Journal entry · August 16, 1805

Camp Fortunate / Shoshone contact — John Ordway: August 16, 1805

John Ordway · Camp Fortunate / Shoshone contact · Thwaites Vol. Quaife 1916

The place today: Camp Fortunate / Shoshone contact

the Thurmometer Stood at 47° the water so cold that we delayed
until after we took breakfast. One hunter out this morning. 2
hunters Stayed out last night, we proceeded on as usal. passed
a handsom Spring run on L. Side Some timber on it. we find
the current Swift [and] the river Shallow we are oblidged to hall
the large canoes the most of the time. Cap1 Clark our Intrepter
& wife walked on Shore and found a great quantity of Servis
berrys the largest & best I ever saw. they gethered a pale full
&. C. Gave them out to the party at noon where we halted to
dine at a grove of cotton trees on L. Side. Saw a nomber of bald
& grey Eagles &. C. our hunter who went out this morning killed
a verry large buck, the bottoms on the River narrow we name
this place Servis berry valley, the 2 hunters who Stayed out
last night joined us here and informed us that the River forks again
only about 6 miles by land from this & that each fork was Shallow.
2 hunters sent on to the forks to hunt we proceeded on passed
up Sholes & rapids towards evening we passed up a verry bad
rockey rapid which was difficult to pass over, we were oblidged
to waid and hale the canoes over the large rocks &. C. we passed
a fine Spring on S. Side and a run on L. Side2 high clifts of rocks
& hills on each Side found pleanty of currents on the banks.
1 Seven miles by land. The camp was at the mouth of a small run, three
miles above Grasshopper Creek. Coues gives its name as Gallagher’s Creek.
2 Now called Clark Caflon Creek. The springs mentioned by Ordway are
shown on some modern maps.
1805] SERGEANT ORDWAY’S JOURNAL 267
the water not So Swift above the bad rapid, we Came [blank in
Ms.] miles1 and Camped on a narrow bottom on L. Side no
timber, we gethered small willow Sticks only to boil our vension.
the beaver verry pleanty &. C.

The NPS atlas for this night

right shore of Beaverhead River just above Clark Canyon Creek, MT

NPS campsite reconstruction (Bergantino)

Nearest 360° view, 1.5 mi ↗ (opens in a new tab)

See this place on the Trail Explorer →

From the NPS Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Park Atlas, mirrored here on September 21, 2026. This copy is not authoritative; NPS remains the system of record. About the mirror

Terrain360 · the place today

Camp Fortunate / Shoshone contact in 360°

Lemhi Pass to Clark Canyon · 949 panoramas on this trail · 57 journal entries written here Nearest capture is 2.3 mi from the tagged location.

10 frames across 1.6 mi of the route around this location

Help improve this record

See something that needs correcting, or know a source we are missing? The archive gets better through its readers.

Send a correction

Our Partners

Follow the research

New findings, additions, and corrections from the archive. One email a month, no noise.