plains between the Yellowstone and the Rocky
mountains, since that country could not supply nourishment
for the dry channels which we passed on the south, and the
travels of Mr. Fidler forbid us to believe that it could
have been obtained from the mountains towards the northwest.

These observations which satisfied our minds completely
we communicated to the party: but every one of them were
of a contrary opinion; and much of their belief depended
on Crusatte, an experienced waterman on the Missouri, who
gave it as his decided judgment that the north fork was
the genuine Missouri. The men therefore mentioned that
although they would most cheerfully follow us wherever
we should direct, yet they were afraid that the south fork
would soon terminate in the Rocky mountains and leave us
at a great distance from the Columbia. In order that
nothing might be omitted which could prevent our falling
into an error, it was agreed that one of us should ascend
the southern branch by land until we reached either the
falls or the mountains. In the meantime in order to lighten

our burdens as much as possible, we determined to deposit
here one of the periogues and all the heavy baggage which
we could possibly spare, as well as some provision, salt, powder,
and tools: this would at once lighten the other boats,
and give them the crew which had been employed on board
the periogue.

Monday, 10. The weather being fair and pleasant we
dried all our baggage and merchandize and made our deposit.
These holes or caches as they are called by the
Missouri traders are very common, particularly among those
who deal with the Sioux, as the skins and merchandize
will keep perfectly sound for years, and are protected from
robbery: our cache is built in this manner: In the high
plain on the north side of the Missouri and forty yards
from a steep bluff, we chose a dry situation, and then describing
a small circle of about twenty inches diameter, removed
the sod as gently and carefully as possible: the
hole is then sunk perpendicularly for a foot deep, or more
if the ground be not firm. It is now worked gradually wider
as they descend, till at length it becomes six or seven feet
deep, shaped nearly like a kettle or the lower part of
a large still with the bottom somewhat sunk at the centre.
As the earth is dug it is handed up in a vessel and carefully
laid on a skin or cloth, in which it is carried away
and usually thrown into the river or concealed so as to
leave no trace of it. A floor of three or four inches in
thickness is then made of dry sticks, on which is thrown
hay or a hide perfectly dry. The goods being well aired and
dried are laid on this floor, and prevented from touching
the wall by other dried sticks in proportion as the merchandize
is stowed away: when the hole is nearly full, a skin
is laid over the goods, and on this earth is thrown and
beaten down until with the addition of the sod first removed
the whole is on a level with the ground, and there
remains not the slightest appearance of an excavation. In
addition to this we made another of smaller dimensions,

in which we placed all the baggage, some powder, and our
blacksmith's tools, having previously repaired such of the
tools we carry with us as require mending. To guard
against accident, we hid two parcels of lead and powder
in the two distinct places. The red periogue was drawn up
on the middle of a small island at the entrance of Maria's
river, and secured by being fastened to the trees from the
effect of any floods. In the evening there was a high wind
from the southwest accompanied with thunder and rain.
We now made another observation of the meridian altitude
of the sun, and found that the mean latitude of the
entrance of Maria's river, as deduced from three observations,
is 47° 25′ 17″ 2 north. We saw a small bird like the
blue thrush or catbird which we had not before met, and
also observed that the beemartin or kingbird is common to
this country although there are no bees here, and in fact
we have not met with the honey-bee since leaving the
Osage river.

Tuesday 11. This morning captain Lewis with four men
set out on their expedition up the south branch. They soon
reached the point where the Tansy river approaches the
Missouri, and observing a large herd of elk before them,
descended and killed several which they hung up along the
river so that the party in the boats might see them as they
came along. They then halted for dinner; but captain
Lewis who had been for some days afflicted with the dysentery,
was now attacked with violent pains attended by a
high fever and was unable to go on. He therefore encamped
for the night under some willow boughs: having brought
no medicine he determined to try an experiment with the
small twigs of the chokecherry, which being stripped of
their leaves and cut into pieces about two inches long were
boiled in pure water, till they produced a strong black decoetion
of an astringent bitter taste; a pint of this he took
at sunset, and repeated the dose an hour afterwards. By
ten o'clock he was perfectly relieved from pain, a gentle

