Columbus and Other Heroes of American Discovery

by N. D'Anvers

In spite of the unpromising character of the people among whom they found themselves, the American leader resolved, as the season was now so far advanced, to build a fort in the Mandan country in which to spend the winter, and to resume their task with fresh ardor in the ensuing spring. The friendship of the Mandans and of the Minnetarees, dwelling in the highlands of Minnesota on the east, was conciliated by presents, etc., and a site chosen for the fort in N. lat. 47°. Aided by the advice and assistance of a number of the English Hudson’s Bay Company, and of a Canadian Frenchman who had spent some time among the Cheyenne Indians, the soldiers quickly constructed, not only a fort for their protection, but a number of cabins for their comfort; and the whole of the winter was passed in studying the ways of the natives, hunting, etc., the monotony of the residence in the spot being often relieved by visits from French or Canadian fur-traders, from whom much valuable information was obtained.

Early in April of the ensuing year, 1805, the camp at Fort Mandan, as the temporary settlement had been called, was broken up, and the party, now numbering thirty-two, and with their means of navigation increased to eight boats and canoes, once more embarked on the Missouri. To aid in intercourse with the Shoshone or Snake Indians of Montana, Idaho, and Oregon, two interpreters were secured, namely, George Drewyer and Toussaint Chabornæan, the latter of whom was accompanied by his wife, a young Snake woman who had been taken prisoner by his tribe some time before.

YELLOWSTONE LAKE.

On the 13th April the mouth of the Little Missouri was passed, and on the 26th that of the rapid Yellowstone River, from Sublette’s Lake in the Rocky Mountains. From this great landmark the course of the Missouri—and, as a result, of the explorers—was due west, and the character, alike of the scenery, the fauna, and the flora, changed perceptibly. In the journals from which our narrative is culled, we find notes on the strange appearance presented by banks and sandbars covered with salt, looking like frost; on the white and red “bluffs,” probably rich in minerals, on either side of the stream; and most interesting of all, on meetings of frequent occurrence with white or brown bears. On more than one occasion, Captain Lewis almost lost his life in encounters with these formidable creatures. His first escape was from a white bear, one of two which suddenly appeared in his path when he was on shore with only one hunter, and which, though badly wounded, pursued him for a long distance.

On another occasion Lewis went in pursuit of a brown bear, which had been wounded by some of his men, and found the poor creature lying in a kind of bed in the earth, two feet deep and five feet long, which he had scooped out for himself after receiving his death blow. Lewis put an end to his agonies by firing through his skull, and in his account of the matter he speaks in terms of high admiration of the courage and intelligence displayed by all the brown bears he had opportunities of watching.

In the different journals kept by various members of this great expedition, our readers who love sporting adventures will find many another fascinating anecdote of a similar kind to the two we have selected; but, with our heroes, we must press on for the West, pausing, as they did, on the 3d of June, 1805, at a spot some miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone, where the Missouri divides into two great channels, or forks, as they are called in America. Thus far, all had been successful. The course of the Missouri had been carefully traced, and something had been learned of that of every great tributary; but now a mistake would be fatal. From what the natives said, the leaders of the expedition were convinced that one of these two channels led to the sources, not only of the Missouri, but also of the Columbia, that great river of the West first, as we believe, discovered by Viscaino in 1602, though the honor due to him has been given to a certain Captain Gray, of Boston, who, in 1792, entered the mouth of the mighty stream when on a trading expedition, and gave it the name it still retains, after his own vessel.

The camp was pitched below the junction of the two forks, and an earnest consultation held as to which of the two channels should now be followed. The one flowing from the north was narrower but deeper than that from the south, and its waters were of the brown, turbid character which had already earned for the Missouri its name of the Mud River. Surely this northern branch must be the true Missouri! So urged all the members of the expedition, except the two leaders, who, judging more scientifically than their men, were of opinion that, though broader, the southerly branch, with its clear and transparent current, was more likely to have come from the rocky home assigned by all the natives to the great tributary under survey.

VIEW IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.