WE PROCEED ON .... To the student of Lewis & Clark, and their "Corp of Discovery ", the words "we proceed on" have a certain ring to them - they were used often in their journals. And they did just that! They did proceed on and on and on!

Just about everyone has heard of Lewis and Clark but just who were they? One might get the impression they did some pretty impressive things ... and they did! The purpose of this article is to share some of the interesting facts about the trek and hopefully instill in the reader a desire to read more from some of the many sources available, some of which are listed at the end of this article.

It has been almost 200 years since Meriwether Lewis (http://www.lewis-clark.org/)was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson to put together a "Corp of Discovery" (to explore the vast area between the United States and the Pacific Ocean. Generally, the U.S. western boarder was the Mississippi River. Shortly before the expedition left, the Louisiana Purchase was consumated (at 3 cents per acre) which moved our boarder west to the Continental Devide.

There were 34 people who made the trip from the Mandan villages to the Pacific Ocean and back. Lewis chose William Clark to be his Co- commander. It was a remarkable trek that took twenty-eight months and covered eight thousand miles! It was extremely well documented- including President Jefferson's instructions to Lewis and Lewis's estimate of expenses ($2500), the list of Articles Purchased (Indian presents, guns, saws, mathematical instruments, medicines & tools), and Lewis's questions to himself concerning the Indians of the West (Is polygamy "admitted" among them? What are their vices? What time do they go to bed? Etc). It is all there!

Many people are not aware that this expedition was not the first recorded crossing of the Continent by Caucasians. A few years earlier (1792/3), Alexander Mackenzie (http://www.johnamatt.com/mackenz.htm) crossed what is now Canada to the Pacific and returned. The reason most people are not now aware of it and that there is not so much of a "big deal" made of it is that McKenzie was not very scientific and wrote relitivly little of his treck. Lewis and Clark did have maps and information of McKenzie's treck with them. The Corp of Discovery left Wood River (Illinois) May 13, 1804 after having wintered there in preparation for the journey and sailed, paddled and poled their way up the Missouri River to the Mandan Indian villages, north of the present Bismarck, North Dakota where they spent the winter of 1804-1805. It was here that the Shoshone Indian woman, Sah-car-gar-we-ah (and her newborn baby, Baptise or Pompey) joined the expedition as a result of the hiring of her French fur trader husband (Charbonneau) as an interpreter. Sahcargarweah had been kidnapped from her tribe when she was around 12 years old by the Minnetares some years before and turned out to be a very valuable member of the Corp of Discovery. It was the presence of an Indian woman with a baby, that often dispelled fears among Indians that this strange group meant them harm. This along with her survival and language skills contributed to the success of the trek.

Lewis took his dog; a big black Newfoundland named Seaman, the entire way. Clark took his slave, York, who was a big black man, extremely strong, and very kind and friendly. York and Seaman were often of more interest to the Indians than the white men! While the Indians in this area (Salmon, The Bitterroot, and the Clearwater) had never seen white men before, they knew of them. They wanted more of the white mans "goods" that they already had such as beads, knives, pots and pans, and guns to defend themselves from other tribes who already had them.

Sahcargarweah recognised the area where she had been kidnapped at the Three Forks (near what is now Three Forks Montana). From there she was able to start identifying other landmarks leading to her homeland. On August 11, 1805, Lewis saw an Indian on horseback but due to lack of communication with his own men the Indian fled in fear. The next day Lewis drank from a spring, which he declared "the most distant fountain" of the Missouri and his men stood with one foot on each side of the "Mighty Missouri". It certainly would have been a "Kodak Moment" had Kodak been born yet! He then predicted that by that evening he would also be able to taste the waters of the Columbia - and he did! They passed over the continental divide, "which I found much steeper than the opposite side, to a bold running creek of cold clear water. There I first tasted the water of the great Columbia River." We call it the Lemhi River today but it's waters do flow into the Columbia. You can re-experience this same location on Lemhi Pass southeast of Salmon Idaho and drink from the same spots today!

The next day (Aug 13) Lewis again saw some Indians, this time with some dogs. The Indians were afraid but the dogs were not so much and he almost got close enough to one to tie a handkerchief around it's neck with some beads. He was anxious to let these Indians know he meant them no harm. One problem was that Lewis and his men did not look very "white" having been in the sun all this time! A mile further Lewis came upon three women- "a young women immediately took to flight, an elderly woman and a girl about 12 years old remained." They were sure they were to die but he took them by the hand and "strip up my shirt sleve to sew her my skin; to prove to her the truth of the ascertion that I was a white man". This all happened just southeast of what is now Salmon Idaho, directly South of us here in the Bitterroot.

These two women took them to their camp where: "bothe parties now advanced and we wer all carresed and besmeared with their grease and paint till I was heartily tired of the national hug". I like that! "tired of the national hug"! It turned out that Ca-me-ah-wait, the chief, was Sahcargarweah's brother! It must have been quite a homecoming! As Lewis said: "every article appeared to excite astonishment in their minds; the appearance of the men, their arms, the canoes, our manner of working with them, the black man york & the segacity of my dog were equally objects of admiration. I also shot my air-gun which was so perfeclty incomprehensible that they immediately dominated it the great medicine ". L&C traded for horses, received information on the best "rout" to the Pacific Ocean or as the Indians called it: "a great lake of water which was illy taisted ".

