Not too far past this point on the river the Corps came to a fork in the river with both streams appearing about equal for width of channel and water flow. They took several days to survey up each stream to determine which one was the Missouri and would lead them to the great waterfalls that the Indians had told them about. After all the studying the crew strongly suggested the northerly fork but the captains felt that the one to the southwest was their choice and of course the crew followed their leaders. They named the other stream the Marias River (after a cousin of Lewis in Virginia). Still not 100% sure Capt. Lewis headed off afoot ahead of the canoes in an effort to find the falls and map a route for their portage.
Lewis comes across “the grandest sight I ever beheld” – the Great Falls
of the Missouri, proof the captains had been correct. But then he
discovers four more waterfalls immediately upriver. They will have to
portage eighteen and a half miles to get around them all. Instead of the half day the captains had planned the previous winter for this portage it takes them nearly a month.
On July 4, 1805 the party celebrated its second Independence Day on the trail (as well
as the completion of the portage) by dancing late into the night and
drinking the last of their supply of whiskey.
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