The Whole Missouri Is
Suddenly Stopped By One Shelving Rock, Which, Without A Single Niche,
And With An Edge As Straight And Regular As If Formed By Art,
Stretches Itself From One Side Of The River To The Other For At Least
A Quarter Of A Mile.
Over this it precipitates itself in an even,
uninterrupted sheet, to the perpendicular depth of fifty feet,
whence, dashing
Against the rocky bottom, it rushes rapidly down,
leaving behind it a sheet of the purest foam across the river.
The scene which it presented was indeed singularly beautiful;
since, without any of the wild, irregular sublimity of the lower falls,
it combined all the regular elegancies which the fancy of a painter
would select to form a beautiful waterfall. The eye had scarcely
been regaled with this charming prospect, when at the distance
of half a mile Captain Lewis observed another of a similar kind.
To this he immediately hastened, and found a cascade stretching across
the whole river for a quarter of a mile, with a descent of fourteen feet,
though the perpendicular pitch was only six feet. This, too, in any
other neighborhood, would have been an object of great magnificence;
but after what he had just seen, it became of secondary interest.
His curiosity being, however, awakened, he determined to go on,
even should night overtake him, to the head of the falls.
"He therefore pursued the southwest course of the river,
which was one constant succession of rapids and small cascades,
at every one of which the bluffs grew lower, or the bed of the
river became more on a level with the plains. At the distance
of two and one-half miles he arrived at another cataract,
of twenty-six feet. The river is here six hundred yards wide,
but the descent is not immediately perpendicular, though the river
falls generally with a regular and smooth sheet; for about
one-third of the descent a rock protrudes to a small distance,
receives the water in its passage, and gives it a curve.
On the south side is a beautiful plain, a few feet above the level
of the falls; on the north, the country is more broken, and there
is a hill not far from the river. 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.
"Captain Lewis then descended the hill, and directed
his course towards the river falling in from the west.
He soon met a herd of at least a thousand buffalo, and,
being desirous of providing for supper, shot one of them.
The animal immediately began to bleed, and Captain Lewis,
who had forgotten to reload his rifle, was intently watching
to see him fall, when he beheld a large brown bear which was
stealing on him unperceived, and was already within twenty steps.
In the first moment of surprise he lifted his rifle; but,
remembering instantly that it was not charged, and that he had no
time to reload, he felt that there was no safety but in flight.
It was in the open, level plain; not a bush nor a tree
within three hundred yards; the bank of the river sloping,
and not more than three feet high, so that there was no possible
mode of concealment. Captain Lewis, therefore, thought of
retreating with a quick walk, as fast as the bear advanced,
towards the nearest tree; but, as soon as he turned,
the bear rushed open-mouthed, and at full speed, upon him.
Captain Lewis ran about eighty yards, but finding that the animal
gained on him fast, it flashed on his mind that, by getting
into the water to such a depth that the bear would be obliged
to attack him swimming, there was still some chance of his life;
he therefore turned short, plunged into the river about waist-deep,
and facing about presented the point of his espontoon.
The bear arrived at the water's edge within twenty feet of him;
but as soon as he put himself in this posture of defence,
the bear seemed frightened, and wheeling about, retreated with
as much precipitation as he had pursued. Very glad to be
released from this danger, Captain Lewis returned to the shore,
and observed him run with great speed, sometimes looking back
as if he expected to be pursued, till he reached the woods.
He could not conceive the cause of the sudden alarm of the bear,
but congratulated himself on his escape when he saw his own track
torn to pieces by the furious animal, and learned from the whole
adventure never to suffer his rifle to be a moment unloaded."
Captain Lewis now resumed his progress towards the western, or Sun, River,
then more commonly known among the Indians as Medicine River.
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