perspiration ensued, his fever abated and in the morning he
was quite recovered. One of the men caught several dozen
fish of two species: the first is about nine inches long, of a white
colour, round in shape; the mouth is beset both above and
below with a rim of fine sharp teeth, the eye moderately
large, the pupil dark, and the iris narrow, and of a yellowish
brown colour: in form and size it resembles the white
club of the Potomac, though its head is proportionably
smaller; they readily bite at meat or grasshoppers; but the
flesh though soft and of a fine white colour is not highly
flavoured. The second species is precisely of the form and
about the size of the fish known by the name of the hictory
shad or old wife, though it differs from it in having
the outer edge of both the upper and lower jaw set with a
rim of teeth, and the tongue and palate also are defended
by long sharp teeth bending inwards, the eye is very large,
the iris wide and of a silvery colour; they do not inhabit
muddy water, and the flavour is much superior to that of
the former species. Of the first kind we had seen a few before
we reached Maria's river; but had found none of the
last before we caught them in the Missouri above its junction
with that river. The white cat continues as high as
Maria's river, but they are scarce in this part of the river,
nor have we caught any of them since leaving the Mandans
which weighed more than six pounds.

Of other game they saw a great abundance even in their
short march of nine miles.

Wednesday 12. This morning captain Lewis left the bank
of the river in order to avoid the steep ravines which generally
run from the shore to the distance of one or two miles
in the plain: having reached the opened country he went for
twelve miles in a course a little to the west of southwest,
when the sun becoming warm by nine o'clock, he returned
to the river in quest of water and to kill something for
breakfast, there being no water in the plain, and the buffaloes
discovering them before they came within gunshot took

to flight. They reached the banks in a handsome open low
ground with cottonwood, after three miles walk. Here they
saw two large brown bears, and killed them both at the
first fire, a circumstance which has never before occurred
since we have seen that animal. Having made a meal of a
part and hung the remainder on a tree with a note for captain
Clarke, they again ascended the bluffs into the open
plains. Here they saw great numbers of the burrowing
squirrel, also some wolves, antelopes, muledeer, and vast
herds of buffaloe. They soon crossed a ridge considerably
higher than the surrounding plains, and from its top had a
beautiful view of the Rocky mountains, which are now completely
covered with snow: their general course is from
southeast to the north of northwest, and they seem to consist
of several ranges which successively rise above each
other till the most distant mingles with the clouds. After
travelling twelve miles they again met the river, where
there was a handsome plain of cottonwood; and although it
was not sunset, and they had only come twenty-seven miles,
yet captain Lewis felt weak from his late disorder, and
therefore determined to go no further that night. In the
course of the day they killed a quantity of game, and saw
some signs of otter as well as beaver, and many tracks of
the brown bear: they also caught great quantities of the
white fish mentioned yesterday. With the broad-leafed cottonwood,
which has formed the principal timber of the Missouri,
is here mixed another species differing from the first
only in the narrowness of its leaf and the greater thickness
of its bark. The leaf is long, oval, acutely pointed, about
two and a half or three inches long and from three quarters
of an inch to an inch in width; it is smooth and thick sometimes
slightly grooved or channeled with the margin a little
serrate, the upper disk of a common, the lower of a whitish
green. This species seems to be preferred by the beaver to
the broad-leaved, probably because the former affords a
deeper and softer bark.

