Lewis: July 19, 1805

Friday, July 19th, 1805. The mosquitoes are very troublesome to us as usual. This morning we set out early and proceeded on very well, though the water appears to increase in velocity as we advance. The current has been strong all day and obstructed with some rapids, though these are but little broken by rocks and are perfectly safe. The river is deep and from 100 to 150 yards wide. I walked along shore today and killed an antelope. Whenever we get a view of the lofty summits of the mountains, the snow presents itself, although we are almost suffocated in this confined valley with heat. The pine, cedar, and balsam fir grow on the mountains in irregular assemblages or spots, mostly high up on their sides and summits.

This evening we entered much the most remarkable cliffs that we have yet seen. These cliffs rise from the water's edge on either side perpendicularly to the height of 1200 feet. Every object here wears a dark and gloomy aspect. The towering and projecting rocks in many places seem ready to tumble on us. The river appears to have forced its way through this immense body of solid rock for the distance of 5 3/4 miles, and where it makes its exit below has thrown on either side vast columns of rocks mountains high. The river appears to have worn a passage just the width of its channel, or 150 yards. It is deep from side to side, nor is there in the first 3 miles of this distance a spot, except one of a few yards in extent, on which a man could rest the sole of his foot. Several fine springs burst out at the water's edge from the interstices of the rocks. It happens fortunately that, although the current is strong, it is not so much so but that it may be overcome with the oars, for there is here no possibility of using either the cord or setting pole. It was late in the evening before I entered this place, and I was obliged to continue my route until sometime after dark before I found a place sufficiently large to camp my small party. At length such a one occurred on the larboard side, where we found plenty of lightwood and pitch pine. This rock is a black granite below and appears to be of a much lighter color above, and from the fragments I take it to be flint of a yellowish brown and light cream-colored yellow. From the singular appearance of this place, I called it the Gates of the Rocky Mountains.

The mountains were higher today than yesterday. We saw some bighorns and a few antelopes, also beaver and otter; the latter are now very plenty—one of the men killed one of them today with a setting pole. Mosquitoes less troublesome than usual. We had a thundershower today about 1 P.M. which continued about an hour and was attended with some hail. We have seen no buffalo since we entered the mountains.

This morning early Capt. Clark pursued his route. He saw early in the day the remains of several Indian camps formed of willow brush, which appeared to have been inhabited some time this spring. He saw where the natives had peeled the bark off the pine trees about this same season. The Indian woman with us informs us that they do this to obtain the sap and soft part of the wood and bark for food. At 11 A.M. Capt. C. fell in with a gang of elk, of which he killed 2, and not being able to obtain as much wood as would make a fire, substituted the dung of the buffalo and cooked a part of their meat, on which they breakfasted, and again pursued their route, which lay along an old Indian road. This evening they passed a handsome valley watered by a large creek which extends itself with its valley into the mountain to a considerable distance. The latter part of the evening their route lay over a hilly and mountainous country covered with the sharp fragments of flint, which cut and bruised their feet excessively; nor were the prickly pear of the leveler part of the route much less painful. They have now become so abundant in the open uplands that it is impossible to avoid them, and their thorns are so keen and stiff that they pierce a double thickness of dressed deerskin with ease. Capt. C. informed me that he extracted 17 of these briers from his feet this evening after he camped, by the light of the fire. I have guarded, or rather fortified, my feet against them by soling my moccasins with the hide of the buffalo in parchment. He camped on the river much fatigued, having passed two mountains in the course of the day and traveled about 30 miles.