Lewis and Clark in Montana, April 1805-September 1805,
July-August 1806
With the winter of 1804-5 now behind them the Lewis and Clark Expedition
began the next leg of its journey. They were now heading off the maps of the day.
While trappers and traders had been visiting the Mandan villages for years
and were relatively "known", the country to the west was
unknown to all but the natives. Some evidence exists of visitors ascending
the Yellowstone River with the natives but so far no undeniable accounts
or maps have been discovered. Laroque preceded them on the Yellowstone
via the Bighorn River after the expedition departed to the west so he
would have seen that area before them. Read
Abraham
Nasatir's "Before Lewis and Clark" for more on this aspect of the expedition. In what is now Canada to the north, the explorers had already crossed the prairie and had penetrated the mountains and made their way to the coast of British Columbia and had discovered some of the major rivers that emptied in the Pacific Ocean.
Commonly overlooked, Europeans were not the "first" in any
of these areas, and while they considered it a wilderness, it was home to a
large and diverse population of native cultures who had considered it home for generations.
This in no way diminishes the accomplishments of the expedition it just changes
the context a bit. Fortunately for these early explorers the indians generally
were very helpful in assisting them in crossing the "wilderness".
The expedition wasted little time moving upstream. In late April they
arrived at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers where
todays border now separates North Dakota and Montana. They would spend
about 6 months in Montana, all of it traveling. No other leg of the journey
would require as much energy and single mindedness (save maybe pushing the
boats up the swollen lower Missouri the previous spring) as this leg of
their journey. The prairies would treat them well but as they neared the
mountains things became more difficult. They spent several days deciding
whether the Maria's (Marias River) or Missouri River was the actual Missouri.
In the end they chose correctly but found out all to soon that a "falls"
on the Missouri actually turned out to be several and took nearly a month
to portage around them.
They were also becoming concerned about finding
Shoshone horses to carry them for what they hoped was a short trip over
the mountains. By the time they arrived at the Beaverhead River they
were dragging canoes in very little water and desperate for horses to carry
their baggage. Finally, in mid August, Lewis' party met with the long
sought after Shoshones while descending Lemhi Pass into Idaho. After several
days of talks, scouting, and horse trading, the expedition set out. Now
with horses carrying their gear they entered Montana once again via the
area of today's Lost Trail Pass. After a brief meeting with a tribe of Flathead
indians they made their way down today's Bitteroot Valley following the
river of the same name. Near the junction of today's Lolo Creek and the
Bitteroot River they camped and prepared to cross the mountains to the west.
Dubbed "Travelers Rest", the party used the same site that had been used
for many years by the local indian tribes.
It was now early September. They had seen snow a few days earlier on Lost
Trail Pass and they were getting anxious. Getting caught on the wrong side
of the mountains would be a disaster. They wasted no time and set out following up Lolo
Creek to today's Lolo Pass where they entered Idaho and a grueling crossing
of the Lolo Trail.
The Return Trip, July-August 1806
Summer was entering full swing in the mountain valleys as the expedition
descended from the Lolo Trail in the Bitteroot Mountains of Idaho and into
Montana. They arrived at Travelers Rest spending just enough time to
divide the group into two parties. One would go with Clark and one with
Lewis. Lewis's party would travel overland via the Blackfoot River, known
as "the Buffalo road" by the natives, over a pass and onto the plains
to the falls of the Missouri. Clarks party would return via the Bitteroot
valley bypassing Lost Trail, and taking today's Gibbon Pass into the Bighole
Valley and on to their previous summers cache at "Camp Fortunate", today's
Clark Canyon Reservoir. From here Clark would return to the Missouri Headwaters
where they would split again, part of the group joining him to explore
the Yellowstone, the rest to rendezvous with Lewis at the Great Falls.
Ultimately they were all to meet at the confluence of the Yellowstone
and the Missouri.
Lewis' return trip to the falls went well. Following the Blackfoot River
to the Landers fork they turned north for a few miles then crossed onto
Alice Creek which they followed to near its source and ascended today's
Lewis and Clark Pass. Descending they crossed the Dearborn River and then
followed the Sun River to the Missouri River.
From this point Lewis took part of the group and headed north to explore
the headwaters of the Marias in an effort to establish the northern boundary
of the Louisiana Purchase. A few days later they found themselves deep
in the heart of Blackfeet territory in the rain and unable to get a good
astronomical reading. The site, Camp Disappointment, is near today's Browning,
Montana and still the heart of Blackfeet country. Disheartened with his
luck Lewis turned the group around and headed for the Missouri. In the
afternoon of the same day they encountered a small group of Blackfeet Indians
on the breaks above the Two Medicine River. After an uneasy introduction
the two parties agreed to camp along the river below. Early the following
morning a skirmish ensued, apparently as a result of the Indians making
a move on the parties weapons and then their horses. One indian was killed
outright and one died almost certainly of a gunshot wound. The party quickly
assembled enough horses to carry them from what they felt would certainly
be a swift attack to avenge the loss of the indians fallen comrades. They rode south as fast and as long as they could. Stopping only briefly
to rest, they arrived on the Missouri almost simultaneously with comrades
of their own coming down the river in canoes.
Clark's party had a comparably relaxed descent of the Yellowstone River.
Sgt. Pryor was given the task of head wrangler for the remaining horses
once the party again took to water. While the group on the river made better
time, Pryor and company fell behind, the little band of horses falling
prey to the roving bands of Crow Indians who established their standing
among their tribe by feats of bravery, one of these feats being the lifting
of stranger's horses. The Indians had practiced their craft so thoroughly
that the would be wranglers were in the end, afoot. Not to be dissuaded,
Pryor and company shot enough Buffalo to make "bull boats" (basically skins stretched over a wooden frame that the Indians used for river crossings) and once again took to
the water themselves. They would be reunited with the rest of their group
a few days later below the mouth of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, horseless, but with no doubt a good story to tell.