After
passing the creek we inclined to the left, and soon after struck the
road which we had descended last year, near the spot where we dined on
the 7th of September (1805). Along this road we continued on the west
side of Clark's River, till at the distance of thirteen miles, during
which we passed three more deep, large creeks, we reached its western
branch, where we camped; and having sent out two hunters, despatched
some men to examine the best ford across the west fork of the river. The
game to-day consisted of four deer; though we also saw a herd of ibex,
or bighorn."
Two days later they were high up among the mountains, although the
ascent was not very steep. At that height they found the weather very
cool, so much so that on the morning of the sixth of July, after a cold
night, they had a heavy white frost on the ground. Setting out on that
day, Captain Clark crossed a ridge which proved to be the dividing line
between the Pacific and the Atlantic watershed. At the same time he
passed from what is now Missoula County, Montana, into the present
county of Beaver Head, in that State. "Beaver Head," the reader will
recollect, comes from a natural elevation in that region resembling the
head of a beaver. These points will serve to fix in one's mind the
route of the first exploring party that ever ventured into those wilds;
descending the ridge on its eastern slope, the explorers struck Glade
Creek, one of the sources of the stream then named Wisdom River, a
branch of the Jefferson; and the Jefferson is one of the tributaries of
the mighty Missouri.
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