Lewis: to Great Falls / Clark: to Three Forks — John Ordway: July 7, 1806

John Ordway · Big Hole Valley · Thwaites Vol. Quaife 1916

That night's camp, per the NPS campsite reconstruction (Bergantino): east of summit of Big Hole Pass, 9 mi SE Jackson, MT

up our horses, found all except nine hunted in all directions
for them could not find them. So Cap1 Clark directed me to
1 “at the mouth of Camp Creek in the vicinity of town of Sula.” Coues.
In this vicinity the explorers had camped from Sept. 4-6, 1805.
2 The party had ascended Camp Creek several miles and then crossed the
continental divide to one of the sources of Wisdom or Big Hole River. This
passage of the Rockies is commonly known as Gibbons Pass, so named in honor
of Gen. John Gibbon. Wheeler gives (II, 318-19) an interesting recent account
of the appearance of the country in the vicinity of today’s travel.
3 The camp was “not far south from the spot where, on August 9, 1877,
General Gibbon and Chief Joseph fought the battle of the Big Hole during the
Nez Perce war.” Wheeler. In coming to the battle ground General Gibbon
followed practically the same route across the mountains and down the branch
of Wisdom River that Clark’s party had pursued seventy-one years before.
374 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS [July 8
stay with 4 men to hunt this day for them, about 9 Am Cap1
Clark and the rest of the party set out to go to canoe deposite.1
I and the 4 men went out in different directions to look for the
9 horses I and Labuiche went up a valley which led in the
mount” towards the ShoShones nation, got on the track of the
horses and followed it on untill towards evening and found them
still going on an IndD road, we turned them back to the last
nights Camp, the other 3 men had got back their also, we hob-
bled the horses and Camped here, had several Showers of rain
& Thunder in the course of this afternoon.