The mountain men who opened the west

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
If you ever have the change to follow Lewis & Clark with the Corp of Discovery just on the Upper Missouri, do so.  The places and descriptions in their journals written over two hundred years ago are still visible today.

<table style="font-family: " align="right" border="0" width="270"><tr style=><td width="309">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]MONTANA[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Lewis and Clark Camp at Slaughter River, Missouri River</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Great Falls Portage, Great Falls</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Tower Rock, Cascade</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Three Forks of the Missouri, Three Forks</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Beaverhead Rock-Lewis and Clark Expedition, Dillon</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Lemhi Pass, (also in Idaho)</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Clark's Lookout, August 13, 1805, Dillon</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Traveler's Rest, Lolo</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Lolo Trail (also in Idaho), Lolo</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Nez Perce National Historical Park (also in Idaho), Wisdom</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Pompey's Pillar (return trip), Yellowstone River</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Camp Disappointment (return trip), Browning</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Two Medicine Fight Site (return trip), Cut Bank</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">
[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]IDAHO[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Lemhi Pass (also in Montana)</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Lolo Trail (also in Montana), Weippe Prairie</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Weippe Prairie, Spalding</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Nez Perce National Historical Park (also in Montana), Spalding</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]OREGON[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Rock Fort Campsite, The Dalles</td></tr><tr style=><td height="38" width="309">•Fort Clatsop National Memorial (winter of 1806), Astoria</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]WASHINGTON[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Cape Disappointment Historic District, Ilwaco</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Chinook Point, Chinook</td></tr><tr style=><td width="309">•Lewis & Clark Trail--Travois Road, Pataha Creek</td></tr></table>
<table style="font-family: " align="left" border="0" width="270"><tr style=><td width="306">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Preparing for the Journey[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Monticello, Charlottesville, VA</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia, Virginia, Marlyand</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•American Philosophical Society Hall, Philadelphia, PA</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Big Bone Lick State Park, Union, KY</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Old Clarksville Site, Clarksville, Indiana</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Fort Massac Site, Metropolis, Illinois</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306"> </td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]The Expedition[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]ILLINOIS[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Old Cahokia Courthouse, Cahokia</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]MISSOURI[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Jefferson National Expansion Memorial National Historic Site, St. Louis</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•St. Charles Historic District, St. Louis</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Tavern Cave, St. Albans</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Rocheport Historic District, Rocheport</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Arrow Rock, Saline County</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Fort Osage, Sibley</td></tr><tr style=><td height="20" width="306">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]NEBRASKA[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Leary Site, Rulo</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Fort Atkinson, Fort Calhoun</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]IOWA[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Sergeant Floyd Monument, Sioux City</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]SOUTH DAKOTA[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Spirit Mound, Vermillion</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">[font=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]NORTH DAKOTA[/font]</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Stanton</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Big Hidatsa Village Site, Stanton</td></tr><tr style=><td width="306">•Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, Williston</td></tr></table>
 
To walk where these guys walked (in their footsteps) will make you dream for a month after doing so. 

We did a canoe trip following the L&C group for 28 days in correct period dress right down to what they ate. This was the most exciting time we have ever had and probably the hardiest to endure of any trek we have ever been on. A few got hurt, nothing as serious as a trip down the Missouri and then on the Mississippi when we got banged up and one died in flood waters. 

Canoes and flood waters don't mix as we soon found out (once in the middle of a large river like the Missouri or Mississippi all one can do is go as straight as possible and pray.  Probably what our forefathers did in such situations too.

300px-Lewis_and_clark-expedition.jpg
 
If one ever has the chance to visit my home town of Great Falls, MT take the time for the Museum Of The Corp Of Discovery at Giant Springs State Park. It is an all day venture. My childhood playground was above and below Black Eagle Falls which is just one in the series of falls they had to portage around.
 
Firestick said:
If one ever has the chance to visit my home town of Great Falls, MT take the time for the Museum Of The Corp Of Discovery at Giant Springs State Park. It is an all day venture. My childhood playground was above and below Black Eagle Falls which is just one in the series of falls they had to portage around.
Been there many times, a small group of us has followed L&C and the Corp of Discovery from the Mississippi all the way to the coast and back. What they did in a couple years took us many years to complete with limited vacation times (longest vacation was a full month of breaking our backs every day canoeing 10 hour days). 1260 miles one way was our longest trip at one time in period correct everything from food to clothing.  

This was the most pleasing experience any of us ever have had, done correctly. 
God Bless those that went before us.   :Salute:
 
We used to get fresh water out of Giant Springs. I do not believe they allow it anymore. Last time I was there someone had tossed garbage into it. The springs is the head of the worlds shortest river that runs into the Missouri.
 
Firestick said:
We used to get fresh water out of Giant Springs. I do not believe they allow it anymore. Last time I was there someone had tossed garbage into it. The springs is the head of the worlds shortest river that runs into the Missouri.
I read an article talking about fresh water, in the 80's the mid and northwest were rated on a scale of 1-10 with a rating of 6.8. Today's rating shows a drop, now in the 4.1 plus range for fresh clean water.  The human race is a blight on the earth.   :roll:
 
Buck Conner said:
Firestick said:
We used to get fresh water out of Giant Springs. I do not believe they allow it anymore. Last time I was there someone had tossed garbage into it. The springs is the head of the worlds shortest river that runs into the Missouri.
I read an article talking about fresh water, in the 80's the mid and northwest were rated on a scale of 1-10 with a rating of 6.8. Today's rating shows a drop, now in the 4.1 plus range for fresh clean water.  The human race is a blight on the earth.   :roll:
I certainly agree with that. There won't be any need to "save the earth". The earth will always be here but man is likely to be eliminated. Luckily I live where the water is still pretty good except some wells have become contaminated from fracking. I often wonder about the fur trappers and how they drank water. Did they know of special springs to drink from or was the water so generally pure they just drank it? Getting an intestinal bug could spell death back then. Giant Springs was a special place to the Blackfeet yet hardly any others paid any attention to it until Great Falls was settled.
 
Back
Top