Captain Clark, unknowingly, conducted his own boat experiment on the Yellowstone River. Although it was not planned, it was more extensive than the earlier experiment that had been undertaken with the iron framed boat at the great falls of the Missouri.
During the winter at Fort Clatsop the two Captains had developed their plans for exploring other areas of Montana on their return trip from the Pacific Ocean in 1806. The plan called for Clark to take a group to the Yellowstone River by horse then build canoes and navigate the river. They would rejoin Lewis at the Missouri. This sounds straightforward, but it didn’t work out to be that simple.
When Clark reached the Yellowstone, he found no trees large enough to make canoes from. He required a tree about 3 feet in diameter and at least 20 feet long. They needed two such trees at least since his group consisted of eight adults and one child.
Clark had no choice but to continue down the river searching for trees large enough to make his canoes from. He wrote, “The river and creeks abound in cottonwood trees though none of them sufficiently large for canoes and the current of the Rochejhone is too rapid to depend on skin canoes. No other alternative for me but to proceed on down until I can find a tree sufficiently large to make a canoe.”
Clark traveled 100 miles along the Yellowstone over 5 days before he found two trees that they made into canoes. Just to be sure he sent two men down the river another 12 miles to see if they could find any better trees, which they didn’t.
The two canoes were smaller around but longer than what he wanted. By fastening them together, like a catamaran, they were adequately stable to use.
After traveling a few miles, they encountered a riffle where the canoes took in a great deal of water. They were forced to stop and dry things out. Clark also had them fasten a buffalo skin on the canoes to prevent the water from splashing in again. Clark mentions other times they had problems with wind blowing so hard they “made but little way” or they had to land and take shelter from the storm.
On the 30th of July they ran into shoals that the canoes had to be taken down by hand so they would not be smashed on the rocks. He lamented that a pirogue or large canoe would safely pass through them. These kinds of encounters were common throughout the Corps of Discovery’s travels, so Clark viewed them with indifference.
By contrast, consider Sergt. Pryor’s plight when he and his companions were left on the prairies with no means of transportation, thanks to the Crows relieving them of their horses. They set off on foot the short few miles to the Yellowstone River. They had very little equipment with them and certainly nothing they could use to cut down a large cottonwood tree to make into a canoe. So, they had no choice but to craft a bullboat like they had seen at the Mandan Villages. In concession to the unknown river ahead, although they only required one boat, they made two. Pryor and his three companions made their way down the Yellowstone in them without incident, joining Clark where he waited for Lewis to catch up.
Pryor traveled the same river Clark did and reported none of the problems Clark had. Pryor told Clark “They passed through the worst parts of the rapids and shoals in the river without taking a drop of water and waves raised from the hardest winds did not affect them.”
Bullboats were used by a variety of Plains Indian groups, mostly for quick temporary water transportation. When the task for which they were built was completed they were simply discarded with no real loss of resources.
Was Clark too locked into his wooden canoe paradigm? Would he have been better off making some bullboats rather than taking the time to search for a hundred miles along the river then taking four more days making dugouts that later slowed the trip when they encountered rough water or bad weather?
During the winter at Fort Clatsop the two Captains had developed their plans for exploring other areas of Montana on their return trip from the Pacific Ocean in 1806. The plan called for Clark to take a group to the Yellowstone River by horse then build canoes and navigate the river. They would rejoin Lewis at the Missouri. This sounds straightforward, but it didn’t work out to be that simple.
When Clark reached the Yellowstone, he found no trees large enough to make canoes from. He required a tree about 3 feet in diameter and at least 20 feet long. They needed two such trees at least since his group consisted of eight adults and one child.
Clark had no choice but to continue down the river searching for trees large enough to make his canoes from. He wrote, “The river and creeks abound in cottonwood trees though none of them sufficiently large for canoes and the current of the Rochejhone is too rapid to depend on skin canoes. No other alternative for me but to proceed on down until I can find a tree sufficiently large to make a canoe.”
Clark traveled 100 miles along the Yellowstone over 5 days before he found two trees that they made into canoes. Just to be sure he sent two men down the river another 12 miles to see if they could find any better trees, which they didn’t.
The two canoes were smaller around but longer than what he wanted. By fastening them together, like a catamaran, they were adequately stable to use.
After traveling a few miles, they encountered a riffle where the canoes took in a great deal of water. They were forced to stop and dry things out. Clark also had them fasten a buffalo skin on the canoes to prevent the water from splashing in again. Clark mentions other times they had problems with wind blowing so hard they “made but little way” or they had to land and take shelter from the storm.
On the 30th of July they ran into shoals that the canoes had to be taken down by hand so they would not be smashed on the rocks. He lamented that a pirogue or large canoe would safely pass through them. These kinds of encounters were common throughout the Corps of Discovery’s travels, so Clark viewed them with indifference.
By contrast, consider Sergt. Pryor’s plight when he and his companions were left on the prairies with no means of transportation, thanks to the Crows relieving them of their horses. They set off on foot the short few miles to the Yellowstone River. They had very little equipment with them and certainly nothing they could use to cut down a large cottonwood tree to make into a canoe. So, they had no choice but to craft a bullboat like they had seen at the Mandan Villages. In concession to the unknown river ahead, although they only required one boat, they made two. Pryor and his three companions made their way down the Yellowstone in them without incident, joining Clark where he waited for Lewis to catch up.
Pryor traveled the same river Clark did and reported none of the problems Clark had. Pryor told Clark “They passed through the worst parts of the rapids and shoals in the river without taking a drop of water and waves raised from the hardest winds did not affect them.”
Bullboats were used by a variety of Plains Indian groups, mostly for quick temporary water transportation. When the task for which they were built was completed they were simply discarded with no real loss of resources.
Was Clark too locked into his wooden canoe paradigm? Would he have been better off making some bullboats rather than taking the time to search for a hundred miles along the river then taking four more days making dugouts that later slowed the trip when they encountered rough water or bad weather?
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