Thursday 13. They left their encampment at sunrise,
and ascending the river hills went for six miles in a course
generally southwest, over a country which though more
waving than that of yesterday may still be considered level.
At the extremity of this course they overlooked a most
beautiful plain, where were infinitely more buffaloe than we
had ever before seen at a single view. To the southwest
arose from the plain two mountains of a singular appearance
and more like ramparts of high fortifications than
works of nature. They are square figures with sides rising
perpendicularly to the height of two hundred and fifty feet,
formed of yellow clay, and the tops seemed to be level plains.
Finding that the river here bore considerably to the south,
and fearful of passing the falls before reaching the Rocky
mountains, they now changed their course to the south, and
leaving those insulated hills to the right proceeded across
the plain. In this direction captain Lewis had gone about
two miles when his ears were saluted with the agreeable
sound of a fall of water, and as he advanced a spray which
seemed driven by the high southwest wind arose above the
plain like a column of smoke and vanished in an instant.
Towards this point he directed his steps, and the noise increasing
as he approached soon became too tremendous to
be mistaken for any thing but the great falls of the Missouri.
Having travelled seven miles after first hearing the
sound he reached the falls about twelve o'clock, the hills
as he approached were difficult of access and two hundred
feet high: down these he hurried with impatience and seating
himself on some rocks under the centre of the falls,
enjoyed the sublime spectacle of this stupendous object
which since the creation had been lavishing its magnificence
upon the desert, unknown to civilization.

The river immediately at its cascade is three hundred
yards wide, and is pressed in by a perpendicular cliff on the
left, which rises to about one hundred feet and extends up
the stream for a mile; on the right the bluff is also perpendicular

[ILLUSTRATION]

for three hundred yards above the falls. For ninety
or a hundred yards from the left cliff, the water falls in one
smooth even sheet, over a precipice of at least eighty feet.
The remaining part of the river precipitates itself with a
more rapid current, but being received as it falls by the irregular
and somewhat projecting rocks below, forms a
splendid prospect of perfectly white foam two hundred yards
in length, and eighty in perpendicular elevation. This spray
is dissipated into a thousand shapes, sometimes flying up in
columns of fifteen or twenty feet, which are then oppressed
by larger masses of the white foam, on all which the sun
impresses the brightest colours of the rainbow. As it rises
from the fall it beats with fury against a ledge of rocks
which extend across the river at one hundred and fifty yards
from the precipice. From the perpendicular cliff on the
north, to the distance of one hundred and twenty yards, the
rocks rise only a few feet above the water, and when the
river is high the stream finds a channel across them forty
yards wide, and near the higher parts of the ledge which
then rise about twenty feet, and terminate abruptly within
eighty or ninety yards of the southern side. Between them
and the perpendicular cliff on the south, the whole body of
water runs with great swiftness. A few small cedars grow
near this ridge of rocks which serves as a barrier to defend a
small plain of about three acres shaded with cottonwood, at
the lower extremity of which is a grove of the same tree,
where are several Indian cabins of sticks; below the point
of them the river is divided by a large rock, several feet
above the surface of the water, and extending down the
stream for twenty yards. At the distance of three hundred
yards from the same ridge is a second abutment of solid
perpendicular rock about sixty feet high, projecting at right
angles from the small plain on the north for one hundred
and thirty-four yards into the river. After leaving this, the
Missouri again spreads itself to its usual distance of three
hundred yards, though with more than its ordinary rapidity.

The hunters who had been sent out now returned loaded
with buffaloe meat, and captain Lewis encamped for the
night under a tree near the falls. The men were again despatched
to hunt for food against the arrival of the party,
and captain Lewis walked down the river to discover if
possible some place where the canoes might be safely drawn
on shore, in order to be transported beyond the falls. He
returned however without discovering any such spot, the
river for three miles below being one continued succession
of rapids and cascades, overhung with perpendicular bluff's
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high; in
short, it seems to have worn itself a channel through the
solid rock. In the afternoon they caught in the falls some
of both kinds of the white fish, and half a dozen trout from
sixteen to twenty-three inches long, precisely resembling in
form and the position of its fins the mountain or speckled
trout of the United States, except that the specks of the former
are of a deep black, while those of the latter are of a
red or gold colour: they have long sharp teeth on the palate
and tongue, and generally a small speck of red on each side
behind the front ventral fins; the flesh is of a pale yellowish
red, or when in good order of a rose-coloured red.

