Journal entry · June 26, 1805
Great Falls Portage — Patrick Gass: June 26, 1805
Patrick Gass · Great Falls Portage · Thwaites Vol. Gass 1807 First Edition
The place today: Great Falls Portage
the river, and myself and another went over the river to collect
bark; where a great gang of buffaloe came near us, and we
killed 7 of them. In the evening the men returned over the
plains with two more canoes and baggage. One man fell very
sick and Captain Lewis had to bleed him with a penknife,
having no other instrument at this camp. Captain Clarke
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION ios
measured the length of this portage accurately and found it
to be 18 miles. He also measured the height of the falls,
and found them in a distance of 17 miles 362 feet 9 inches.
The first great pitch 98 feet, the second 19 feet, the third 47
feet 8 inches, the fourth 26 feet; and a number of small
pitches, amounting altogether to 362 feet g inches.
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The NPS atlas for this night
White Bear Islands Camp, east bank
NPS campsite reconstruction (Bergantino) · Camp of June 18 to June 30, 1805
NPS sites within 5 miles of this camp
- Great Falls Upper Portage (opens in a new tab) NPS High Potential Historic Site · National Historic Landmark · 1.5 mi
- C.M. Russell Museum (opens in a new tab) Visitor center/museum · 3.8 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
Terrain360 · the place today
Great Falls Portage in 360°
10 frames across 0.2 mi of the route around this location
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