buffalo, confused in the darkness, crashed through camp. It came within inches of crushing several of the men. They were saved only just in time by Seaman, who rushed at the buffalo, barked wildly, and chased it away.

As the explorers traveled on, the hills on either side of the river grew higher. The wind still blew hard and the men frequently had to resort to towing the boats. "Their labor is incredibly painful & great," wrote Lewis, "yet those faithful fellows bear it without a murmur." Their elkskin ropes broke, the stones in the river's bottom cut their feet, and the icy currents chilled them. The air was still cold, too, and though it was spring the ground was frosty when they woke up in the mornings. But the air was clean and fresh, and the land unfolding before them a scene of wonder.

One afternoon, Lewis climbed a hill and gazed off toward the horizon. He could see distant mountains ahead, their snow-covered peaks shining in the late-day sun. He was thrilled at the sight. Moments later, as he thought of the difficulties this "snowey barrier" could cause his men, he became troubled. But he wrote in his journal, "As I have always held it a crime to anticipate evils I will believe it a good comfortable road untill I am compelled to believe differently."

Lewis was looking ahead, but at least for a moment, Clark was looking back. When they reached a clear and beautiful stream flowing into the Missouri, Clark thought it a lovely sight. "Judith's River," he called the stream, for Julia (Judy) Hancock, a young Virginian woman who had captured his heart.

On the same day they found the remains of a recent Indian encampment. Sacagawea looked at a moccasin left behind at the site and shook her head--it was not left by her Shoshone people. A little farther on, they came to the base of a tall cliff and found the bones of many dead buffalo. It was the site of a “pishkun,” or buffalo jump. Indians sometimes hunted buffalo by herding them off cliffs. A

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young man disguised as a buffalo would stand between a herd and a cliff. Other hunters surrounded the herd then ran toward it. The disguised hunter ran ahead of the buffalo toward the cliff, and at the last minute jumped on to a safe projection or hid in a crevice he'd selected beforehand. The animals would blindly follow and fall to their deaths. It was a very dangerous trick, and only the fastest hunters were chosen for the hunt. The captains named a stream near this place Slaughter Creek.

The country the Corps traveled through was a land of "visionary inchantment." The river cut its way through hills of white sandstone. The bright rock fo the hills had been carved by water and wind into strange, towering shapes that reminded the men of columns and elaborate buildings. Bighorn sheep looked down on them, and swallows flew overhead from their nests in the cliffs.

June 2, 1805

The Corps reaches the junction of the Missouri and Maria’s Rivers

One day the explorers were surprised to find themselves at the junction of two great rivers. The captains had misunderstood the distances described by the Hidatsa chiefs. They thought they had already passed a river the Hidatsa called “The River Which Scolds All Others” and now did not know that one of these was the “scolding” river. They were confused, and didn't know which way to go. Which river was the Missouri?

The captains faced a big decision and couldn't afford to make a mistake. If they chose the wrong river, they might not discover their mistake for some time. They could lose valuable weeks and months. A wrong turn could mean losing the whole season, could require a forced winter camp, and could perhaps even end their expedition! They camped at the fork and set out to discover which river was the Missouri.

The explorers looked carefully at each of the