Up the River to Lewis & Clark State Park, North Dakota (CoD April 17, 1805)

The CoD broke winter camp on April 8, 1805 and headed up the Missouri with 3 new participants, Toussaint Charbonneau, his Shoshone wife Sacagawea and their new born son Jean Baptiste. The captains thought that Sacagawea would prove valuable when they got to the mountains where they expected to encounter the Shoshone. They needed horses to cross the mountains and thought the Shoshone could be the source. As it turned out, they called it correctly, but I get ahead of myself.
They also filled the keelboat full of their records and samples of animals and plants, to be sent back to President Jefferson. It left shortly before them and headed back to St. Louis. The CoD constructed a few new large canoes from very large cottonwood trees, using the methods taught to them by the Mandan’s. The new canoes proved faster than the keelboat so the CoD made much better time, averaging about 20 miles a day.
This portion of the river is now Lake Sacagawea, formed by the Garrison Dam. It is huge, stretching almost 200 miles in length. Lewis & Clark SP is located on the north shore of the lake, about 60 miles south of the Canadian border. The lake is about 5 miles wide here at the SP.
The park is beautiful, with rolling grass covered hills and great vistas of the lake. Once again, we have it almost to ourselves. The first photo shows the “crowds” around the RV. The second photo is taken from one of our hikes around the campground.
About 30 miles west of the SP, the Yellowstone River enters the Missouri. The CoD first saw the Yellowstone on April 25. The third photo shows the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri. The Missouri is flowing from right to left in the photo, with the Yellowstone entering from the top, behind John.