> After writing this imperfect description I again viewed the falls and was so much disgusted with the imperfect idea which it conveyed of the scene that I determined to draw my pen across it and begin again, but then reflected that I could not perhaps succeed better than penning the first impressions of the mind. I wished for the pencil of Salvator Rosa or the pen of Thomson [Rosa was known for his wilderness landscapes; Thomson was the author of a then famous poem called “The Seasons,” which is full of natural description], that I might be enabled to give to the enlightened world some just idea of this truly magnificent and sublimely grand object, which has from the commencement of time been concealed from the view of civilized man; but this was fruitless and vain. I most sincerely regretted that I had not brought a camera obscura with me by the assistance of which even I could have hoped to have done better, but alas, this was also out of my reach. I therefore with the assistance of my pen only endeavored to trace some of the stronger features of this scene, by the assistance of which and my recollection, aided by some able pencil, I hope still to give to the world some faint idea of an object which at this moment fills me with such pleasure and astonishment, and which of its kind I will venture to assert is second to but one in the known world [the ‘one’ he refers to is no doubt Niagara Falls, already a famous tourist attraction].

> The next day, the 20th, both Lewis and Clark noted meadow fires that were too large to be accidental; they had been seen, and the Shoshone were warning other members of the tribe that they were a possible Blackfeet raiding party. Clark left his own sign—clothes, linens, paper—to show the Indians that they were white men, not Blackfeet.

> At four p.m. they arrived at the confluence of the two rivers where I had left the note. This note had unfortunately been placed on a green pole which the beaver had cut and carried off together with the note. The possibility of such an occurrence never once occurred to me when I placed it on the green pole ( )

The journey of Lewis and Clark is always an exciting tale but it is even better when you get to hear about it from the people who were actually there. It takes a little while to get used to the way that they write but you soon get the hang of it and it doesn’t pose a problem. At the beginning it is a little slow as you hear that they passed this on the starboard side and this on the larboard side but the story soon picks up. It is interesting to see the attitudes of Lewis and Clark towards the men they traveled with as well as towards the people that they meet along the way. The footnotes by Bakeless are interesting as well. They help to clear up a few things but they also, at times, express his personal feelings about the people and events. They are obviously the comments of a man who did research into the journey and the personal comments are stated in such a way that you would not confuse them with facts. It is a book for any history or exploration fan. ( )