Just Below The Falls Is A Little
Island In The Middle Of The River, Well Covered With Timber.
Here On
A cottonwood tree an eagle had fixed her nest, and seemed
the undisputed mistress of a spot, to contest whose
Dominion neither
man nor beast would venture across the gulfs that surround it,
and which is further secured by the mist rising from the falls.
This solitary bird could not escape the observation of the Indians,
who made the eagle's nest a part of their description of the falls,
which now proves to be correct in almost every particular,
except that they did not do justice to the height.
"Just above this is a cascade of about five feet, beyond which,
as far as could be discerned, the velocity of the water seemed to abate.
Captain Lewis now ascended the hill which was behind him, and saw
from its top a delightful plain, extending from the river to the base
of the Snowy [Rocky] Mountains to the south and southwest.
Along this wide, level country the Missouri pursued its
winding course, filled with water to its smooth, grassy banks,
while about four miles above, it was joined by a large river
flowing from the northwest, through a valley three miles in width,
and distinguished by the timber which adorned its shores.
The Missouri itself stretches to the south, in one unruffled stream
of water, as if unconscious of the roughness it must soon encounter,
and bearing on its bosom vast flocks of geese, while numerous
herds of buffalo are feeding on the plains which surround it.
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