Friday, September 7, 2018
PLANS:
Our plans for Friday, Saturday and Sunday were to enjoy the few sites at Great Falls today and Saturday, worship on Sunday and then plan whether we can visit the three (3) Continental Divide passes Lewis and Clark crossed (Lemhi Pass, Lolo Pass and Lewis and Clark Pass). Since one is accessible only by dirt trail, one by dirt road only and the other by paved road, we need to think this over since we're pulling a 21ft white box. We left our Dick's RV Campground at 10:00 and arrived at Great Falls Interpretative Center 10:30;
Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail,
Great Falls Interpretative Center, Great Falls, MT
This is the most highly rated and the only Interpretative Center on the entire Lewis and Clark Trail to include ALL parts of their entire trip, not just a specific portion like Fort Mandan, Confluence of Missouri & Yellowstone, etc., etc. The Great Falls Center also includes up to 50 miles of bike and walking trails along both sides of the Missouri to view all four falls/dam sites (5 falls with one under water). The museum also presents the entire Lewis and Clark calendar with exhibits for each journey, both west and east. Armaments, uniforms, maps, pictures, diagrams, old paintings and prints. The museum also displays excellent on the Indian Tribes they encountered: Otoe, Sioux, Mandan/Hidatsa, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Salish, Clatsop, Blackfeet, and Crow Indians.
The Center also houses an original copy of 1809 Congress papers, "A Bill Making Compensation to Messiers Lewis and Clark, and their Companions, January 23, 1807".
Hundreds of copies were made for Congress and most stored in the Library of Congress. When the British burned Washington DC in 1812, most were destroyed. This is only one of three existing copies.
We viewed three very good 15-20 minute films:
1. At 11:00am, Ken Burns Introductory Film The Last Best Place
2. At 12:00pm, Medicine of the Corps of Discovery
3. At 20:10pm, The Great Portage
BRIEF OVERVIEW
After winter at Fort Mandan ended, in March 1806, 30 men and Sagagawea headed up the Missouri in 6 dughout canoes. They sent the keel boat back to St. Louis with 15-18 men, specimens, alive and stuffed, records/journals, plants, fossils, birds and maps.
Imagine Meriwether Lewis' surprise when on June 13, 1805 he heard the roaring falls, saw the smoke/mist and then beheld the Great Falls (80ft high), then upstream a second, Crooked Falls (19ft high), and a third, Rainbow Falls (50ft high), a fourth named Colter Falls (6ft high by quarter mile long), and a fifth, Black Eagle Falls (26ft high and 600 yards long). Five major water falls over 15 miles! So now the Corp's two Captains said, "now what?" What they did (portage) took a month rather than the one or two days the Hidatsa Indians at Ft. Mandan told them. They were the ones who told Lewis there was "a falls," not five falls! NOTE: Lewis also discovered the Sun River (he called Medicine River) where we are camped for the weekend here at Dicks RV.
So they needed to portage (carry boats and cargo between two navigable rivers), actually four (4) times they portaged to haul all the dugout canoes and cargo up riverbanks on land 15 miles up river, and back again. The Corps of Discovery spent more time at Great Falls, 1 month, than any other place, except Camp Mandan (ND), Camp River Dubois (IN) and Camp Clatsop (OR)..
Ken Burns Film The Last Best Place
The entire journey took 2 years, 4 months 10 days from west to east and back to St. Louis. They "struggled against the relentless current," were told to find the NW passage, the easy water continental route, and they were told "to avoid the Blackfeet Indians at all costs."
The Indians they encountered going west from Ft. Mandan had heard all Lewis "Great Father" speech before since the French, Spanish, British explorers gave them a similar one, all in order to gain trade in beaver fur. Up Missouri River after portaging the Great Falls, Lewis and three others found the single spring source of the "Great Missouri" and ran up to the top of the ridge, only to see the Rockies, a major disappointment. There was now for certain no easy water route, no NW passage through the continent as Jefferson so desired.
