The expedition reaches their ‘first gate’ of the Rockies. Lewis, traveling ahead of the boats, climbs Tower Rock to get a better view. Both captains see recent signs of Indians, and they hope a Shoshone encounter is imminent.
Tower Rock, First Gate of the Rockies
To see labels, point to the image.
© 2003 Robert G. Rumney.
Wishing for Horses
early this morning we passed about 40 little booths formed of willow bushes to shelter them from the sun; they appeared to have been deserted about 10 days; we supposed that they were snake Indians. they appeared to have a number of horses with them—. this appearance gives me much hope of meeting with these people shortly.
—Meriwether Lewis
Eating the Guts
Drewyer killed a buffaloe this morning near the river and we halted and breakfasted on it. here for the first time I ate of the small guts of the buffaloe cooked over a blazing fire in the Indian stile without any preperation of washing or other clensing and found them very good.—
—Meriwether Lewis
Climbing Tower Rock
Missouri River below Tower Rock
© 24 July 2013 by Kristopher K. Townsend. Permission to use granted under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Above: Tower Rock is to the right of the dark mountain in the distance.
at this palce [Tower Rock] there is a large rock of 400 feet high wich stands immediately in the gap which the missouri makes on it’s passage from the mountains . . . . this rock I called the tower. it may be ascended with some difficulty nearly to it’s summit, and from it there is a most pleasing view of the country we are now about to leave.
—Meriwether Lewis
Bothersome Mosquitoes
the Musquetoes are extreemly troublesome this evening and I had left my bier, of course suffered considerably, and promised in my wrath that I never will be guily of a similar peice of negligence while on this voyage.—
—Meriwether Lewis
Clark Brings the Canoes
Capt. Lewis and 2 men was gone on a head. the current Swift towards evening we Came 20 miles this day and Camped near the entrence of the Rocky Mountain, which appear verry high & rocky. Some pine &C.
—John Ordway
Weather Diary
State of the thermometer at rise
Weather at Wind at State of the Thermometer at 4 P.M. Weather at 4 P.M. Wind at 4 P.M. State of the river 53 [above 0] fair S W. 80 [above 0] fair S W. fallen ¾ in. —Meriwether Lewis[1]To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the river” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations.
Tower Rock is a High Potential Historic Site along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail managed by the U.S. National Park Service. The site a Montana State Park.
Notes
| ↑1 | To assist the reader, the editor of this web page has omitted the date column, merged the “State of the river” columns, and spelled out some abbreviations. |
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Experience the Lewis and Clark Trail
The Lewis and Clark Trail Experience—our sister site at lewisandclark.travel—connects the world to people and places on the Lewis and Clark Trail.
Discover More
- The Lewis and Clark Expedition: Day by Day by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2018). The story in prose, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery (abridged) by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 2003). Selected journal excerpts, 14 May 1804–23 September 1806.
- The Lewis and Clark Journals. by Gary E. Moulton (University of Nebraska Press, 1983–2001). The complete story in 13 volumes.
This page was funded in part by the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, U.S. National Park Service.
This site is provided as a public service by the
Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance
with cooperation and funding from the following organizations:
- Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- Montana Committee for the Humanities
- Idaho Governor's Lewis and Clark Trail Committee
- The Capital Gallery (Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation)
- Yellowstone Public Radio
Unless otherwise noted, journal excerpts are from The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, edited by Gary E. Moulton, 13 vols. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983-2001).