Friday 14. This morning one of the men was sent to
captain Clarke with an account of the discovery of the falls,
and after employing the rest in preserving the meat which
had been killed yesterday, captain Lewis proceeded to examine
the rapids above. From the falls he directed his
course southwest up the river: after passing one continued
rapid, and three small cascades, each three or four feet high,
he reached at the distance of five miles a second fall. The
river is about four hundred yards wide, and for the distance
of three hundred throws itself over to the depth of nineteen
feet, and so irregularly that he gave it the name of the
Crooked falls. From the southern shore it extends obliquely
upwards about one hundred and fifty yards, and then
forms an acute angle downwards nearly to the commencement

of four small islands close to the northern side. From
the perpendicular pitch to these islands, a distance of more
than one hundred yards, the water glides down a sloping
rock with a velocity almost equal to that of its fall. Above
this fall the river bends suddenly to the northward: while
viewing this place captain Lewis heard a loud roar above
him, and crossing the point of a hill for a few hundred
yards, he saw one of the most beautiful objects in nature:
the whole Missouri is suddenly stopped by one shelving rock,
which without a single niche and with an edge as straight and
regular as if formed by art, stretches itself from one side of
the river to the other for at least a quarter of a mile.
Over this it precipitates itself in an even uninterrupted
sheet to the perpendicular depth of fifty feet, whence dashing
against the rocky bottom it rushes rapidly down, leaving
behind it a spray of the purest foam across the river.
The scene which it presented was indeed singularly beautiful,
since without any of the wild irregular sublimity of
the lower falls, it combined all the regular elegances which
the fancy of a painter would select to form a beautiful
waterfall. The eye had scarcely been regaled with this
charming prospect, when at the distance of half a mile
captain Lewis observed another of a similar kind: to this
he immediately hastened, and found a cascade stretching
across the whole river for a quarter of a mile with a descent
of fourteen feet, though the perpendicular pitch was
only six feet. This too in any other neighbourhood would
have been an object of great magnificence, but after what
he had just seen it became of secondary interest: his curiosity
being however awakened, he determined to go on even
should night overtake him to the head of the falls. He
therefore pursued the southwest course of the river, which
was one constant succession of rapids and small cascades, at
every one of which the bluffs grew lower, or the bed of the
river became more on a level with the plains. At the distance
of two and a half miles he arrived at another cataract
of twenty-six feet. The river is here six hundred yards
wide, but the descent is not immediately perpendicular,
though the river falls generally with a regular and smooth
sheet; for about one third of the descent a rock protrudes
to a small distance, receives the water in its passage and
gives it a curve. On the south side is a beautiful plain a few
feet above the level of the falls; on the north the country is
more broken, and there is a hill not far from the river.
Just below the falls is a little island in the middle of the
river well covered with timber. Here on a cottonwood tree
an eagle had fixed its nest, and seemed the undisputed mistress
of a spot, to contest whose dominion neither man nor
beast would venture across the gulfs that surround it, and
which is further secured by the mist rising from the falls.
This solitary bird could not escape the observation of the
Indians who made the eagle's nest a part of their description
of the falls, which now proves to be correct in almost
every particular, except that they did not do justice to their
height. Just above this is a cascade of about five feet, beyond
which, as far as could be discerned, the velocity of the
water seemed to abate. Captain Lewis now ascended the
hill which was behind him, and saw from its top a delightful
plain extending from the river to the base of the Snow
mountains to the south and southwest. Along this wide
level country the Missouri pursued its winding course, filled
with water to its even and grassy banks, while about four
miles above it was joined by a large river flowing from the
northwest through a valley three miles in width, and distinguished
by the timber which adorned its shores; the Missouri
itself stretches to the south in one unruffled stream of
water as if unconscious of the roughness it must soon encounter,
and bearing on its bosom vast flocks of geese,
while numerous herds of buffaloe are feeding on the plains
which surround it.

