Camp Disappointment of Lewis and Clark fame

Camp Disappointment of Lewis and Clark fame

Camp Disappointment of Lewis and Clark fame

July 17 to 19, 2007.

We are staying in the Riverview RV Park in Cut Bank, Montana. We are in a water & electric site $24.08 with 10% Good Sam discount. It is nothing but an OK RV-Park in a small town. The park only has a few small trees but the park does have location ------- in the city.

If you have read any accounts of the Lewis and Clark Expedition you will recall Camp Disappointment. Camp Disappointment is located 15-miles west of Cut Bank. A monument has been erected on a hill easily accessed from US-2 to commemorate the farthest point north reached by the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition. The monument was erected by the Great Northern Railway in 1925.

Camp Disappointment Monument near Cut Bank, Montana

To refresh your memory about Camp Disappointment we have to backtrack a little.

Lewis and Clark of the Corps of Discovery traveled west to search for an all water route to the Pacific Ocean. Prior to departure, Captain Lewis was given instruction on mapping their route.

Throughout the journey, Lewis and Clark took daily observations using the stars and the sun and charted the area using a sextant, compass, and chronometer.

On the return trip Lewis and Clark decided to split up somewhere along the Idaho/Montana border with Clark taking some of the the men and heading out over land in search of the Yellowstone River.

While Lewis would take the other men and explore the area north of the Missouri River in Northern Montana.

Lewis with three of his best men left the main party at the Missouri River and embarked on a side trip to explore the headwaters of the Marias River. He hoped to be able to report to President Jefferson that the headwaters arose north of the 49th parallel. Although the Marias flows predominately westward, Lewis decided to go up the more northern Cut Bank Creek, hoping the waters would extend the boundary of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase.

When Lewis reached Camp Disappointment in present-day Montana on July 22, 1806, he attempted to take an observation and continued over the next few days to determine their exact location, but the cloudy weather made Lewis' readings inaccurate. According to Meriweather Lewis' journal the party camped on the Cut Bank River July 22-25, 1806 in a "beautiful and extensive bottom." Deep in the territory of the dreaded Blackfoot the men were uneasy. Lewis wrote "game of every description is extremely wild which induces me to believe the Indians are now, or have been lately in this neighborhood." After viewing the country from a vantage point near his camp, Lewis concluded that the river traversed the mountains to the west rather than to the north as he had hoped. Disheartened by this conclusion, the unseasonably cold and rainy weather, and the shortage of game, Lewis wrote "I had the horses caught and we set out biding a last adieu to this place which I now call camp disappointment..."

Camp Disappointment

Lewis and his men left "Camp Disappointment" on July 26, 1806. Later that day Lewis and his men met three young Piegan Blackfeet warriors and camped with them on the Two Medicine River. The meeting resulted in tragedy when an unfortunate event led to the death of one warrior and the wounding of another. The unfortunate incident had a profound effect on American relations with the Blackfeet for decades.

Lewis and his men retreated at full speed to where they had left the remainder of their troops and boats where they quickly cast off and headed down the Missouri River toward home.

Now you know the significance Camp Disappointment played in the early history of our Country. The above picture attempts to capture the "beautiful and extensive bottom" Lewis described in his journal.

Today Camp Disappointment is deep in the Blackfoot Indian Reservation.

Mexican Hat

This appears to be a prairie coneflower or Mexican hat that Joyce photographed in the highway right of way. This is the furthest north we recall seeing coneflowers.

Montana wheat fields to the horizon northwest of Cut Bank

Leaving Lewis & Clark's Camp Disappointment behind we continued to check out the local area.

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Until next time remember how good life is.

When you visit Cut Bank, Montana make sure to visit Camp Disappointment, it is a an important part of our history.

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