So Instantaneous Was The Rise Of The Water That,
Before Captain Clark Had Reached His Gun And Begun To Ascend
The bank,
the water was up to his waist, and he could scarcely get up
faster than it rose, till
It reached the height of fifteen feet,
with a furious current which, had they waited a moment longer,
would have swept them into the river just above the Great Falls,
down which they must inevitably have been precipitated.
They reached the plain in safety and found York, who had
separated from them just before the storm to hunt some buffalo,
and was now returning to find his master. They had been obliged
to escape so rapidly that Captain Clark lost his compass
[that is, circumferentor] and umbrella, Chaboneau left his gun,
with Captain Lewis' wiping-rod, shot-pouch, and tomahawk,
and the Indian woman had just time to grasp her child,
before the net in which it lay at her feet was carried
down the current."
Such a storm is known in the West as a cloud-burst. Overland emigrants in
the early rush to California often suffered loss from these sudden deluges.
A party of men, with wagons and animals, have been known to be swept away
and lost in a flood bursting in a narrow canyon in the mountains.
"Captain Clark now relinquished his intention of going up the river,
and returned to the camp at Willow Run. Here he found that
the party sent this morning for the baggage had all returned
to camp in great confusion, leaving their loads in the plain.
On account of the heat, they generally go nearly naked, and with no
covering on their heads.
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