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Journal entry · July 16, 1805
Missouri River above Great Falls, Gates of the Mountains — Patrick Gass: July 16, 1805
Patrick Gass · Missouri River above Great Falls, Gates of the Mountains · Thwaites Vol. Gass 1807 First Edition
The place today: Missouri River above Great Falls, Gates of the Mountains
Captain Lewis and two men went on ahead to the mountain
to take an observation. We passed the channel of a river on
the south side without water, about 60 yards wide. We had
fine water until about 1 o’clock, when we came within about
two miles of the mountain; when the water became more
rapid: but the current not so swift as below the falls. At
this place there are a number of small islands. One of our
men has been taken unwell. In the afternoon we continued
our voyage, and the water continued very rapid. We got
about three miles into the first range of the Rocky mountains,
and encamped on the north side of the river on the sand
112 GASS’S JOURNAL OF THE
beach. There is some fine timber on the mountains, but not
much in this part. There are great hills of solid rock of a
dark colour. This day we went about 20 miles.
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The NPS atlas for this night
island near west (left) side of Missouri River, near Cascade, MT
NPS campsite reconstruction (Bergantino)
About 21.4 miles of travel mapped this day (NPS’s reconstruction of the course)
NPS sites within 5 miles of this camp
- Tower Rock (opens in a new tab) NPS High Potential Historic Site · National Register · 4.5 mi
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
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