Today we are on a big beautiful bus going about 70 miles away to Camp Decision where the party had to decide which river to follow. The men and the best river guide said to go up the Marias and L&C said they should go to the left river. They split up and explored for six days. We were guided on this day by Don Peterson, the expert on all things Lewis and Clark. The countryside is amazing. I really expected flat plains, but here the river is so beautiful and 250 feet below the plains. The vastness of this country is wonderful. We discussed the daily activities of the troop, the geology, the plant life, prehistoric history - all from the tops of these wind-blown bluffs. You can see 125 miles off in the distance to various mountain ridges. The wind is blowing 20 miles an hour on an average and sometimes bows up to 90 miles and hour. These folks are used to constant wind.
We lunched at Ft Benton which at one time was the biggest port in the west where the rail terminated. That put the steamboats out of business, and as the rail expanded Ft Benton's brief success was over. Great Falls was now the economic center with the Copper mining and Electrical generating pants from the dams. We ate at the American Legion hall that looked like a small hole in the wall but ended up being the center of activity for this small town.
Back to Great Falls where we traced the portage around the falls. The Manan tribes had described the falls to the explorers during the wintering, but L&C expected one falls not five. The rise in elevation was 500 feet from beginning to end, so they had to portage around the series. They expected one day, but it ended up being 30 days which almost killed the whole expedition. A further delay would have made them have to winter in before the Rockies and they had no food or shelter. They would have had to turn around.
They buried the provisions needed to return the next year and abandon the big boats before the falls. They made wagons from the ony sizable cottonwood tree around and portaged the canoes weighting 2500 lbs up 500 feet and over 18 miles. The prickly pear cactus went through their moccosins and they were pelted by eggs sized hail with no tree to hide under. But they did it. They had to portage eight times to get al the gear and canoes above the falls. Amazing. Everything they did was amazing and I could not imagine doing any leg of what they did.
It was a great day, and, of course, it is time to eat again - Fried Chicken in the park and a patriotic orchestra performance at the civic center. Home to fall asleep and get going early in the morning.
We lunched at Ft Benton which at one time was the biggest port in the west where the rail terminated. That put the steamboats out of business, and as the rail expanded Ft Benton's brief success was over. Great Falls was now the economic center with the Copper mining and Electrical generating pants from the dams. We ate at the American Legion hall that looked like a small hole in the wall but ended up being the center of activity for this small town.
Back to Great Falls where we traced the portage around the falls. The Manan tribes had described the falls to the explorers during the wintering, but L&C expected one falls not five. The rise in elevation was 500 feet from beginning to end, so they had to portage around the series. They expected one day, but it ended up being 30 days which almost killed the whole expedition. A further delay would have made them have to winter in before the Rockies and they had no food or shelter. They would have had to turn around.
They buried the provisions needed to return the next year and abandon the big boats before the falls. They made wagons from the ony sizable cottonwood tree around and portaged the canoes weighting 2500 lbs up 500 feet and over 18 miles. The prickly pear cactus went through their moccosins and they were pelted by eggs sized hail with no tree to hide under. But they did it. They had to portage eight times to get al the gear and canoes above the falls. Amazing. Everything they did was amazing and I could not imagine doing any leg of what they did.
It was a great day, and, of course, it is time to eat again - Fried Chicken in the park and a patriotic orchestra performance at the civic center. Home to fall asleep and get going early in the morning.
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