Captain Lewis then descended the hill, and directed his
course towards the river falling in from the west. He soon

met a herd of at least a thousand buffaloe, and being desirous
of providing for supper shot one of them; the animal
immediately began to bleed, and captain Lewis who had forgotten
to reload his rifle, was intently watching to see him
fall, when he beheld a large brown bear who was stealing on
him unperceived, and was already within twenty steps. In
the first moment of surprise he lifted his rifle, but remembering
instantly that it was not charged, and that he had
not time to reload, he felt that there was no safety but in
flight. It was in the open level plain, not a bush nor a tree
within three hundred yards, the bank of the river sloping
and not more than three feet high, so that there was no
possible mode of concealment; captain Lewis therefore
thought of retreating in a quick walk as fast as the bear
advanced towards the nearest tree; but as soon as he turned
the bear ran open mouth and at full speed upon him. Captain
Lewis ran about eighty yards, but finding that the animal
gained on him fast, it flashed on his mind that by getting
into the water to such a depth that the bear would be
obliged to attack him swimming, there was still some chance
of his life; he therefore turned short, plunged into the river
about waist deep, and facing about presented the point of
his espontoon. The bear arrived at the water's edge within
twenty feet of him, but as soon as he put himself in this posture
of defence, he seemed frightened, and wheeling about,
retreated with as much precipitation as he had pursued.
Very glad to be released from this danger, captain Lewis
returned to the shore, and observed him run with great
speed, sometimes looking back as if he expected to be pursued,
till he reached the woods. He could not conceive the
cause of the sudden alarm of the bear, but congratulated
himself on his escape when he saw his own track torn to
pieces by the furious animal, and learnt from the whole adventure
never to suffer his rifle to be a moment unloaded.
He now resumed his progress in the direction which the bear
had taken towards the western river, and found it a handsome
stream about two hundred yards wide, apparently deep,
with a gentle current; its waters clear, and its banks, which
were formed principally of dark brown and blue clay are
about the same height as those of the Missouri, that is from
three to five feet. What was singular was that the river does
not seem to overflow its banks at any season, while it might
be presumed from its vicinity to the mountains, that the torrents
arising from the melting of the snows, would sometimes
cause it to swell beyond its limits. The contrary fact
would induce a belief that the Rocky mountains yield their
snows very reluctantly and equably to the sun, and are not
often drenched by very heavy rains. This river is no doubt
that which the Indians call Medicine river, which they mentioned
as emptying into the Missouri, just above the falls.
After examining Medicine river, captain Lewis set out at
half after six o'clock in the evening on his return towards
the camp, which he estimated at the distance of twelve miles.
In going through the low grounds on Medicine river he met
an animal which at a distance he thought was a wolf, but on
coming within sixty paces, it proved to be some brownish
yellow animal standing near its burrow, which, when he came
nigh, crouched and seemed as if about to spring on him.
Captain Lewis fired and the beast disappeared in its burrow.
From the track and the general appearance of the animal
he supposed it to be of the tiger kind. He then went on,
but as if the beasts of the forests had conspired against
him, three buffaloe bulls which were feeding with a large
herd at the distance of half a mile, left their companions
and ran at full speed towards him. He turned round, and
unwilling to give up the field advanced towards them: when
they came within a hundred yards, they stopped, looked at
him for sometime, and then retreated as they came. He now
pursued his route in the dark, reflecting on the strange adventures
and sights of the day which crowded on his mind so rapidly
that he should have been inclined to believe it all enchantment
if the thorns of the prickly pear piercing his feet did not
dispel at every moment the illusion. He at last reached the
party, who had been very anxious for his safety, and who
had already decided on the route which each should lake in
the morning to look for him. Being much fatigued he supped
and slept well during the night.

Saturday, 15. The men were again sent out to bring in
the game killed yesterday and to procure more: they also obtained
a number of fine trout and several small catfish
weighing about four pounds, and differing from the white
catfish lower down the Missouri. On awaking this morning
captain Lewis found a large rattlesnake coiled on the trunk
of a tree under which he had been sleeping. He killed if,
and found it like those we had seen before, differing from
those of the Atlantic states, not in its colours but in the form
and arrangement of them; it had one hundred and seventy-six
scuta on the abdomen, and seventeen half-formed scuta
on the tail. There is a heavy dew on the grass about the
camp every morning, which no doubt proceeds from the
mist of the falls, as it takes place no where in the plains nor
on the river except here. The messenger sent to captain
Clarke returned with information of his having arrived five
miles below at a rapid, which he did not think it prudent to
ascend and would wait till captain Lewis and his party rejoined
him.

