Journal entry · August 17, 1805
Patrick Gass: August 17, 1805
Patrick Gass · Camp Fortunate / Forks of Beaverhead River, Montana · Thwaites Vol. Gass 1807 First Edition
The place today: Camp Fortunate / Forks of Beaverhead River, Montana
2 miles, and discovered a number of the natives, of the Snake
nation, coming along the bank on the South side. Captain
Lewis had been as far as the waters of the Columbia river and
met them there. We continued on about two miles further to
a place where the river forks, and there halted and encamped,
after much fatigue and difficulty. The water is so shallow
that we had to drag the canoes, one at a time, almost all the
way. The distance across from this place to the waters of the
Columbia river is about 40 miles, and the road or way said to
be good. There were about 20 of the natives came over with
Captain Lewis and had the same number of horses. Here we
126 GASS’S JOURNAL OF THE
unloaded the canoes, and had a talk with the Indians; and
agreed with them that they should lend us some of their
horses to carry our baggage to the Columbia river.
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The NPS atlas for this night
Fortunate Camp, east side of Beaverhead River
NPS campsite reconstruction (Bergantino) · Camp of August 17 to August 23, 1805
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 / Forks of Beaverhead River, Montana in 360°
10 frames across 1.6 mi of the route around this location
Artwork
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