It was a very rough trip for them as they went up over Lost Trail Pass, "where Several horses fell, Some turned over, and others Sliped down Steep hill sides, one horse Crippeled & 2 gave out". Their last thermometer got broken, from then on they had to estimate temperatures.

On Sept 4th they dropped down into the present Ross Hole or Sula Montana where they "met a part(y) of the Tushepau (Flathead or Salish)nation, of 33 Lodges about 80 men 400 Total and at least 500 horses, those people recved us friendly, threw white robes over our Sholders & Smoked in the pipes of peace". They were "Stout & light complected more So than common for Indians". They were much like the Shoshone or Snake Indians and spoke in "a gugling kind of languaje Spoken much thro the Throught". On Sept 6, they camped about two miles below Spring Gulch (very close to where Rocky Knob Restaurant is today).

On Sept 7th Clark said "The Vallie from 1 to 2 miles wide the Snow top mountains to our left, open hilley Country on the right". They camped just south of Sleeping Child Creek on the east side of the Bitterroot River. Clark's entry for Sept 8th says: "Set out early and proceeded on through an open vallie for 23 miles passed 4 Creeks on the right Some runs on the left, The bottoms as also the hills Stoney bad land. Some pine on the Creeks and mountains, an partial on the hills to the right hand Side". "The foot of the Snow mountains approach the River on the left Side. Some Snow on the mountain on the right also proceeded on down the Vallie which is pore Stoney land and encamped on the right Side of the river","I observe great quatities of a peculiar sort of Prickly peare grow in clusters ovel & about the size of Pegions egge with Strong Thorns which is So birded as to draw the Pear from the cluster after penetrating our feet". Somehow I get the feeling they were not as impressed with our valley as we are today!

Lewis's entry of the 9th says they went about 4 miles and crossed The Bitterroot (they called it the Flathead or Clark's Fork) "it is hear a handsome stream about 100 yards wide and affords a considerable quantity of very clear water, the banks low and it's bed entirely gravel. The stream appears navigable, but from the circumstance of their being no sammon in it I believe that there must be a considerable fall in it below". They camped at Travelers Rest Creek (Lolo) two nights to rest their horses, before following it up to Lolo Pass. The "Lolo Trail " which it is called today is still largly intact. It is a whole trail system and this wild very unsettled part of our country is open for your enjoyment. There are many places where you can walk in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark and other historic people. The Nez Perce Indians fled the calvary over this trail 70 years after L&C. Settlers, military, Indians and miners all put their footprints through these mountains flollowing the Lolo Trail. After dropping into the Clearwater Valley the Corp of Discovery built canoes and followed the Snake River to the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean where they spent the winter of 1805/1806 at Fort Clatsop in northwest Oregon.

On June 30, 1806 the Corp of Discovery again entered the Bitterroot Valley returning east. At Traveler's Rest (Lolo), the Corp split into two parts. Lewis went north up to Hell Gate Canyon looking for a better way back to the Great Falls of the Missouri (which it was) and to explore the Marias River.

Clark, with 24 people (including, York, Sahcargarweah, and her baby) and 50 horses, returned back down the Bitterroot Valley (West side of the river this time) "we again resumed our journey up the vally which we found mor boutifully versified with Small open plains covered with a great variety of Sweet cented plants, flowers & grass. this evening we Crossed 10 Streams 8 of which were large Creeks which comes roleing their Currents with Velocity into the river. Those Creeks take their rise in the mountains to the West which mountains is at this time Covered with Snow for about 1/5 of the way from their tops downwards. Some Snow is also to be Seen on the high points and hollows of the Mountains to the East of us. our Course this evening was nearly South 18 Ms. makeing a total of 36 miles today. we encamped on the N. Side of a large Creek "(Blodgett Creek - about where Al 's Cycles is located now)" where we found tolerable food for our horses". "We Saw great number of deer and 1 bear today". "Musquetors very troublesom". The next day "This being the day of the decleration of Independence of the United States and a Day commonly Scelebrated by my Country I had every disposition to Selebrate this day and therefore halted early and partook of a Sumptious Dinner of fat Saddle of Venison and Mush of Cows (roots)". He goes on to say the creeks and low lands on each side are "thickly covered with large Stone". They camped the night of July 4th on the north bank of the West Fork and then followed the same trail they had used the previous fall to Ross Hole and they then went over Gibbons Pass into the Big Hole.

Recommended reading: "Trail: Lewis & Clark" by Lewis Charbonneau. This was the book that got me "hooked" on Lewis and Clark. It is an historical novel told from the point of view of Seaman (Lewis's Newfoundland dog). "The Journals of Lewis and Clark" edited by Bernard DeVoto and the book of the same title (and which I like better) edited by Frank Bergon. "The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition" edited by Gary Moulton. This is in 8 volumes and is very good - volume 5 covers the trip through this area headed West and volume 8 covers Clark's return trip through the Bitterroot headed east.

If you are further interested, I suggest you write to: Traveler's Rest Chapter of the Lewis & Clark Heritage Trail Foundation, PO Box 447, Lolo, Montana 59847. They have monthly meetings, seminars, and historical tours relating to this extremely interesting part of our history!