On Tuesday 11th, the day when captain Lewis left us,
we remained at the entrance of Maria's river and completed
the deposits of all the articles with which we could dispense.
The morning had been fair with a high wind from the southwest,
which shifted in the evening to northwest, when the
weather became cold and the wind high. The next morning,

Wednesday, 12, we left our encampment with a fair day
and a southwest wind. The river was now so crowded with
islands that within the distance of ten miles and a half we
passed eleven of different dimensions before reaching a high
black bluff in a bend on the left, where we saw a great number
of swallows. Within one mile and a half further we

passed four small islands, two on each side, and at fifteen
miles from our encampment reached a spring which the
men called Grog spring: it is on the northern shore, and at
the point where Tansy river approaches within one hundred
yards of the Missouri. From this place we proceeded
three miles to a low bluff on the north opposite to an island,
and spent the night in an old Indian encampment. The bluffs
under which we passed were composed of a blackish clay
and coal for about eighty feet, above which for thirty or
forty feet is a brownish yellow earth. The river is very
rapid and obstructed by bars of gravel and stone of different
shapes and sizes, so that three of our canoes were in great
danger in the course of the day. We had a few drops of rain
about two o'clock in the afternoon. The only animals we
killed were elk and deer; but we saw great numbers of
rattlesnakes.

Thursday, 13. The morning was fair and there was
some dew on the ground. After passing two islands we
reached at the distance of a mile and a half a small rapid
stream fifty yards wide, emptying itself on the south, rising
in a mountain to the southeast about twelve or fifteen miles
distant, and at this time covered with snow. As it is the channel
for the melted snow of that mountain we called it Snow
river: opposite to its entrance is another island: at one mile
and three quarters is a black bluff of slate on the south;
nine miles beyond which, after passing ten islands, we came
to on the southern shore near an old Indian fortified camp,
opposite the lower point of an island, having made thirteen
miles. The number of islands and shoals, the rapidity of
the river, and the quantity of large stones, rendered the
navigation very disagreeable: along the banks we distinguished
several low bluffs or cliffs of slate. There were
great numbers of geese and goslings; the geese not being
able to fly at this season. Gooseberries are ripe and in great
abundance; the yellow currant is also common, but not yet
ripe. Our game consisted of buffaloe and goats.

Friday, 14. Again the day is fine. We made two miles
to a small island in the southern bend, after passing several
bad rapids. The current becomes indeed swifter as we
ascend, and the canoes frequently receive water as we drag
them with difficulty along. At the distance of six miles we
reached captain Clarke's camp on the fourth, which is on
the north side and opposite to a large gravelly bar. Here
the man sent by captain Lewis joined us with the pleasing
intelligence that he had discovered the falls, and was convinced
that the course we were pursuing was that of the
true Missouri. At a mile and a half we reached the upper
point of an island, three quarters of a mile beyond which
we encamped on the south, after making only ten and a quarter
miles. Along the river was but little timber, but much
hard slate in the bluffs.

Saturday, 15. The morning being warm and fair we
set out at the usual hour, but proceeded with great difficulty
in consequence of the increased rapidity of the current.
The channel is constantly obstructed by rocks and
dangerous rapids. During the whole progress the men are in
the water hauling the canoes, and walking on sharp rocks and
round stones which cut their feet or cause them to fall.
The rattlesnakes too are so numerous that the men are
constantly on their guard against being bitten by them; yet
they bear the fatigues with the most undiminished cheerfulness.
We hear the roar of the falls very distinctly this
morning. At three and three quarter miles we came to a
rock in a bend to the south, resembling a tower. At six
and three quarter miles we reached a large creek on the
south, which after one of our men we called Shields's creek.
It is rapid in its course, about thirty yards wide, and on
sending a person five miles up it proved to have a fall of
fifteen feet, and some timber on its low ground. Above this
river the bluffs of the Missouri are of red earth mixed with
stratas of black stone; below it we passed some white clay
in the banks which mixes with water in every respect like

