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August, 1805

Captain Clark and the main party noted that the hills were getting higher and more pine trees were growing on the hillsides and riverbanks. Even though they could see snow on the mountaintops, the windless heat in the valley was suffocating. The river was crooked and rapid, and they began to pass many beaver lodges where beavers had dammed up the water at the mouths of tributaries with a series of dams, one above the other. The men were now spending half their time in the water, towing their vessels over shoals and rapids that grew ever stronger.

Increasingly, the hunters returned from the day’s hunting with no game to show for their labor. “There’s very little life out there,” Drouillard reported. “But about three miles ahead, the river forks again.”

When they came to the fork, Clark and Hugh McNeal looked over the scene. The right fork was the larger of the two.

“My guess is that Captain Lewis would probably have taken the bigger fork,” McNeal suggested, batting away a swarm of gnats from his face.

Clark considered his comment. “I think you’re right, but to be safe I’ll leave a note telling him which fork we took in case he returns here.”

The right fork presented the men with rapids that occasionally dropped three to four feet within the length of a canoe. With great effort, they passed over them, but the current was so swift that they found it difficult to stay on their feet. They camped after covering only eight miles. The next day, George Drouillard arrived from Lewis’s party.

“You took the wrong fork,” he told Clark.

Clark turned to McNeal. “Since Shannon is out hunting and won’t know we’re turning back, you wait for him here.”

Then Clark and Drouillard reversed course and headed back down the rapids. At the forks, Captain Lewis was waiting for them.

“I’ve been thirty miles up the other fork, and it is much easier to navigate,” he announced.

McNeal returned that evening without Shannon. “I gave him plenty of time before I left,” he told Clark, whose expression showed disapproval.

“Blow the horn to let him know where we are,” Clark said to Ordway. “Then fire the cannon, wait a few minutes, and fire a volley of rifle shots.”

But the signals didn’t work. Shannon didn’t show up.

Deciding that they had one more canoe than they needed to carry supplies, the captains ordered it hidden in a nearby grove of cottonwood trees where they could retrieve it on their return trip. The men put damp goods out in the sun to dry as Captain Lewis recorded the latitude and longitude of the location. Sunflowers and thistles, as well as a variety of rye grass that grew three feet tall, grew everywhere.

Shannon still had not returned, and Captain Clark sent Reuben Fields out in search of him. When Fields returned alone, they decided to pack up their goods and continue, assuming that Shannon would find them. A summer storm arose, but the party continued, passing smooth prairie on each side of the very crooked river. After seven miles, they camped, and the hunters finally brought in two deer, to everyone’s great relief.

At sunrise, the group set out again, having seen nothing of Shannon. Clark had developed a boil on one ankle, which was swollen and inflamed, causing him to limp in pain. Gass, Charbonneau, and several of the other men complained of various ailments. Everyone was exhausted, weakening their ability to stay healthy. As their energy level sank, morale began to suffer as well. Sacagawea lifted the spirits of the group when she recognized a plain as being near her tribe’s summer camping ground.

“My people will be either on this river or on the river west of here,” she told Lewis through the convoluted translation chain.

Lewis turned to Clark. “In that case, I think we should send out another greeting party, this time to stay out until they contact the Shoshones,”

“I’ll be ready to leave in the morning,” Clark responded.

“Not with your swollen ankle, my friend. You stay here in charge of the main party while I take your place in the search.”

Clark started to protest, but he knew Lewis was right.

Lewis lowered his voice. “This is a do-or-die situation. If we don’t get Shoshone horses and a Shoshone guide, our mission could end in these mountains.” He glanced toward Sacagawea. “I hope they’ll welcome us. They should because they need contact with white men so they can arm themselves to protect their people from the Blackfoot and Hidatsas.”

“Of course we aren’t bringing guns now,” Clark said softly, “only the promise to bring them later. Actually, we need the Shoshones more than they need us right now. In the long run, that situation will reverse, but convincing them may be one of our greatest challenges—if we can find them.”

“Then let’s pray that we make contact this time,” Lewis said.

The main party with Clark came to a valley where the three forks of the river converged. The valley appeared to be ten to twelve miles wide, all open prairie covered with tall grass and prickly pears, except for a few scattered groves of cottonwood and willow trees. The river was only twenty-five yards wide now and so shallow that in some places the men again had to get into the water and drag the canoes.

When they halted for breakfast, George Shannon finally walked into camp. He had been lost for three days after they had reversed course without telling him. He was greeted with shouts of welcome and slaps on the back Shannon was weak and hungry, but he was greatly relieved that he had found the expedition.

“I think you goldarn guys are trying to get rid of me,” he teased good-naturedly.

