Discovering Lewis and Clark

Aug. 7-11, 2002

Aug. 7: Following the Salmon river north led us to the Lemhi valley and the "Lewis and Clark Trail". Since it is getting close to the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, the Lewis and Clark expedition has been getting a lot of attention lately. Not wanting to be left out of all the fun, we starting "following" the Lewis and Clark trail, but not quite in the order in which they did it. First we headed south down the Lemhi valley to Tendoy, where we turned on to a 39 mile gravel loop that lead us to Lemhi pass and back.

Lemhi pass on the Idaho-Montana border, looking into Montana. The pass is on the Continental Divide. Lewis came up here in search of the Shoshone Indians in the hope that he could purchase horses from them.

This spring is about a quarter-mile from the Lemhi pass summit - on the Montana side. Lewis decided that this spring was the source of the Missouri river. Following it downstream leads to the Jefferson river. The USGS puts the headwaters of the Missouri and the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers. Thus this waters runs into the Missouri.

Looking into Idaho from Lemhi pass. When Lewis was here (Aug. 12, 1805) he hoped to see the headwaters of the Columbia river and a plain leading to the Pacific ocean. Instead he saw snow-covered mountains to the west and realized that getting to the Pacific was tougher than he thought. The mountains on the other side of Lemhi valley are hidden in storm clouds in this picture. Earlier we saw rather barren mountains and no snow; apparently the area is experiencing a drought and has not gotten much snow in the last few years. The Lemhi valley below is where Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman accompanying Lewis and Clark, was born and lived before being captured by another Indian tribe.

We then headed north along the Salmon river and followed it as it turned west. This brought us to the Shoup townsite, where there is still a neat looking store with old-fashioned gas pumps out front. It was like stepping back into the Thirties. Unfortunately, the store was closed; this was their day off. Capt. Clark, with an advance party, had explored the Salmon river as far as this point, but decided the route was impassable and turned back.
Aug. 8: We also turned back (the road didn't go much further) and headed north over Lost Trail Pass into Montana. Lewis and Clark came this way as well, but their Shoshone guide Toby lost the trail and they missed the pass by a couple of miles. The route from here leads north into the Bitterroot valley.

This is Trapper Peak, which, at 10,157 feet,  is the highest peak in the 200 mile long Bitterroot range. Lewis and Clark passed along here and must have seen these mountains as well.

The next stop was Traveller's Rest State Park, near Lolo, MT. This is where Lewis and Clark camped before heading west over Lolo Pass; They also stopped here on their way back home. The state park is brand new, having opened in May. Archaeologists are investigating the area and believe they have found Lewis and Clark's actual campsite. The evidence supporting this is the presence of mercury in the soil where they think the latrine was located. Lewis and Clark's medicine supply included "Dr. Rush's Thunderclappers", which was mostly mercury.

We drove up to the Lolo pass summit, but there wasn't much to see; the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center there is still under construction and will not open until October. There was no snow on Lolo pass when we were there, although Lewis and Clark were wallowing in snow in Sept., 1805.

Aug. 9: Next we headed for Great Falls; the falls were an important landmark for Lewis and Clark since it confirmed that they were still on the Missouri river. Lewis arrived here on June 13; they discovered there were 5 falls, not one fall as they expected. It took them 2 weeks to get all their gear over the 18 mile portage. I'm glad we don't take that much stuff on our Boundary Waters canoe trips!

The Missouri river at Great Falls, MT. The falls are no more; they have been flooded, or otherwise destroyed, by dams and reservoirs. There is an excellent Lewis and Clark center in Great Falls.

Aug. 10: The "Gates of the Mountains", as Lewis called this region on the Missouri river, south of Great Falls. The cliffs go up to 1200 feet high and it appears that you are going into the mountains as you enter this gorge. We took the boat tour through the area; it was very well done and the scenery is great.

The next stop was the Three Forks area, where three rivers come together to form the official start of the Missouri river. The picture shows the Madison river coming in from the left, the Jefferson river coming in from the center, and the Missouri flowing out to the right. About a half mile downstream, the Gallatin river joins the Missouri. The Shoshone woman, Sacagawea, recognized this area when they arrived here; she said that this is where she was captured by another Indian tribe. Lewis and Clark debated over which fork to follow and chose, correctly, the Jefferson fork.

Aug. 11: Following along the trail of Lewis and Clark, we came next to Beaverhead rock, which Sacagawea had recognized as an important landmark for the Shoshone. She then knew that her home tribe was in the next valley over the mountains to the southwest. This rock is supposed to look like a swimming beaver. Does it look like one to you?

The next landmark on the Lewis and Clark trail is Camp Fortunate. This is where Clark camped with the main group while Lewis took an advance party over Lemhi pass in search of  the Shoshone. He met up with them and  brought the Shoshone chief, Cameahwait, back to Camp Fortunate. When they started negotiations over purchasing horses, Sacagawea, who was serving as an interpreter, recognized Cameahwait as her brother, and consequently, he was agreeable to selling horses to Lewis and Clark. Camp Fortunate is believed to be under the present Clark Canyon reservoir, about half way between the near shoreline and the island.

That is enough Lewis and Clark history; next we head south to the Tetons to see some real mountains.