At the Lemhi Pass, the Corp now got Shoshone horses but still needed to pass through the Bitterroot Mountains. On September 19, 1805, 30 of them awoke covered with snow, with nothing to eat. So they plodded on. 11 days later the starving Corps came down to the Nez Perce Indians along the Clearwater River. After consulting together about what to do the Chiefs decided to kill them all and keep the horses and cargo. But an old Nez Perce woman named Watkuweis told tribal leaders NOT to kill them because white men had previously treated her kindly and cared for her; she said, "do them no harm." So they spared the men and Sagagawea.
The Nez Perce traded more horses and told Old Toby to guide the Corps west, so in new dugout canoes, they went down the Clearwater to the Snake River. Lewis and three men went to explore the Missouri and Marias River confluence where they encountered eight teenaged Blackfeet braves who camped overnight with the four men of the Corps. In the morning, Lewis awoke to one Indian fighting with Ruben Field for his rifle, who stabbed the Indian. Other Piegan Blackfeet were stealing the horses, and when Lewis shouted to stop, one turned to fire on Lewis, but Lewis fired first and shot him in the belly. The Indian dropped to his knees, then elbow and shot towards Lewis who said in his journal later, "being bearheaded I felt the wind of his bullet very distinctly." This was the only violent encounter of the entire journey.
We don't read this next story much either, but... two weeks later, after this encounter with the Blackfeet Indians and meeting up with Clark and his team at the Yellowstone River, Lewis went Elk hunting with Pierre Cruzatte, who had only one good eye. Cruzatte shot Lewis through the buttocks, thinking he was an Elk. Lewis was then relegated to a pirogue for weeks lying face down in order for his would to recover.
On October 16th, they went down the Columbia River, shooting through the Columbia River Gorge Class 5 rapids, in dugout canoes! Now in Oregon Territory, they reached the Pacific at the mouth of the Columbia River near Astoria, OR. They spent 3 months at Ft Clatsop (and only 15 days without rain), where they worked on their journals and maps and prepared for their trip east, They identified 134 animal species and subspecies, 5 new bird species and 174 plants.
Film2 Medicine and The Corps of Discovery
51 men started the expedition, all suffering from dehydration, sickness, bites, aching muscles, all types of fevers and diseases and starvation. All of this was handled with toxic pills and bloodletting. A total of 29 Corps members made the 8,000 mile total trip. It's amazing that no one other than Sgt. Floyd died since much of their medicine was toxic and poisonous. Mosquitoes infected bites were cured with Peruvian bark and they protected themselves from tick, fly and mosquito bites with bear grease. Drinking parasite infested Missouri River water caused dysentery and Philadelphia's Dr. Benjamin Rush's "thunder clapper" pills (with 60% calomel, mercury content) didn't help. We heard a few times that archaeological digs located L&C latrines through soil samples with high mercury content. Bloodletting was common and not healthy for certain symptoms since taking blood dropped blood pressure and many men simply fainted. And since people probably tolerated pain better back then, including fractures, back and shoulder pain, bites, there may not have been much in L&C journals about "normal problems."
We men a woman NPS Volunteer Guide named Susan, who lived in Havre, MT and she told us she and her husband lived and worked through -59F, -101windchill during Christmas of 1983).
3rd Film; The Great Portage
When they passed the white cliffs towards confluence of Marias/Missouri, Hidatsa said "a waterfall" but said nothing of more: Lewis on June 13-14 found total of 5 total falls/cataracts in 15 miles; it took them four times to haul canoes up creek bluffs; once with no shelter, a sudden thunderstorm sent huge hailstones (2" wide and 7" circumference) leaving the men bloodied, Sergeant Gass assembled Lewis (Harpers Ferry) iron boar here at the Falls. It was 36ft long but they found no pine resin to seal buffalo hides so "the experiment sank," a great disappointment to Lewis. From Great Falls up the Missouri into steep canyons, a fast river with no place to camp. They then met 3 rivers forming Missouri (Three Forks, MT) where Sagajawea was captured by Hidatsa years earlier.
