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Historical Background

The grueling Great Falls portage

The Great Falls surpassed any obstacle previously encountered. On the river, 18 miles a day had often easily been attained; now almost 2 weeks would be required to move the canoes and baggage roughly the same distance.

On the 16th, the day before Clark went on ahead to map out a portage route, the canoes were unloaded and moved over rapids and rocks about a mile up Belt Creek to a spot where ascent to the high plain was most convenient. Beginning the next day and lasting through the 20th, at the lower portage camp Lewis directed preparations for the move. The white pirogue, too big to move overland, was also unloaded, pulled ashore near the camp, and hidden in a grove of willows about a mile below the mouth of Belt Creek for possible use on the return trip; plans now called for assembly of the "Experiment" to replace it. Because the smaller craft would accommodate fewer goods and because supplies would be needed on the eastward trip, some equipment and food were cached. [103]

Early photograph, date unknown, of the Great Falls of the Missouri, apparently during the spring runoff. The scene must have appeared about the same to Lewis and Clark except that the flow over the falls was probably somewhat reduced when they arrived in the summer of 1805. A Montana Power Company dam, just above the falls, now impounds the stream and in dry seasons the bare rock of the falls is exposed. (Montana Historical Society.)

Lewis supervised the construction of two crude wagons to carry the canoes and baggage. Fortunately, a cottonwood tree was found that was large enough to supply crosscut disc wheels about 22 inches in diameter. The wood, soft and brittle but all that was available except for willow and box elder, was also fairly suitable for tongues, couplings, frames, and braces. The mast of the white pirogue supplied the axles.

Meantime, during the period June 17-20, Clark, a better topographer than Lewis, and five men had surveyed the terrain and on the south side of the river staked out a route measuring 18-1/4 miles long. [104] They also established a camp at the upper end of the portage about 2 miles south of the Sun River, opposite some small islands in the Missouri called the "White Bear Islands" because of the large number of grizzlies there. This camp was referred to as "upper portage camp" or "White Bear Islands camp."

The transfer began on June 21 and was not completed until July 2. Equipment was hand-carried about 2 miles from the lower portage camp to the point where the wagon portage began. Similarly, the canoes were borne about three-quarters of a mile to that place from the spot about a mile up Belt Creek where they had been brought. At the beginning of the wagon portage, the canoes were loaded one at a time on the bodyless wagons, filled with supplies, and pulled to the upper portage camp. Some equipment was hand-carried the entire route.

The men laboriously dragged the wagons over the uneven ground around gullies and ravines, up steep slopes, and around rocks. The primitive wagons, ill-fitted to travel over even a paved road, repeatedly broke down in the rugged terrain. Willow and box elder were utilized to replace the cottonwood parts.

Upper portion of Clark's map of the Great Falls and the portage route. Upstream is to the top of the map. (THWAITES, II, facing p. 178.)

Personnel took as much a beating as the wagons. Prickly pear thorns and dagger-sharp ridges of earth, created by the drying of buffalo-tramping grounds after recent rains, stabbed through thin moccasin soles, lacerated feet already sore, and caused infections and huge boils. The hardy men, forced to stop and rest often in the scorching summer heat, frequently dropped off into a deep sleep before staggering to their feet to limp onward once again. Sometimes agony and fatigue caused them to faint. Even Cruzatte's fiddle playing in the evening elicited less enthusiasm than usual.

Seeking to spare every possible step, Clark found a way to shorten the original 18-1/4-mile route by half a mile. The men also needed no prodding to take advantage of the two shortcuts available to walkers at the eastern end of the portage route. The only other surcease, a comic relief, was the occasion when someone hoisted the sail in one of the canoes, and the wind helped move the wagon carrying it. "Saleing on Dry land in every sence of the word," Clark called it.

Where the land has been undisturbed, prickly pear cactus, which ripped the feet of members of the expedition, still flourishes in the Great Falls area. (National Park Service (Appleman, 1964).)

On June 29, an extremely hot day, a violent storm struck suddenly, unleashing torrents of rain and huge hailstones. Falling with incredible velocity, some of the stones bounced as high as 12 feet in the air. They felled one man three times, and bloodied the heads of several others. The storm caught Clark, York, Charbonneau, Sacagawea, and her baby at the river. To avoid being blown into it, they were forced to take shelter in a gully. Suddenly, a well of water deluged them. Clark was waist deep in it before he could start clambering up the steep slope. Pushing Sacagawea, carrying Baptiste in her arms, ahead of him, he was hardly able to move upward fast enough to avoid engulfment. In the narrow escape, he lost his knapsack, gun, tomahawk, umbrella, shot pouch, powderhorn, and the expedition's only large compass. The only item recovered, the next day, was the compass—to Lewis' relief.

Rattlesnakes were often a danger, but especially in the Great Falls area. Pictured here is a prairie rattler. (American Museum of Natural History.)

The weary toil and weather hazards were not the only sources of concern. Grizzlies were a menace. They were so numerous that the commanders found it imprudent to send a man alone on any errand that required passing through the brush. Scannon roamed the camp at night and barked when the bears were near, which was frequent. The men were ordered to sleep with their weapons close at hand. Everyone had learned by this time to accord the utmost respect to the huge beasts. Lewis confessed he would rather fight two Indians than one of them. Smaller, but equally as dangerous were the numerous rattlesnakes. Swarms of mosquitoes tried tempers.

But, on the positive side, food was plentiful. In one sweep of the eye, Clark estimated he could see 10,000 buffalo on the plain. He also saw floating down over the falls many carcasses of animals that had been pushed into the river by those behind them on the steep and narrow trails leading to it and drinking water. All the men were wearing deer and elk skin shirts and breeches by this time. And, anticipating that less game would be available in the mountains that lay ahead, they took advantage of the opportunity to stock up on leather clothing. Until the herds began to disappear early in July, pemmican was also made from buffalo meat.