Day Three – A Presidential Quest

July 4, 1803 – This from President Thomas Jefferson to Meriwether Lewis – “The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River, and such principal stream of it...”

The goal was to find the “Northwest Passage”, a waterway that would connect to the Pacific Ocean. Little did the President or explorers know that a huge mountain range, the Rocky Mountains, lay in between them and the Pacific on this continent they set out to explore.

The Lewis and Clark expedition did navigate up the Missouri to its headwaters which is the confluence of three smaller rivers near the town of Three Forks, Montana, on today’s maps. The three rivers today are called the Jefferson River, the Madison River, and the Gallatin River although Native Americans called them the Elk or Horse River, the Straight River, and the Cherry River respectively. 

In addition to the three rivers, today’s travelers can also see remnants of the town of Gallatin. The skeleton of Gallatin’s hotel stands as a reminder of the rush to the gold fields near Virginia City and Nevada City. 

Although Lewis and Clark did not find the elusive “Northwest Passage”, they did eventually arrive at the Pacific Ocean. Looking out on the grassy prairie at the Missouri’s headwaters, we marvelled at the tenacity of the early explorers, how did they decide which way to go? What skills they had in order to survive without all of our modern conveniences!

After gazing at this wide-open landscape with gently waving grasses, we climbed back into our pickup and rolled eastward.  

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