Oregon and Eldorado; or, Romance of the Rivers. Bulfinch Thomas
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himself in some crevice of the cliff which he had previously fixed on, the herd is left on the brink of the precipice. It is then in vain for the foremost to retreat, or even to stop. They are pressed on by the hindmost rank, who, seeing no danger but from the hunters, goad on those before them, till the whole are precipitated over the cliff, and the shore is covered with their dead bodies. Sometimes, in this perilous adventure, the Indian decoy is either trodden under foot, or, missing his footing in the cliff, is urged down the precipice by the falling herd."
"June 3, 1805. – We came to for the night, for the purpose of examining in the morning a large river which enters opposite to us. It now became an interesting question, which of those two streams is what the Indians call Ahmateahza, or the Missouri, which, they tell us, has its head waters very near to the Columbia. On our right decision much of the fate of the expedition depends; since, if, after ascending to the Rocky Mountains or beyond them, we should find that the river we have been tracing does not come near the Columbia, and be obliged to turn back, we shall have lost the travelling season, and seriously disheartened our men. We determined, therefore, to examine well before deciding on our course, and, for this purpose, despatched two canoes with three men up each of the streams, with orders to ascertain the width, depth, and rapidity of the currents, so as to judge of their comparative bodies of water. Parties were also sent out by land to penetrate the country, and discover from the rising grounds, if possible, the distant bearings of the two rivers. While they were gone, the two commanders ascended together the high grounds in the fork of the two rivers, whence they had an extensive prospect of the surrounding country. On every side, it was spread into one vast plain covered with verdure, in which innumerable herds of buffaloes were roaming, attended by their enemies the wolves. Some flocks of elk also were seen; and the solitary antelopes were scattered, with their young, over the plain. The direction of the rivers could not be long distinguished, as they were soon lost in the extent of the plain.
"On our return, we continued our examination. The width of the north branch is two hundred yards; that of the south is three hundred and seventy-two. The north, though narrower, is deeper than the south: its waters also are of the same whitish-brown color, thickness, and turbidness as the Missouri. They run in the same boiling and roaring manner which has uniformly characterized the Missouri; and its bed is composed of some gravel, but principally mud. The south fork is broader, and its waters are perfectly transparent. The current is rapid, but the surface smooth and unruffled; and its bed is composed of round and flat smooth stones, like those of rivers issuing from a mountainous country.
"In the evening, the exploring parties returned, after ascending the rivers in canoes for some distance, then continuing on foot, just leaving themselves time to return by night. Their accounts were far from deciding the important question of our future route; and we therefore determined each of us to ascend one of the rivers during a day and a half's march, or farther, if necessary for our satisfaction.
"Tuesday, June 4, 1805. – This morning, Capt. Lewis and Capt. Clarke set out, each with a small party, by land, to explore the two rivers. Capt. Lewis traced the course of the north fork for fifty-nine miles, and found, that, for all that distance, its direction was northward; and, as the latitude we were now in was 47° 24´, it was highly improbable, that, by going farther north, we should find between this and the Saskatchawan any stream which can, as the Indians assure us the Missouri does, possess a navigable current for some distance within the Rocky Mountains.
"These considerations, with others drawn from the observations of Capt. Clarke upon the south branch, satisfied the chiefs that the South River was the true Missouri; but the men generally were of a contrary opinion, and much of their belief depended upon Crusatte, an experienced waterman on the Missouri, who gave it as his opinion that the north fork was the main river. In order that nothing might be omitted which could prevent our falling into error, it was agreed that one of us should ascend the southern branch by land until he reached either the falls or the mountains. In the mean time, in order to lighten our burdens as much as possible, we determined to deposit here all the heavy baggage which we could possibly spare, as well as some provisions, salt, powder, and tools. The weather being fair, we dried all our baggage and merchandise, and made our deposit, or cache. Our cache is made in this manner: In the high plain on the side of the river, we choose a dry situation, and, drawing a small circle of about twenty inches diameter, remove the sod as carefully as possible. The hole is then sunk perpendicularly a foot deep, or more if the ground be not firm. It is now worked gradually wider as it deepens, till at length it becomes six or seven feet deep, shaped nearly like a kettle, or the lower part of a large still, with the bottom somewhat sunk at the centre. As the earth is dug, it is carefully laid on a skin or cloth, in which it is carried away, and thrown into the river, so as to leave no trace of it. A floor to the cache is then made of dry sticks, on which is thrown hay, or a hide perfectly dry. The goods, being well aired and dried, are laid on this floor, and prevented from touching the sides by other dried sticks, as the baggage is stowed away. When the hole is nearly full, a skin is laid over the goods; and, on this, earth is thrown, and beaten down, until, with the addition of the sod, the whole is on a level with the ground, and there remains no appearance of an excavation. Careful measurements are taken to secure the ready recovery of the cache on the return; and the deposit is left in perfect confidence of finding every thing safe and sound after the lapse of months, or even years."
"June 12. – This morning, Capt. Lewis set out with four men on an exploration, to ascend the southern branch, agreeably to our plan. He left the bank of the river in order to avoid the deep ravines, which generally extend from the shore to a distance of two or three miles in the plain. On the second day, having travelled about sixty miles from the point of departure, on a sudden their ears were saluted with the agreeable sound of falling water; and, as they advanced, a spray which seemed driven by the wind rose above the plain like a column of smoke, and vanished in an instant. Towards this point, Capt. Lewis directed his steps; and the noise, increasing as he approached, soon became too powerful to be ascribed to any thing but the Great Falls of the Missouri. Having travelled seven miles after first hearing the sound, he reached the falls. The hills, as he approached the river, were difficult of transit, and two hundred feet high. Down these he hurried, and, seating himself on a rock, enjoyed the spectacle of this stupendous object, which, ever since the creation, had been lavishing its magnificence upon the desert, unseen by civilized man.
"The river, immediately at its cascade, is three hundred yards wide, and is pressed in by a perpendicular cliff, which rises to about one hundred feet, and extends up the stream for a mile. On the other side, the bluff is also perpendicular for three hundred yards above the falls. For ninety or a hundred yards from the left cliff, the water falls in one smooth, even sheet, over a precipice eighty feet in height. The remaining part of the river rushes with an accelerated current, but, being received as it falls by irregular rocks below, forms a brilliant spectacle of perfectly white foam, two hundred yards in length, and eighty in height. The spray is dissipated into a thousand shapes, on all of which the sun impresses the brightest colors of the rainbow. The principal cascade is succeeded by others of less grandeur, but of exceeding beauty and great variety, for about twenty miles in extent."1
"June 21. – Having reached the falls, we found ourselves obliged to get past them by transporting our boats overland by what is called a portage. The distance was eighteen miles. It was necessary to construct a truck or carriage to transport the boats; and the making of the wheels and the necessary framework took ten days. The axle-trees, made of an old mast, broke repeatedly, and the cottonwood tongues gave way; so that the men were forced to carry as much baggage as they could on their backs. The prickly pear annoyed them much by sticking through their moccasons. It required several trips to transport all the canoes and baggage; and, though the men put double soles to their moccasons, the prickly pear, and the sharp points of earth formed by the trampling of the buffaloes during the late rains, wounded their feet; and, as the men were laden as heavily as their strength would permit, the crossing was very painful. They were obliged to halt and rest frequently; and, at almost every stopping-place, they would throw themselves down, and fall asleep in an instant. Yet no one complained, and they went on with cheerfulness.
"Having decided to leave here one of the pirogues, we set to work to
Dimensions of Niagara Falls, – American, 960 feet wide, 162 feet high; English, 700 feet wide, 150 feet high.