After spending over 4.25 hours at the Interpretive Center, we drove the road along Missouri to view Rainbow Falls, Colter (under water) Crooked falls, then back to Black Eagle falls. We did not see the Great Falls since it was quite a hike. We went to a local "Drug Store" and ordered a huckleberry milk shake, got the truck washed (what a buggy mess), shopped for some groceries, then got back to camp at 4:15 @ 91degrees.
Tomorrow, Charles Russell Museum (Bill a great fan Russell's and Frederick Remington's western art) and possibly a trip out to Fort Bento, MT.
(NOTE: just click or tap on any image and it will be magnified)
Great Falls Interpretative Center, Great Falls, MT
This is the most highly rated and the only Interpretative Center on the entire Lewis and Clark Trail to include ALL parts of their entire trip, not just a specific portion like Fort Mandan, Confluence of Missouri & Yellowstone, etc., etc. The Great Falls Center also includes up to 50 miles of bike and walking trails along both sides of the Missouri to view all four falls/dam sites (5 falls with one under water). The museum also presents the entire Lewis and Clark calendar with exhibits for each journey, both west and east. Armaments, uniforms, maps, pictures, diagrams, old paintings and prints. The museum also displays excellent on the Indian Tribes they encountered: Otoe, Sioux, Mandan/Hidatsa, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Salish, Clatsop, Blackfeet, and Crow Indians.
1. At 11:00am, Ken Burns Introductory Film The Last Best Place
2. At 12:00pm, Medicine of the Corps of Discovery
3. At 20:10pm, The Great Portage
BRIEF OVERVIEW
After winter at Fort Mandan ended, in March 1806, 30 men and Sagagawea headed up the Missouri in 6 dughout canoes. They sent the keel boat back to St. Louis with 15-18 men, specimens, alive and stuffed, records/journals, plants, fossils, birds and maps.
Imagine Meriwether Lewis' surprise when on June 13, 1805 he heard the roaring falls, saw the smoke/mist and then beheld the Great Falls (80ft high), then upstream a second, Crooked Falls (19ft high), and a third, Rainbow Falls (50ft high), a fourth named Colter Falls (6ft high by quarter mile long), and a fifth, Black Eagle Falls (26ft high and 600 yards long). Five major water falls over 15 miles! So now the Corp's two Captains said, "now what?" What they did (portage) took a month rather than the one or two days the Hidatsa Indians at Ft. Mandan told them. They were the ones who told Lewis there was "a falls," not five falls! NOTE: Lewis also discovered the Sun River (he called Medicine River) where we are camped for the weekend here at Dicks RV.
So they needed to portage (carry boats and cargo between two navigable rivers), actually four (4) times they portaged to haul all the dugout canoes and cargo up riverbanks on land 15 miles up river, and back again. The Corps of Discovery spent more time at Great Falls, 1 month, than any other place, except Camp Mandan (ND), Camp River Dubois (IN) and Camp Clatsop (OR)..
Ken Burns Film The Last Best Place
The entire journey took 2 years, 4 months 10 days from west to east and back to St. Louis. They "struggled against the relentless current," were told to find the NW passage, the easy water continental route, and they were told "to avoid the Blackfeet Indians at all costs."
The Indians they encountered going west from Ft. Mandan had heard all Lewis "Great Father" speech before since the French, Spanish, British explorers gave them a similar one, all in order to gain trade in beaver fur. Up Missouri River after portaging the Great Falls, Lewis and three others found the single spring source of the "Great Missouri" and ran up to the top of the ridge, only to see the Rockies, a major disappointment. There was now for certain no easy water route, no NW passage through the continent as Jefferson so desired.
