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The Great Falls
Entering present Montana on April 27, 1805, the corps passed Milk River, the largest northern tributary of the Missouri, on May 8, and came to another large northern tributary on June 2, which was equal in size to theMissouri. For some reason the Indians at Mandan had not told them about this river, and because of its size the explorers were not sure which course to follow. After a week of investigating the two rivers, they finally determined that the south course was that of the Missouri. The river flowing from the north was given the name Maria's River in honor of Lewis'cousin, Maria Wood.
At Marias River (as it is known today) they left one of the pirogues, and cached a good deal of the baggage they could do without until they returned from the ocean.
On June 13, Lewis and a small party, which had gone ahead of the boats, reached the Great Falls of the Missouri. Rather than onewaterfall, as they had anticipated, there was a series of five cascades around which they would have to portage boats and baggage, dark arrived with the boats on June 16 and found the shortest and best portage route was on the south side of the river and nearly 18 miles long.
In order to haul six dugouts and baggage around the falls, they had to build two wagons. Slabs from a 22" cotton-wood tree were cut for wheels. Harnesses were made and strapped to the men who were to pull the wagons. When the wind was favorable, the sails were raised on the dugouts to help the men move the wagons across the rugged prairie. The pirogue was too large to portage. It was dragged ashore and left below the falls. More baggage was cached near the lower portage campsite.
The portage required four round trips and two weeks to complete. However, the party remained at the falls for an additional week completing construction on a collapsible iron-frame boat which Lewis designed and had built at Harper's Ferry during the summer of 1803. His initial plan was to navigate the keelboat (which he had also designed) up the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains. The Expedition would then portage over the mountains to navigable waters on the western side, assemble the iron-frame boat, and sail to the ocean.
Unfortunately, it was not that simple. And now they suffered another setback. They were unable to find the necessary pine pitch, and they did not have the proper needles to sew the hides together. The iron-frame boat had to be abandoned. In its place they built two more cottonwood dugouts. The failure of the iron-frame boat made it necessary to cache more baggage, this time at the upper portage camp.
The delay at the Great Falls gave the hunters and fishermen an opportunity to prepare a large quantity of dried fish, meat, and pemmican. They had learned at Fort Mandan that game would be scarce once they reached the mountains—a warning that proved only too accurate. Excerpted from U.S. Forest Service pamphlet “Lewis and Clark in the Rocky Mountains”.
The Return: Lewis Explores the Marias
From Travellers Rest, Lewis and nine men headed down the Bitterroot River to the Clark Fork. They crossed that river and headed upstream to Blackfoot River, which they ascended, following the route to the plains used by the Nez Perce on their buffalo hunts.
On July 6, they crossed "the prairie of the knobs" (at present day Ovando), Lewis identified the path they were following as a warpath of the Hidatsas. They passed the remains of many Indian lodges, and crossed the Continental Divide at Lewis and Clark Pass, and the next day saw the first buffalo since entering the mountains a year earlier. Two days later they reported see-ing 10,000 buffalo in a 2-mile circle. They reached Sun River, and followed it to their upper portage camp at the Great Falls. As with Clark's horses on the Yellowstone, seven of Lewis' horses were stolen by Indians who were never seen.
On July 16, Lewis and three men set out overland from the Great Falls to explore Marias River. They wanted to see if it reached 50 degrees north, thus determining the northern boundary of the Louisiana Territory, and satisfying the conditions of the 1783 U.S. Treaty with England.
On July 18, Ordway's party arrived at the Great Falls with the boats which would be portaged to below the falls.
Also on the 18th, Lewis's party reached the Marias. Three days later they reached the headwaters of the Marias, and headed up the northern branch (Cut Bank River). They finally came to a place where they could see the river exiting from the mountains. Because the river did not reach 50 degrees north, Lewis named his camp "Camp Disap-pointment". It was the northernmost camp of the entire Expedition. Lewis was hopeful that the Milk River would reach the 50th Parallel, but he wouldn't have time to check it out.
On their return to the Missouri River, Lewis' party met eight Blackfeet Indians. From them, Lewis learned that a large band of their tribe was on its way to the mouth of the Marias River. The Indians camped with Lewis's party on Two Medicine River and were awakened when the Indians attempted to steal their horses. In the ensuing fight, two of the Indians were killed.
Lewis' party made a hasty retreat to the Missouri River where they had the good fortune of meeting the boats coming down the river from the Great Falls. They abandoned the horses, boarded the boats, and sailed down to the mouth of the Marias, picked up the items they had cached the year before, and took off before any Blackfeet arrived.
Excerpted from U.S. Forest Service pamphlet “Lewis and Clark in the Rocky Mountains”.
The Falls
If you’re like most folks visiting Great Falls for the first time, one of the first questions that comes to mind is—where are the falls? Actually they were more a series of falls, five in all within a stretch of ten miles. Notice the word “were.” When Lewis and Clark first portaged the area they portaged a total of five falls. Starting from Great Falls going downriver is Black Eagle Falls followed by Rainbow Falls and Crooked Falls. These three can be seen from the south bank of the Missouri River by taking River Drive or the River’s Edge Trail. Colter Falls was located between Black Eagle and Rainbow when the Corps of Discovery made their legendary portage. Today it is gone, a victim of the construction of Rainbow Dam. The largest of the falls, and the most majestic, is the Great Falls at Ryan Dam. The are accessible from the north side of the river by driving north on Highway 87 for approximately five miles and following the signs.
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