“Yeah, but you just keep coming back no matter how hard we try,” John Colter joked.

Lewis’s party, searching for the Shoshones, spread out across a valley in search of an Indian trail. Drouillard went to the right, Shields to the left, and McNeal stayed with Lewis in the center.

“If you find a trail, put your hat on the muzzle of your rifle and lift it up so we can see your signal,” Lewis told Drouillard and Shields.

They marched in a widely-spaced line for five miles with no luck. Then Lewis squinted and took out his telescope. He saw an Indian on horseback, armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows, about two miles distant and coming toward them. From his unfamiliar dress, Lewis knew the man was from an unknown Indian tribe.

Lewis continued walking at his normal pace as the Indian approached. When he was a half-mile away, the Indian suddenly stopped. As an invitation to talk, Lewis pulled a blanket from his pack, shook it out, and spread it on the ground. But the Indian glanced suspiciously at Drouillard and Shields. He saw four armed men coming toward him rather than a friendly invitation to talk. The Indian was becoming alarmed, and his horse pranced as if ready to race away. Lewis laid his rifle on the blanket and walked on toward the Indian with hands and arms outstretched in a gesture of friendship.

The Indian watched as Lewis approached. Lewis called out, “Tab ba bone,” which Sacagawea had told him was Shoshone for “white man.” The Indian kept glancing at Drouillard and Shields as they also advanced toward him. Lewis was furious with the two men, but he knew if he shouted at them to stop, the Indian might think it was a command to attack. Lewis signaled the other two men to stop, but Shields failed to see his command and continued walking. Now only one-hundred-fifty yards from the Indian, Lewis repeated “Tab ba bone” and pulled up his sleeves to show his white skin. After a few more moments, the Indian turned his horse and galloped away. Lewis was uncharacteristically angry that Shields had not stopped walking and had frightened away their first opportunity to connect with Indians who could be the Shoshones.

“When you saw that I was trying to make contact with the Indian, you should have stopped,” he admonished Shields.

“Sorry, Captain,” a chastened Shields responded. “I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention.”

The four men continued walking, following the trail of the Indian’s horse.

“The Shoshones could be camped in the hills over there,” Lewis said after a long silence, “and we don’t want them to think that white men are advancing on them. Let’s stop and build a fire of willow brush and eat before going on.”

However, as they started out again, a heavy downpour raised the grass, wiping out the horse tracks. Continuing in that direction, the men noticed several places where Indians had been digging for roots, an indication that they were on the right track. After a few more miles, the men made camp for the night.

The next morning, they found a wide Indian trail, where they halted at a stream to breakfast on the venison in their backpacks. Several miles farther, they saw what they took to be the headwaters of the mighty Missouri River.

“This must be it, Captain,” McNeal said, thoughtfully assessing the possible source of one of America’s greatest rivers.

“I think so,” Lewis agreed, marveling that this calm spot might have spawned the beauty and treachery of the immense river they had traveled.

Lewis drank of the water, and Shields stood triumphantly astride the rivulet, as if posing for a painting. They proceeded to the top of the dividing ridge, from where they could see the immense ranges of towering mountains to the west, their peaks covered with snow—shattering any remaining hope of an easy passage to a branch of the Columbia River. They took their first steps on the western side of the dividing ridge, went through Lemhi Pass, and continued another ten miles before making camp. The next morning they followed a trail that led to a long valley, where they suddenly spotted two Indian women and a man. Coming within a half-mile of them, Lewis stopped.

“You men wait here and do nothing to make them suspicious of us,” he said. Lewis unslung his pack, put it and his rifle on the ground, and advanced alone at a slow but steady pace.

Lewis called out, “Tub ba bone” repeatedly, but the Indians fled. Lewis hurried to the hill where they had stood, but they were not in sight. Their dogs were less shy and came near Lewis. Maybe I can tie some beads and other trinkets in a kerchief around the dog’s neck to let them know I come in peace, Lewis thought. But the dogs would not let him touch them despite their curiosity about him.

Topping a rise less than a mile later, Lewis and his men surprised three Indian females sitting on the ground no more than thirty yards away—an elderly woman, a teenager, and a half-grown child. Lewis put down his rifle and advanced slowly. The teenager ran away, but the old woman and the child remained. Seeing no chance of escaping with a stranger so close, they sat with their heads bowed as if expecting to die.

Lewis walked up slowly and took the hand of the old woman, raising her to her feet, saying, “Tab ba bone.” He pulled up his sleeve to show the color of his skin. His clothes were made entirely of buckskin, and his face and hands were so tanned that he could have easily been an Indian. He gave the woman some beads, a few moccasin awls, a mirror, and some paint. The color of his skin, the gifts, and his friendly manner seemed to calm her.

