Lewis: August 10, 1805
Lewis's small party traveled early along an Indian road on the south side of the river, halting at towering cliffs they named Rattlesnake Cliffs after Drewyer brought in three deer. After 15 more miles they reached a forks where Jefferson's River split. Lewis sent Drewyer and Shields to scout each branch, left a note for Clark, and after exploring himself chose the western fork. They camped in a beautiful cove. Meanwhile Clark advanced upriver past Beaverhead Rock, dragging canoes over shallow riffles and enduring a heavy hailstorm before camping.
Saturday August 10th 1805. We set out very early this morning and
continued our rout through the wide bottom on the Lard. side of the river
after passing a large creek at about 5 miles we fel in with a plain Indian
road which led towards the point that the river entered the mountain we
therefore pursued the road I sent Drewyer to the wright to kill a deer
which we saw feeding and halted on the river under an immencely high
perpendicular clift of rocks where it entered the mountain here we kindled
a fire and waited for Drewyer. he arrived in about an hour and a half or
at noon with three deer skins and the flesh of one of the best of them, we
cooked and eat a haisty meal and departed, returning a shot distance to
the Indian road which led us the best way over the mountains, which are
not very high but ar ruggid and approach the river closely on both sides
just below these mountains I saw several bald Eagles and two large white
headed fishinghawks boath these birds were the same common to our country.
from the number of rattle snakes about the Clifts at which we halted we
called them the rattle snake clifts. this serpent is the same before
discribed with oval spots of yellowish brown. the river below the
mountains is rapid rocky, very crooked, much divided by islands and withal
shallow. after it enters the mountains it’s bends are not so circuetous
and it’s general course more direct, but it is equally shallow les divided
more rocky and rapid. we continued our rout along the Indian road which
led us sometimes over the hills and again in the narrow bottoms of the
river till at the distance of fifteen Ms. from the rattle snake Clifts we
arrived in a hadsome open and leavel vally where the river divided itself
nearly into two equal branches; here I halted and examined those streams
and readily discovered from their size that it would be vain to attempt
the navigation of either any further. here also the road forked one
leading up the vally of each of these streams. I therefore sent Drewer on
one and Shields on the other to examine these roads for a short distance
and to return and compare their information with respect to the size and
apparent plainness of the roads as I was now determined to pursue that
which appeared to have been the most traveled this spring. in the mean
time I wrote a note to Capt. Clark informing him of the occurrences which
had taken place, recommending it to him to halt at this place untill my
return and informing him of the rout I had taken which from the
information of the men on their return seemed to be in favour of the S W
or Left hand fork which is reather the smallest. accordingly I put up my
note on a dry willow pole at the forks, and set out up the S. E. fork,
after proceeding about 11/2 miles I discovered that the road became so
blind that it could not be that which we had followed to the forks of
Jefferson’s river, neither could I find the tracks of the horses which had
passed early in the spring along the other; I therefore determined to
return and examine the other myself, which I did, and found that the same
horses had passed up the West fork which was reather largest, and more in
the direction that I wished to pursue; I therefore did not hesitate about
changing my rout but determined to take the western road. I now wrote a
second note to Capt C. informing him of this change and sent Drewyer to
put it with the other at the forks and waited untill he returned. there is
scarcely any timber on the river above the R. Snake Clifts, nor is there
anything larger than willow brush in sight of these forks. immediately in
the level plain between the forks and about 1/2 a mile distance from them
stands a high rocky mountain, the base of which is surrounded by the level
plain; it has a singular appearance. the mountains do not appear very high
in any direction tho the tops of some of them are partially covered with
snow. this convinces me that we have ascended to a great hight since we
have entered the rocky Mountains, yet the ascent has been so gradual along
the vallies that it was scarcely perceptable by land. I do not beleive
that the world can furnish an example of a river runing to the extent
which the Missouri and Jefferson’s rivers do through such a mountainous
country and at the same time so navigable as they are. if the Columbia
furnishes us such another example, a communication across the continent by
water will be practicable and safe. but this I can scarcely hope from a
knowledge of its having in it comparitively short course to the ocean the
same number of feet to decend which the Missouri and Mississippi have from
this point to the Gulph of Mexico.