flour. At three and three quarter miles we reached a point
on the north opposite an island and a bluff; and one mile and
a quarter further, after passing some red bluffs, came to on
the north side, having made twelve miles. Here we found
a rapid so difficult that we did not think proper to attempt
the passage this evening, and therefore sent to captain
Lewis to apprise him of our arrival. We saw a number
of geese, ducks, crows, and blackbirds to-day, the two
former with their young. The river rose a little this evening,
but the timber is still so scarce that we could not procure
enough for our use during the night.

Sunday, June 16. Some rain fell last night, and this
morning the weather was cloudy and the wind high from the
southwest. We passed the rapid by doubly manning the
periogue and canoes, and halted at the distance of a mile
and a quarter to examine the rapids above, which we found
to be a continued succession of cascades as far as the view
extended, which was about two miles. About a mile above
where we halted was a large creek falling in on the south,
opposite to which is a large sulphur spring falling over the
rocks on the north: captain Lewis arrived at two from the
falls about five miles above us, and after consulting upon
the subject of the portage, we crossed the river and formed
a camp on the north, having come three quarters of a mile
to-day. From our own observation we had deemed the south
side to be the most favourable for a portage, but two men
sent out for the purpose of examining it, reported that the
creek and the ravines intersected the plain so deeply that it
was impossible to cross it. Captain Clarke therefore resolved
to examine more minutely what was the best route:
the four canoes were unloaded at the camp and then sent
across the river, where by means of strong cords they were
hauled over the first rapid, whence they may be easily drawn
into the creek. Finding too, that the portage would be at
all events too long to enable us to carry the boats on our
shoulders, six men were set to work to make wheels for carriages

to transport them. Since leaving Maria's river the
wife of Chaboneau, our interpreter, has been dangerously
ill, but she now found great relief from the mineral water of
the sulphur spring. It is situated about two hundred yards
from the Missouri, into which it empties over a precipice
of rock about twenty-five feet high. The water is perfectly
transparent, strongly impregnated with sulphur, and
we suspect iron also, as the colour of the hills and bluffs
in the neighbourhood indicates the presence of that metal.
In short the water to all appearance is precisely similar to
that of Bowyer's sulphur spring in Virginia.

Monday 17. Captain Clarke set out with five men to explore
the country; the rest were employed in hunting, making
wheels and in drawing the five canoes and all the
baggage up the creek, which we now called Portage creek:
from this creek there is a gradual ascent to the top of the
high plain, while the bluffs of the creek lower down and of
the Missouri, both above and below its entrance, were so
steep as to have rendered it almost impracticable to drag
them up from the Missouri. We found great difficulty and
some danger in even ascending the creek thus far, in consequence
of the rapids and rocks of the channel of the creek,
which just above where we brought the canoes has a fall
of five feet, and high and steep bluffs beyond it: we were
very fortunate in finding just below Portage creek a cottonwood
tree about twenty-two inches in diameter, and
large enough to make the carriage wheels: it was perhaps
the only one of the same size within twenty miles; and the
cottonwood, which we are obliged to employ in the other
parts of the work, is extremely soft and brittle. The mast
of the white periogue which we mean to leave behind, supplied
us with two axletrees. There are vast quantities of
buffaloe feeding in the plains or watering in the river, which
is also strewed with the floating earcases and limbs of these
animals. They go in large herds to water about the falls,
and as all the passages to the river near that place are narrow

and steep, the foremost are pressed into the river by
the impatience of those behind. In this way we have seen
ten or a dozen disappear over the falls in a few minutes.
They afford excellent food for the wolves, bears, and birds
of prey; and this circumstance may account for the reluctance
of the bears to yield their dominion over the neighbourhood.