Drouillard had followed Lewis, and now Lewis turned to him saying, “Ask her to call back the teenager.” He didn’t want the girl to raise an alarm in the village.

When she returned, Lewis gave her some trinkets and painted the cheeks of all three with vermillion. All three females smiled at Lewis with delight.

“Take us to your village to meet your chiefs,” Drouillard signed to the old squaw at Lewis’s request.

She agreed, and the group set off with the Indians leading. Suddenly, sixty mounted Shoshone warriors startled Lewis and his party when they thundered down upon them at full speed, halting just in front of the small party. They rode fine horses and were armed with bows and arrows. Lewis and his men put down their rifles to signal no hostile intent.

“Keep still, men,” Lewis ordered. “Don’t do anything to alarm them.”

The old squaw told the Indian who was apparently the chief that these were white men and showed him the presents they had given her. The Shoshone warriors could have overpowered Lewis’s small party easily and taken their rifles, knives, and more trade goods than they had ever seen, but the chief dismounted and approached Lewis, saying “Ah-hi-e,” which Lewis later learned meant, “I am much pleased.” The chief put his left arm over Lewis’s right shoulder and touched his cheek to Lewis’s repeating, “Ah-hi-e.” The warriors dismounted and approached, and all of them made the same greeting to the white men. Lewis smiled. This was going far better than he could have hoped!

Lewis learned that his party was very lucky because the war party had ridden out in response to the alarm raised by the Indian who had fled from Lewis earlier. The Shoshones had expected their enemies, the Blackfoot, and might have attacked immediately except for the old squaw. Lewis brought out his pipe and sat down, signaling to the Indians that they should do the same. They did so, removing their moccasins, a custom among the Shoshones to indicate sincerity or friendship. Lewis lit the pipe and passed it around. Then he distributed small presents. The Shoshones were particularly pleased with the blue beads and vermillion paint.

Lewis was greatly pleased that he and his men had at last met these calm and welcoming members of the Shoshone tribe. The chief’s name was Cameahwait, and Lewis gave him an American flag, telling him it represented a bond between the Indians and the white men. Cameahwait sent a few young men ahead to tell their village to prepare for their arrival. Then he spoke to the warriors, and soon the entire party set out for the Shoshone village.

When they arrived, Lewis and his men were ushered into an old buffalo-hide tepee and ceremoniously seated on green boughs covered with antelope skins. The chief lit a pipe from a fire in the center of the tepee and then gave a speech in his own language that lasted several minutes. After pointing the stem of the pipe to the four points of the compass, he presented it to Lewis, but when Lewis reached for it he pulled it back and repeated the ceremony, this time pointing the pipe stem to the heavens. He smoked three puffs and held the pipe while Lewis took three puffs, then extended it to each white man who also took three puffs. Then he gave the pipe to his warriors.

Lewis gave his standard speech through Drouillard’s sign language, although he couldn’t tell if the Shoshones understood—he needed Sacagawea to interpret, but she was still with the Clark group. Lewis distributed his remaining presents to the Indians, who were delighted to receive them.

Lewis and his men had not eaten for twenty-four hours, and when he mentioned this to Cameahwait, the chief immediately ordered that cakes of serviceberries and chokeberries be brought to them.

All the women and children of the camp gathered to inspect the white men, the first they had ever seen. The Shoshones were small people, with thick ankles, bowed legs, and flat feet. Men and women alike wore their hair loose over their shoulders, although a few of the men wore it in two braids that fell in front. All adults wore robes that hung to the middle of their legs. The robes either hung loose or were held together with their hands. Made of the skin of buffalo, antelope, or bighorn sheep, the robe served as clothing during the day and as a blanket at night. The men also wore collarless long shirts made of animal skins that retained the animal’s tail and fell to mid-thigh. The edges of the shirts were fringed and ornamented with porcupine quills. Beads were also sewn on some shirts by using sinews from the animal’s body as thread. The men also wore leggings made from antelope skin from which the hair had been scraped. Each legging required almost an entire animal skin, complete with tail and with fringed and ornamented edges.

From Cameahwait, Lewis confirmed finally that there was definitely no all-water route across the continent. Cameahwait also told Lewis, through Drouillard’s sign language, that it was time for the Shoshones to cross the dividing ridge to meet other tribes of Shoshones and Flatheads and hunt buffalo on the Missouri River. Horses were the most needed commodity for the Corps of Discovery in the months ahead in the mountains, but if the Shoshones needed all their horses for the buffalo hunt, it spelled disaster to the Corps.

That night, the Shoshones entertained Lewis and his men with a dance, during which their women sang, that lasted almost until dawn.