Clark: July 30, 1806

Friday 30th July 1806. Set out early this morning. At 12 miles arrived at the commencement of shoals, the channel on the starboard side near a high bluff. Passed a succession of those shoals for 6 miles, the lower of which was quite across the river and appeared to have a descent of about 3 feet. Here we were compelled to let the canoes down by hand for fear of their striking a rock under water and splitting. This is by far the worst place which I have seen on this river from the Rocky Mountains to this place, a distance of 694 miles by water. A pirogue or large canoe would with safety pass through the worst of those shoals, which I call the Buffalo Shoals from the circumstance of one of those animals being in them. The rock which crosses the river at those shoals appears hard and gritty, of a dark brown color. The cliffs on the starboard side are about 100 feet in height; on the larboard side the country is low and the bottom rises gradually back. Here is the first appearance of burnt hills which I have seen on this river; they are at a distance from the river on the larboard side.

I landed at the entrance of a dry creek on the larboard side below the shoals and took breakfast. Those dry rivers, creeks, etc. are like those of the Missouri, which take their rise in, and are the conveyance of, the water from those plains. They have the appearance of discharging immense torrents of water. The late rains which have fallen in the plains suddenly raised those brooks which receive the water of those plains on which those sudden and heavy showers of rain must have fallen. Several of which I have seen discharging those waters, while those below, heading or taking their rise in the same neighborhood, as I passed them appeared to have lately been high. Those brooks discharge immense amounts of mud also, which contributes much to the muddiness of the river.

After breakfast proceeded on. The river is much narrower than above, from only 3 to 400 yards wide, with only a few scattering trees to be seen on the banks. At 20 miles below the Buffalo Shoals passed a rapid which is by no means dangerous; it has a number of large rocks in different parts of the river which cause high waves, with a very good channel on the larboard side. This rapid I call Bear Rapid from the circumstance of a bear's being on a rock in the middle of this rapid when I arrived at it. A violent storm from the N.W. obliged us to land immediately below this rapid, draw up the canoes, and take shelter in an old Indian lodge above the entrance of a river which is nearly dry. It has lately been very high and spread over nearly 1/4 of a mile in width. Its channel is 88 yards, and in this there is not more water than could pass through an inch auger hole. I call it Yorks Dry River.

After the rain and wind passed over I proceeded on. At 7 miles passed the entrance of a river the water of which is 100 yards wide; the bed of this river is nearly 1/4 of a mile. This river is shallow and the water very muddy and of the color of the banks, a darkish brown. I observe great quantities of red stone thrown out of this river, that from the appearance of the hills at a distance on its lower side induced me to call this Redstone River. As the water was disagreeably muddy I could not camp on that side below its mouth. However, I landed at its entrance and sent out and killed two fat cows, and took as much of the flesh as the canoes would conveniently carry, and crossed the river and camped at the entrance of a brook on the larboard side under a large spreading cottonwood tree.

The river on which we passed today is not so wide as above, containing but few islands with a small quantity of cottonwood timber. No timber of any kind to be seen on the high lands on either side. In the evening below the entrance of Redstone River I observed great numbers of buffalo feeding on the plains, elk on the points, and antelopes. I also saw some of the bighorn animals at a distance on the hills. Gibson is now able to walk; he walked out this evening and killed an antelope.