Tuesday 18. The periogue was drawn up a little below
our camp and secured in a thick copse of willow bushes.
We now began to form a cache or place of deposit and to dry
our goods and other articles which required inspection. The
wagons too are completed. Our hunters brought us ten
deer, and we shot two out of a herd of buffaloe that came
to water at the sulphur spring. There is a species of gooseberry
growing abundantly among the rocks on the sides of
the cliffs: it is now ripe, of a pale red colour, about
the size of the common gooseberry, and like it is an ovate
pericarp of soft pulp enveloping a number of small whitish
coloured seeds, and consisting of a yellowish slimy mucilaginous
substance, with a sweet taste; the surface of the berry
is covered with a glutinous adhesive matter, and its fruit
though ripe retains its withered corolla. The shrub itself
seldom rises more than two feet high, is much branched,
and has no thorns. The leaves resemble those of the common
gooseberry except in being smaller, and the berry is
supported by separate peduncles or footstalks half an inch
long. There are also immense quantities of grasshoppers
of a brown colour in the plains, and they no doubt contribute
to the lowness of the grass, which is not generally more
than three inches high, though it is soft, narrow-leafed and
affords a fine pasture for the buffaloe.

Wednesday 19. The wind blew violently to-day, as it did
yesterday, and as it does frequently in this open country,
where there is not a tree to break or oppose its force. Some
men were sent for the meat killed yesterday which fortunately
had not been discovered by the wolves. Another party went
to Medicine river in quest of elk, which we hope may be

induced to resort there, from there being more wood in that
neighbourhood than on the Missouri. All the rest were occupied
in packing the baggage and mending their moccasins,
in order to prepare for the portage. We caught a number
of the white fish, but no catfish or trout. Our poor Indian
woman, who had recovered so far as to walk out, imprudently
ate a quantity of the white apple, which with some
dried fish occasioned a return of her fever.

The meridian altitude of the sun's lower limb, as observed
with octant by back observation, was 53° 15′, giving as the
latitude of our camp, 47° 8′ 59″ 5‴.

Thursday 20. As we were desirous of getting meat enough
to last us during the portage, so that the men might not be diverted
from their labour to look for food, we sent out four hunters
to-day: they killed eleven buffaloe. This was indeed an
easy labour, for there are vast herds coming constantly to the
opposite bank of the river to water; they seem also to make
much use of the mineral water of the sulphur spring, but
whether from choice, or because it is more convenient than
the river, we cannot determine, as they sometimes pass near
the spring and go on to the river. Besides this spring,
brackish water or that of a dark colour impregnated with
mineral salts, such as we have frequently met on the Missouri,
may be found in small quantities in some of the steep
ravines on the north side of the river opposite to us and at
the falls.

Captain Clarke returned this evening, having examined
the whole course of the river and fixed the route most practicable
for the portage. The first day, 17th, he was occupied
in measuring the heights and distances along the banks
of the river, and slept near a ravine at the foot of the crooked
falls, having very narrowly escaped falling into the river,
where he would have perished inevitably, in descending the
cliffs near the grand cataract. The next day, 18th, he continued
the same occupation, and arrived in the afternoon
at the junction of Medicine and Missouri rivers; up the latter

he ascended, and passed at the distance of a mile au
island and a little timber in an eastwardly bend of the river.
One mile beyond this he came to the lower point of a large
island; another small island in the middle of the river, and
one near the left shore at the distance of three miles, opposite
to the head of which he encamped near the mouth of a
creek which appeared to rise in the South mountain. These
three islands are opposite to each other, and we gave them
the name of the Whitebear islands from observing some of
those animals on them. He killed a beaver, an elk and eight
buffaloe. One of the men who was sent a short distance
from the camp to bring home some meat, was attacked by a
white bear, and closely pursued within forty paces of the
camp, and narrowly escaped being caught. Captain Clarke
immediately went with three men in quest of the bear, which
he was afraid might surprise another of the hunters who
was out collecting the game. The bear was however too
quick, for before captain Clarke could reach the man, the
bear had attacked him and compelled him to take refuge in
the water. He now ran off as they approached, and it being
late they deferred pursuing him till the next morning.