The White Cliffs

On May 30th and 31st, 1805 the Corps floated through what is now known as the "White Cliffs." On July 5th, 2017 we floated through this section with a guide. We photographed the fascinating panorama of geological formations in the hope they would convey the awe and wonder generated by these visions. Not a chance, We include some of them here as a reminder, but actually, Lewis's description does a better job.

LEWIS May 31, 1805. "The hills and river Clifts which we passed today exhibit a most romantic appearance. The bluffs of the river rise to the hight of from 2 to 300 feet and in most places nearly perpendicular; they are formed of remarkable white sandstone which is sufficiently soft to give way readily to the impression of water; two or thre thin horizontal stratas of white freestone, on which the rains or water make no impression, lie imbeded in these clifts of soft stone near the upper part of them; the earth on the top of these Clifts is a dark rich loam, which forming a graduly ascending plain extends back from 1/2 mile a mile to a mile where the hills commence and rise abruptly to a hight of about 300 feet more. The water in the course of time in decending from those hills and plains on either side of the rier has trickled down the soft sand clifts and woarn it into a thousand grotesque figures, which with the help of a little imagination and an oblique view at a distance, are made to represent eligant ranges of lofty freestone buildings having their parapets will stocked with statuary; columns of various sculpture both grooved and plain, are also seen supporting long galleries in front of those buildings; in other places on much nearer approach and with the help of less immagination we see the remains or ruins of eligant buildings; some collumns standing and almost entier with their pedestals and capitals; others retaining their pedestals but deprived by time or accident of their capitals, some lying prostate an broken others in the form of vast pyramids of connic structure bearing a sereis of other pyramids on their tops becoming less as they ascend and finally terminating in a sharp point. nitches and alcoves of various forms and sizes are seen at different hights as we pass...As we passed on it seemed as if those seens of visionary inchantmnent would never have and end; for here it is too that nature presents to the view of the traveler vast ranges of walls of tolerable workmanship, so perfect indeed are those walls that I should have thought that nature had attempted here to rival the human art of masonry had I not recollected that she had first began her work..."

The beginning of our river trip.









The White Cliffs

The eight sisters

Snoopy

The debaters

The bison head

The white is sandstone and siltstone produced by sedimentation in the inland sea that once covered this area. The dark inclusions are said to be volcanic material which was forced upward and filled crevices in the stone. Some are called plugs, and the fence like forms, called dykes,  are formed by vertical cracks filled with hard volcanic material, then the softer stone weathers away. We are told that this is not the hard glassy matter which comes from melted rock, but is reddish material from the earths's core. That is said to be iron, so perhaps that acounts for the reddish color.

We also saw some wildlife

Can you pick out the deer?

Two immature bald eagles in a really scruffy looking nest

White pelicans taking off.  This one is for you, Jan.

The guide, Craig Madsen, brought along his wife and grandaughter, Mia. Mia is not quite 6,  and found the 102 degree heat a little enervating.

We are sorry our pictures do not adequately represent the grandeur of the White Cliffs, but we feel really lucky to have seen this scene that is exactly the way it was when the Corps passed by, and at a place that one can only visit in the way we did, in a 46 mile float down the Missouri River.

Our next destination is Great Falls.

Fort Benton, Montana

After seeing the confluence and driving by Fort Union, we drove through more different geography, saw some more horses.

Stayed in an old remodeled store, one of the oldest buildings in town, said to be upgraded to a very quaint style with lots of character...not.

But the town does have a whole lot of history. The Corps of Discovery camped here in 1804 going west and 1806 going back east. The Missouri River is right across street from the Motel.

After Lewis and Clark opened the area up to trading,  Fort Union, which we saw earlier was built in 1828, and others followed. Fort Benton was built in 1846, and named for Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. (Evidently not the poet?) It was not until the 1860s that people building a town around the fort.

So the Corps went right past this place going both ways. There is a replica of a keel boat adjacent to the motel.  It is not a Lewis and Clark keel boat, but one built for the movie "The Big Sky."

We are going to have to stream that movie when we get back.

 This sign describes the statue of Lewis, Clark and Sacajawea was placed here for the nation's bicentennial in 1976

It is very well done, and shows a lot of historically correct detail.

Gail liked the statue

 And the little park it inhabits.

 The most significant event of our stay in Fort Benton was an all day boat trip on the Upper Missouri River breacks through the White Cliffs.

After a pretty sunrise over the Missouri River, we gear up for the cruise and will tell you about that next time.

The Confluence

Something we have been looking forward to for some time is the confluence of the Yellowstone River and the Missouri. The Corps shared this anticipation.

Here are two maps, one historic and one modern which depict that confluence;

Lewis and four other men walked from the Missouri cross country to intercept the Yellowstone, then walked down the Yellowstone to meet Clark at the confluence.

April 24, 1805  LEWIS  "When we had proceeded on about 4 miles, I ascended the hills from whence I had a most pleasing view of the country, particularly of the wide and fertile valleys formed by the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, which occasionally unmasked by the wood on their borders disclose their meanderings for many miles in their passage through these delightful tracts of country. I determined to camp on the bank of the Yellowstone River which made its appearance about 2 miles south of me. The whole face of the country was covered with herds of buffalo, elk, and antelopes; deer are also abundant, but keep themselves more concealed in the woodland. The buffalo, elk and antelope are so gentle that we pass near while feeding without appearing to excite any alarm among them; and when we attract their attention, they frequently approach us more nearly to discover what we are, and in some cases pursue us a considerable distance apparently with that view." Later while he was making observations of Latitude and Longitude of the confluence, he heard several shots "which announced to me the arrival of the party with Captain Clark...after I completed my observations in the evening I walked down and joined the party at their encampment on the point of land formed by the junction of the rivers...."

 The Coast and Geodetic Survey have used Lewis's calculations and placed a marker at exactly that spot, and placed a marker at the spot.

This is that marker;

There are very few places along the Lewis and Clark trail where you can be absolutely sure you are standing exactly where they stood. Many things have changed, even the rivers have changed their course or been impeded by dams thereby flooding their actual path.

Doc was thrilled to be in one of those places.

  Here is a view of the confluence itself, with the Yellowstone, in the center of the picture, entering toward the viewer and joining the Missouri which is flowing from right to left.

            Photographer at work

There were, of course to Gail's delight, wild flowers at Fort Buford which was built later near the confluence.








Shortly after the Corps completed their journey, John Jacob Astor approached President Jefferson, asking his help in sending a group of his people to trace their route and make arrangements for a global fur trading enterprise centered around a United States presence on the west coast. Jefferson was enthusiastic , but informed Astor he had about worn out his welcome in the congress where money for westward expansion was concerned, but he would lend all the support the government could for this venture. Astor did follow through, and part of the organization he built was a trading for near the confluence called Fort Union. Astor hired James Fenimore Cooper to write the story of his employees journey. The book is titled "The Astorians."

 Fort Union











We are now staying overnight  in a small motel in Malta, Montana, and plan to drive to Fort Benton tomorrow.