Columbus and Other Heroes of American Discovery

by N. D'Anvers

The men, though unconvinced of the justice of their superiors’ opinion, yielded at once; and after a cursory examination of the northern branch, it was resolved to follow the more southerly. The natives of every district traversed, and the traders who had visited the western coast, had agreed in describing some very magnificent falls formed by the Missouri at no very great distance from its source. The finding of these falls would therefore be the final proof that the river was the true Missouri, and Captain Lewis now hurried forward with a few men, in the hope of solving all doubt before the main body started from the junction.

A march of a couple of days brought the pioneers to a lofty ridge, from which they had their first view of the Rocky Mountains—that grand continuation of the Cordilleras of Mexico, which forms a kind of backbone to North America, and is the common ancestral home of the rivers of the far West, and of many of those whose last resting-places are in the extreme North or the Gulf of Mexico. Twelve miles beyond the ridge, a short halt was made, on account of the illness of Captain Lewis, and on the ensuing day, June 13, as the party were leisurely proceeding on their way in a southerly direction, the leader heard a sound which made him forget his weakness, in the hope that the Falls were now within a short distance.

Hastening in the direction of the “roar,” the explorers soon came in sight of what looked at first like a column of smoke, but which turned out to be spray driven by the wind; and seven miles from the spot where the sound of the falling had been first heard, they came upon the magnificent cataracts, second only in beauty to those of Niagara. Sending back a man with the joyful news of his discovery to Captain Clarke, Captain Lewis now proceeded to examine the Falls, and to his delighted surprise he found that the scene which had so impressed him on his first arrival was, as it were, but the opening chapter of a series of rapids and cascades extending over a distance of no less than sixteen miles and a-half. Above what our hero named the Crooked Falls, on account of the rugged and irregular nature of the rocks over which the water dashes, the river makes a sudden bend to the north, and as Lewis was following its course, he heard a roar as of a continuous discharge of musketry above his head.

Turning rapidly to ascertain its cause, the leader, after traversing a few hundred yards only, reached the culminating point in the panorama. A huge shelving rock, with a surface unbroken by any irregularity, rises up as if by magic from the bed of the river, which dashes over the obstacle in an uninterrupted sheet of water, and is received in a ravine of picturesque beauty, between the rugged sides of which it foams and rages, as if in despair at the result of the effort made in its stupendous leap.

In the very moment of this great and significant success, when the triumphant conclusion of the expedition had become almost a certainty, Captain Lewis had yet another narrow escape in an encounter with a brown bear. Absorbed in the examination of the beauties around him, he had forgotten that, though as yet unknown to civilization, the neighborhood was already tenanted by many a formidable foe to the explorer; and he had forgotten even to load his rifle, which was hanging useless in his hand, when he suddenly became aware that a large brown bear was advancing stealthily upon him. There was nothing for it but flight; for what could an unarmed man do against so terrible an antagonist? Captain Lewis therefore made for the nearest tree as fast as his legs would carry him, but, finding the bear gained rapidly upon him, it struck him that the river would be a safer refuge. Into the Missouri, therefore, he plunged, and, standing in it waist deep, he confronted the bear, holding before him the weapon known as an expontoon.

GRIZZLY BEAR.

The bear duly arrived at the water’s edge, and the Captain’s fate seemed sealed; but at that critical moment, for some reason never explained, the huge quadruped took alarm, turned tail, and ran up the bank with greater haste than dignity, turning about every now and then as if fearful of being pursued.

This terrible danger escaped, Lewis resumed his examination of the surrounding scenery, and when, a couple of days later, he was joined by Clarke and his men, it was resolved that no time should be lost in continuing the ascent of the Missouri. It being absolutely impossible, however, to take the boats over the Falls, a considerable delay occurred before any arrangement could be made for transporting the baggage. A skin-boat, the frame of which had been brought in readiness, was first put together, but it was found altogether inadequate to the purpose for which it was intended; and under the direction of Clarke, eight strong canoes were finally constructed, in which such luggage as could not be dispensed with was packed. The remainder of the luggage was then concealed in a deep hole called a cache, or deposit, which was carefully closed to protect it from the Indians and white bears which haunted the neighborhood of the Falls, and which would certainly have made strange havoc among the valuable books, specimens of plants, drawings, etc., had they come upon them unexpectedly.

Before the end of June, all was ready. The canoes admirably answered the purpose for which they were intended, and the voyage was resumed in the highest spirits. Little progress had been made, however, when Captain Clarke missed some geographical notes he had taken, and turned back, accompanied by his servant York, the interpreter Chabornæan, and the latter’s wife and child. To retrace his steps for the sake of making sure of a few facts seemed a simple enough proceeding, yet in so doing Clarke ran a risk of never completing his journey. On his arrival at the Falls, a terrible storm came on, and he took refuge with his party beneath some shelving rocks in a ravine hard by, thinking to resume his walk in an hour or so. As he waited, however, a torrent of rain and hail suddenly seemed to collect in a solid mass, and poured into the ravine in a strong current, bringing with it huge fragments of rocks, uprooted trees, and all manner of debris. There was not a moment to lose; the Captain seized his gun, and, pushing before him the Indian woman, who had caught her child up from the net in which it lay at her feet, he sprang up the ravine, closely followed by Chabornæan. So sudden was the rise of the water, that it was up to Clarke’s waist before he gained the bank; and as he turned to look back on reaching that refuge, he saw the whole ravine filled, and the net from which the child had been rescued whirled rapidly out of sight. An instant’s hesitation, and the whole party would have been swept down the Great Falls.