The valley of the west fork through which we passed for four miles boar a
little to N of West and was about 1 mile wide hemned in on either side by
rough mountain and steep Clifts of rock at 41/2 miles this stream enters a
beatifull and extensive plain about ten miles long and from 5 to six in
width. this plain is surrounded on all sides by a country of roling or
high wavy plains through which several little rivulets extend their wide
vallies quite to the Mountains which surround the whole in an apparent
Circular manner; forming one of the handsomest coves I ever saw, of about
16 or 18 miles in diameter. just after entering this cove the river bends
to the N. W. and runs close under the Stard. hills. here we killed a deer
and encamped on the Stard.,side and made our fire of dry willow brush, the
only fuel which the country produces. there are not more than three or
four cottonwood trees in this extensive cove and they are but small. the
uplands are covered with prickly pears and twisted or bearded grass and
are but poor; some parts of the bottom lands are covered with grass and
tolerably fertile; but much the greater proportion is covered with prickly
pears sedge twisted grass the pulpy leafed thorn southernwood wild sage
&c and like the uplands is very inferior in point of soil. we traveled
by estimate 30 Ms. today, that is 10 to the Rattle snake Clift, 15 to the
forks of Jefferson’s river and 5 to our camp in the cove. at the apparent
extremity of the bottom above us two perpendicular clifts of considerable
hight stand on either side of the river and appers at this distance like a
gate, it is about 10 M. due West.
Capt Clark set out at sunrise this morning and pursued his rout; found the
river not rapid but shallow also very crooked. they were obliged to drag
the canoes over many riffles in the course of the day. they passed the
point which the natives call the beaver’s head. it is a steep rocky clift
of 150 feet high near the Stard. side of the river, opposite to it at the
distance of 300 yards is a low clift of about 50 feet which is the
extremity of a spur of the mountains about 4 miles distant on Lard. at 4
P.M. they experienced a heavy shower of rain attended with hail thunder
and Lightning which continued about an hour. the men defended themselves
from the hail by means of the willow bushes but all the party got
perfectly wet. after the shower was over they pursued their march and
encamped on the stard side only one deer killed by their hunters today.
tho they took up another by the way which had been killed three days
before by Jos. Fields and hung up near the river.
Read this entry in modern English AI-translated
Saturday, August 10th, 1805. We set out very early this morning and continued our route through the wide bottom on the larboard side of the river. After passing a large creek at about 5 miles, we came across a plain Indian road which led toward the point where the river entered the mountain, so we followed the road. I sent Drewyer (Drouillard) to the right to kill a deer we saw feeding, and we halted on the river under an immensely high perpendicular cliff of rocks where it entered the mountain. Here we kindled a fire and waited for Drewyer. He arrived in about an hour and a half, around noon, with three deer skins and the flesh of one of the best of them. We cooked and ate a hasty meal and departed, returning a short distance to the Indian road, which led us the best way over the mountains. These are not very high but are rugged and approach the river closely on both sides. Just below these mountains I saw several bald eagles and two large white-headed fishing hawks; both these birds were the same as those common to our country.