At the Lemhi Pass, the Corp now got Shoshone horses but still needed to pass through the Bitterroot Mountains. On September 19, 1805, 30 of them awoke covered with snow, with nothing to eat. So they plodded on. 11 days later the starving Corps came down to the Nez Perce Indians along the Clearwater River. After consulting together about what to do the Chiefs decided to kill them all and keep the horses and cargo. But an old Nez Perce woman named Watkuweis told tribal leaders NOT to kill them because white men had previously treated her kindly and cared for her; she said, "do them no harm." So they spared the men and Sagagawea.
 |
| Going West North (Lewis) and South (Clark) |
The Nez Perce traded more horses and told Old Toby to guide the Corps west, so in new dugout canoes, they went down the Clearwater to the Snake River. Lewis and three men went to explore the Missouri and Marias River confluence where they encountered eight teenaged Blackfeet braves who camped overnight with the four men of the Corps. In the morning, Lewis awoke to one Indian fighting with Ruben Field for his rifle, who stabbed the Indian. Other Piegan Blackfeet were stealing the horses, and when Lewis shouted to stop, one turned to fire on Lewis, but Lewis fired first and shot him in the belly. The Indian dropped to his knees, then elbow and shot towards Lewis who said in his journal later, "being bearheaded I felt the wind of his bullet very distinctly." This was the only violent encounter of the entire journey.
We don't read this next story much either, but... two weeks later, after this encounter with the Blackfeet Indians and meeting up with Clark and his team at the Yellowstone River, Lewis went Elk hunting with Pierre Cruzatte, who had only one good eye. Cruzatte shot Lewis through the buttocks, thinking he was an Elk. Lewis was then relegated to a pirogue for weeks lying face down in order for his would to recover.
On October 16th, they went down the Columbia River, shooting through the Columbia River Gorge Class 5 rapids, in dugout canoes! Now in Oregon Territory, they reached the Pacific at the mouth of the Columbia River near Astoria, OR. They spent 3 months at Ft Clatsop (and only 15 days without rain), where they worked on their journals and maps and prepared for their trip east, They identified 134 animal species and subspecies, 5 new bird species and 174 plants.
Film2 Medicine and The Corps of Discovery
51 men started the expedition, all suffering from dehydration, sickness, bites, aching muscles, all types of fevers and diseases and starvation. All of this was handled with toxic pills and bloodletting. A total of 29 Corps members made the 8,000 mile total trip. It's amazing that no one other than Sgt. Floyd died since much of their medicine was toxic and poisonous. Mosquitoes infected bites were cured with Peruvian bark and they protected themselves from tick, fly and mosquito bites with bear grease. Drinking parasite infested Missouri River water caused dysentery and Philadelphia's Dr. Benjamin Rush's "thunder clapper" pills (with 60% calomel, mercury content) didn't help. We heard a few times that archaeological digs located L&C latrines through soil samples with high mercury content. Bloodletting was common and not healthy for certain symptoms since taking blood dropped blood pressure and many men simply fainted. And since people probably tolerated pain better back then, including fractures, back and shoulder pain, bites, there may not have been much in L&C journals about "normal problems."
We men a woman NPS Volunteer Guide named Susan, who lived in Havre, MT and she told us she and her husband lived and worked through -59F, -101windchill during Christmas of 1983).
3rd Film; The Great Portage
When they passed the white cliffs towards confluence of Marias/Missouri, Hidatsa said "a waterfall" but said nothing of more: Lewis on June 13-14 found total of 5 total falls/cataracts in 15 miles; it took them four times to haul canoes up creek bluffs; once with no shelter, a sudden thunderstorm sent huge hailstones (2" wide and 7" circumference) leaving the men bloodied, Sergeant Gass assembled Lewis (Harpers Ferry) iron boar here at the Falls. It was 36ft long but they found no pine resin to seal buffalo hides so "the experiment sank," a great disappointment to Lewis. From Great Falls up the Missouri into steep canyons, a fast river with no place to camp. They then met 3 rivers forming Missouri (Three Forks, MT) where Sagajawea was captured by Hidatsa years earlier.
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| Rainbow Falls |
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| Crooked Falls |
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| Black Eagle Falls |
(NOTE: just click or tap on any image and it will be magnified)
Wow, the boat being pulled up the hill!? That's amazing.
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