Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains

The men had never seen anything like it. There they were---huge mountains that seemed to reach the sky! It was like finding a great rock wall rising up out of the continent to block their path. These mountains had sharp, jagged peaks, and many were snow-capped all summer. The mountains they knew back home were not nearly so tall, and had rounded tops, and the snow melted in the summer. These mountains were something else---rugged, rough, and rocky---and deserved to be called the Rocky Mountains.

Of course, Sacajawea knew about the Rockies. After all, she had been born in the Lemhi Valley of Idaho and had lived there until she was kidnapped and taken away.

The Rockies don't really rise up suddenly. The land on both sides of the mountains slopes up toward the mountains, and rivers run downhill away from the mountains. Thus Lewis and Clark followed the Missouri River uphill to the Rockies.

As the party moved higher, they found their way blocked by an astounding set of waterfalls---the Great Falls of the Missouri. (These are near the present city of Great Falls, Montana.)

While Lewis was hiking upstream to check out the river, he heard a waterfall ahead. He discovered a beautiful fall in the river, more than 40 feet high. Further upstream, he found a second fall 19 feet high, another 50 feet high, another 14 feet high, and a fifth that was 26 feet high. These falls made up a stretch of the river 12 miles long, and it was impossible to take boats through this area.

This meant that the party had to make a portage, which is carrying everything around the falls. The portage was 16 miles over land, and it took 12 days to carry everything. They cut down trees and built crude wagons to carry their canoes and baggage. One of their boats was destroyed, so Clark put some men to work making two dugout canoes from large cottonwood trees. It took 5 days to hollow out the trunks and make canoes.

When they were ready to travel again, the men set out in 2 large and 6 small canoes. They were now headed toward the Continental Divide and a meeting with Shoshoni Indians---Sacajawea's people. Often, Lewis or Clark would set off on foot to explore ahead of the canoes. During this time, Lewis saw and recorded many "new" animals---at least they were new to him and other Americans. (See Animals page.) Finally, they reached the Three Forks, where the Missouri River is formed by three tributaries---the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers. Here they turned up the Jefferson River toward the Lemhi Pass, where on August 12, 1805, Lewis and another member of the party crossed the Continental Divide into what is now Idaho.

What Lewis saw shattered his plan for an easy trip down the "Columbia" river to the Pacific Ocean. Instead of finding a river, he saw the Bitterroot Mountains (part of the Rockies) stretching west, together with small mountain streams and mountains more rugged and steeper than those they had just crossed. There was a lot of hard travel ahead.

After meeting Sacajawea's brother, Chief Cameahwait, the party stayed for a while. Chief Cameahwait explained that there were no buffalo west of the Continental Divide, and that the Indians living there ate mainly salmon and roots. Food was scarce in these high mountains, and the Shoshoni had none to spare. Lewis was able to trade the Shoshoni for some horses and a guide and some directions for getting to Nez Perce country. They had to turn north toward the Clearwater River, because the Salmon River was too rugged to travel. (The Salmon is sometimes called "The River of No Return.")

As the party struggled over rugged mountains and snow, they found little food and were hungry much of the time. Wild game was very scarce. On the Bitterroot River, the party came upon some Flathead Indians, who sold them more horses. Crossing the Bitterroot Mountains in September was their worst time yet. The Bitterroots are a mile-high mass of rock, with jagged, snowy peaks. No wild game could be found, and they killed a colt to eat.

Finally, starving and sick, the party staggered into the camp of Nez Perce Chief Twisted Hair at Weippe Prairie (Idaho). The Nez Perce were friendly and provided them with food--dried salmon and boiled camas bulbs. Unfortunately, this unfamiliar food made the white men terribly sick, and it took a week for everyone to recover.

However, they were now on the Clearwater River, which flows into the Snake River, which flows into the Columbia River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. It was truly "down hill" the rest of the way. Recovered at last, the men made new dugout canoes. They used large Ponderosa pine trees, and hollowed them out by the method shown them by the Indians--burning out the heartwood. The new dugout canoes were clumsy and hard to manage, overturned easily, and sprung leaks. Supplies were damaged and lost in the water. However, the dugouts were transportation, and the Corps of Discovery was now only a few hundred miles from the Pacific. (See Snake and Columbia Rivers page.)

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