Montana

 Home  >>  Montana  >>  Glasgow  >>  Historical Article

Two Rivers from the North

By: LC200 staff

The Lewis and Clark Expedition entered the present day state of Montana on April 27, 1805 three weeks after departing their winter camp at Fort Mandan. They camped for the night just beyond the mouth of the Yellowstone River. The Captains made journal comments about the area as a good location for fur trading or military fortifications. (This area indeed was the location for Fort Union, built in 1828, Fort William built in 1832 and Fort Buford built in 1866. Fort Buford was a military fort while the other two were fur trading forts.)

The Corps of Discovery spent eleven days making their way up the Missouri River to “The River that Scolds all Others,” a distance of 184 miles. During the winter at Fort Mandan the Indians had given the Captains a certain amount of information about the “unknown area to the west.” This river was included. Lewis called it the Milk River because of its distinctive color he described as “a peculiar whiteness being about the color of a cup of tea with a tablespoon of milk.” It carries that same name today.

This was the second of two rivers the Captains were told about that flowed into the Missouri River from the north before they would reach the great falls of the Missouri. They would find a number of smaller streams that only flowed water when it rained or melting snow in the spring. Discovering a third major river later would present a very serious challenge for the Expedition.

Most of the journal entries are concerned with what the land looked like that they were passing through; generally rolling hills with very few trees except in the river and stream bottoms. The Captains had frequent comments on the existence of coal deposits in the area and an abundance of alkaline salts deposits. They also made comments on amount and kinds of game animals they saw and these animals’ predators. On May 2 Lewis described the coyote and the gray wolf; both were new to science, but the coyote had been briefly described the fall before. On April 29 the Expedition killed its first grizzly. Lewis noted that it took three shots and although the Indians fear this beast, for a skilled rifleman they were no big deal. In fact they were not as dangerous as had been represented. His opinion would be changed shortly. Both Lewis and Clark commented that there was an abundance of buffalo, deer, elk and antelope but they only took what they could make use of.

This was the land of the unusual for it was here Lewis made comment on the geese making their nests in trees. This fact from the Captains’ journals was highly doubted by the scientific community after the Expedition returned. On April 30th Clark records that Sacajawea showed him several different kinds of currant bushes. Today we recognize them as the Missouri, golden and black currants. This entry helped to establish the growing range for these plants and is one of the few times Sacajawea was credited by name with helping advance the scientific data collected on the Expedition.

Lewis carefully recorded every Indian sign the party encountered. These were primarily abandoned camps. However they did find several yards of scarlet cloth fastened onto a bush that appeared to be some sort of a sacrifice. Some of the camps while not used all the time were quite permanent and appeared to be regularly used at certain times of the year. These lodges were made of wood. Lewis described their construction as being several trees tied together at the top and spread at the bottom like a plains Indian teepee, but were larger, being 20 to 30 feet in diameter at the base and instead of a leather covering over the trees, more poles were laid in until a solid wall was formed. One of the camps also had a 5 foot tall driftwood barricade around it. Lewis also shot an Indian dog that had been following them and getting into their food supply at every opportunity. Some of the signs were evidence of very recent visits by the Indians. On May 28th the Expedition saw piles of hair still lying where it had been removed from an antelope skin. With all the wind they had had in that area these piles of hair were probably only a few hours old. That same day Captain Clark thought he saw wisps of smoke from cooking fires a few miles up the Milk River.

The weather provided constant entries for the journals. The wind blew most every day, sometimes being so strong that it prevented travel completely. Clark was amazed at getting an inch of snow on May 2. He says what an extraordinary climate where trees are green, flowers are budding and there is an inch of snow on the ground.

The work of moving the boats up the river was quite difficult, but fairly routine and not very much attention was given to it in the journals during this part of the trip. They would use sails when the wind was right for it. Other times the men hauled on the oars simply outmuscling the current of the river. They averaged about fifteen miles per day up the river.