From the number of rattlesnakes about the cliffs at which we halted, we called them the Rattlesnake Cliffs. This serpent is the same as before described, with oval spots of yellowish brown. The river below the mountains is rapid, rocky, very crooked, much divided by islands, and shallow. After it enters the mountains, its bends are not so circuitous and its general course more direct, but it is equally shallow, less divided, more rocky, and rapid. We continued our route along the Indian road, which led us sometimes over the hills and again into the narrow bottoms of the river, until, at a distance of fifteen miles from the Rattlesnake Cliffs, we arrived in a handsome, open, and level valley where the river divided itself into nearly two equal branches. Here I halted and examined the streams, and readily saw from their size that it would be in vain to attempt navigating either any further. Here also the road forked, one branch leading up the valley of each stream. I therefore sent Drewyer on one and Shields on the other to examine these roads for a short distance and to return and compare their information regarding the size and apparent plainness of the roads, since I was now determined to pursue whichever appeared to have been the most traveled this spring. In the meantime, I wrote a note to Capt. Clark (Captain Clark) informing him of what had happened, recommending he halt at this place until my return, and informing him of the route I had taken, which, from the information the men brought back, seemed to favor the southwest or left-hand fork, which is rather the smaller. Accordingly, I put up my note on a dry willow pole at the forks and set out up the southeast fork. After proceeding about 1 1/2 miles, I discovered that the road became so faint that it could not be the one we had followed to the forks of Jefferson's River, nor could I find the tracks of the horses that had passed early in the spring along the other. I therefore decided to return and examine the other myself, which I did, and found that the same horses had passed up the west fork, which was rather larger and more in the direction I wished to pursue. I therefore did not hesitate to change my route and decided to take the western road. I now wrote a second note to Capt. C. (Captain Clark) informing him of this change, and sent Drewyer to place it with the other at the forks, and waited until he returned. There is scarcely any timber on the river above the Rattlesnake Cliffs, nor is there anything larger than willow brush in sight of these forks. Right in the level plain between the forks, about 1/2 a mile from them, stands a high rocky mountain, the base of which is surrounded by the level plain; it has a singular appearance. The mountains do not appear very high in any direction, though the tops of some of them are partially covered with snow. This convinces me that we have ascended to a great height since entering the Rocky Mountains, yet the ascent has been so gradual along the valleys that it was scarcely perceptible by land. I do not believe the world can furnish an example of a river running to the extent that the Missouri and Jefferson's Rivers do through such a mountainous country and at the same time being as navigable as they are. If the Columbia furnishes us another such example, a water communication across the continent will be practicable and safe. But I can scarcely hope this, knowing that in its comparatively short course to the ocean it has the same number of feet to descend which the Missouri and Mississippi have from this point to the Gulf of Mexico.
The valley of the west fork, through which we passed for four miles, lay a little north of west and was about 1 mile wide, hemmed in on either side by rough mountains and steep cliffs of rock. At 4 1/2 miles, this stream enters a beautiful and extensive plain about ten miles long and from 5 to 6 miles wide. This plain is surrounded on all sides by a country of rolling or high wavy plains, through which several little rivulets extend their wide valleys all the way to the mountains which surround the whole in an apparently circular manner, forming one of the handsomest coves I ever saw, about 16 or 18 miles in diameter. Just after entering this cove, the river bends to the northwest and runs close under the starboard hills. Here we killed a deer and camped on the starboard side, making our fire of dry willow brush, the only fuel the country produces. There are not more than three or four cottonwood trees in this extensive cove, and they are but small. The uplands are covered with prickly pears and twisted or bearded grass and are poor; some parts of the bottom lands are covered with grass and are tolerably fertile, but a much greater proportion is covered with prickly pears, sedge, twisted grass, the pulpy-leafed thorn, southernwood, wild sage, etc., and, like the uplands, are very inferior in soil. We traveled by estimate 30 miles today: 10 to the Rattlesnake Cliffs, 15 to the forks of Jefferson's River, and 5 to our camp in the cove. At the apparent end of the bottom above us, two perpendicular cliffs of considerable height stand on either side of the river and appear at this distance like a gate; it is about 10 miles due west.
Capt Clark (Captain Clark) set out at sunrise this morning and continued his route. He found the river not rapid but shallow and also very crooked. They were obliged to drag the canoes over many riffles in the course of the day. They passed the point which the natives call the Beaver's Head. It is a steep rocky cliff 150 feet high near the starboard side of the river; opposite it, at a distance of 300 yards, is a low cliff of about 50 feet, which is the end of a spur of the mountains about 4 miles distant on the larboard. At 4 P.M. they experienced a heavy shower of rain accompanied by hail, thunder, and lightning, which continued about an hour. The men shielded themselves from the hail with willow bushes, but the entire party got thoroughly wet. After the shower was over, they continued their march and camped on the starboard side. Only one deer was killed by their hunters today, though they picked up another along the way which had been killed three days before by Jos. Fields (Joseph Field) and hung up near the river.
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