The convulsion of the passage
must have been terrible, since at its outlet there are vast columns
of rock torn from the mountain, which are strewed on both sides of the
river, the trophies, as it were, of its victory. Several fine springs
burst out from the chasms of the rock, and contribute to increase the
river, which has a strong current, but, very fortunately, we were able
to overcome it with our oars, since it would have been impossible to use
either the cord or the pole. We were obliged to go on some time after
dark, not being able to find a spot large enough to encamp on; but at
length, about two miles above a small island in the middle of the river,
we met with a place on the left side, where we procured plenty of light
wood and pitch pine. This extraordinary range of rocks we called the
Gates of the Rocky Mountains."
Some of Captain Clark's men, engaged in hunting, gave the alarm to
roving bands of Shoshonee Indians, hunting in that vicinity. The noise
of their guns attracted the attention of the Indians, who, having set
fire to the grass as a warning to their comrades, fled to the mountains.
The whole country soon appeared to have taken fright, and great clouds
of smoke were observed in all directions. Falling into an old Indian
trail, Captain Clark waited, with his weary and footsore men, for the
rest of the party to come up with them.
The explorers had now passed south, between the Big Belt range of
mountains on the cast and the main chain of the Rocky Mountains on the
west.
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