Adventures on the Yellowstone The route of Captain Clark from the point where he and Captain Lewis divided their party, was rather more difficult than that pursued by the Lewis detachment. But the Clark party was larger, being composed of twenty men and Sacajawea and her baby.
They were to travel up the main fork of Clark's River (sometimes called the Bitter Root), to Ross's Hole, and then strike over the great continental divide at that point by way of the pass which he discovered and which was named for him; thence he was to strike the headwaters of Wisdom River, a stream which this generation of men knows by the vulgar name of Big Hole River; from this point he was to go by the way of Willard's Creek to Shoshonee Cove and the Two Forks of the Jefferson, and thence down that stream to the Three Forks of the Missouri, up the Gallatin, and over the divide to the Yellowstone and down that river to its junction with the Missouri, where he was to join the party of Captain Lewis. This is the itinerary that was exactly carried out.
The very first incident set forth in the journal is a celebration of Independence Day, as follows:--"Friday, July 4. Early in the morning three hunters were sent out. The rest of the party having collected the horses and breakfasted, we proceeded at seven o'clock up the valley, which is now contracted to the width of from eight to ten miles, with a good proportion of pitch-pine, though its low lands, as well as the bottoms of the creeks, are strewn with large stones.
We crossed five creeks of different sizes, but of great depth, and so rapid that in passing the last several of the horses were driven down the stream, and some of our baggage was wet.
Near this river we saw the tracks of two Indians, whom we supposed to be Shoshonees. Having made sixteen miles, we halted at an hour for the purpose of doing honor to the birthday of our early country's independence. The festival was not very splendid, for it consisted of a mush made of cows and a saddle of venison; nor had we anything to tempt us to prolong it. We therefore went on till at the distance of a mile we came to a very large creek, which, like all those in the valley, had an immense rapidity of descent; we therefore proceeded up for some distance, in order to select the most convenient spot for fording.
Even there, however, such was the violence of the current that, though the water was not higher than the bellies of the horses, the resistance made in passing caused the stream to rise over their backs and loads. After passing the creek we inclined to the left, and soon after struck the road which we had descended last year, near the spot where we dined on the 7th of September [1805].
Along this road we continued on the west side of Clark's River, till at the distance of thirteen miles, during which we passed three more deep, large creeks, we reached its western branch, where we camped; and having sent out two hunters, despatched some men to examine the best ford across the west fork of the river.
The game to-day consisted of four deer; though we also saw a herd of ibex, or bighorn."
Two days later they were high up among the mountains, although the ascent was not very steep. At that height they found the weather very cool, so much so that on the morning of the sixth of July, after a cold night, they had a heavy white frost on the ground.
Setting out on that day, Captain Clark crossed a ridge which proved to be the dividing line between the Pacific and the Atlantic watershed.
At the same time he passed from what is now Missoula County, Montana, into the present county of Beaver Head, in that State. "Beaver Head," the reader will recollect, comes from a natural elevation in that region resembling the head of a beaver. These points will serve to fix in one's mind the route of the first exploring party that ever ventured into those wilds; descending the ridge on its eastern slope, the explorers struck Glade Creek, one of the sources of the stream then named Wisdom River, a branch of the Jefferson; and the Jefferson is one of the tributaries of the mighty Missouri. Next day the journal has this entry:--"In the morning our horses were so much scattered that, although we sent out hunters in every direction to range the country for six or eight miles, nine of them could not be recovered. They were the most valuable of all our horses, and so much attached to some of their companions that it was difficult to separate them in the daytime.
We therefore presumed that they must have been stolen by some roving Indians; and accordingly left a party of five men to continue the pursuit, while the rest went on to the spot where the canoes had been deposited.
We set out at ten o'clock and pursued a course S. 56'0 E. across the valley, which we found to be watered by four large creeks, with extensive low and miry bottoms; and then reached [and crossed] Wisdom River, along the northeast side of which we continued, till at the distance of sixteen miles we came to its three branches. Near that place we stopped for dinner at a hot spring situated in the open plain.
The bed of the spring is about fifteen yards in circumference, and composed of loose, hard, gritty stones, through which the water boils in great quantities. It is slightly impregnated with sulphur, and so hot that a piece of meat about the size of three fingers was completely done in twenty-five minutes."
Next day, July 8, the party reached the forks of the Jefferson River, where they had cached their goods in August, 1805; they had now travelled one hundred and sixty-four miles from Traveller's-rest Creek to that point.
The men were out of tobacco, and as there was some among the goods deposited in the cache they made haste to open the cache.
They found everything safe, although some of the articles were damp, and a hole had been made in the bottom of one of the canoes.
Here they were overtaken by Sergeant Ordway and his party with the nine horses that had escaped during the night of the seventh.