Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/190



wilderness thousands of miles from the nearest white settlement.

On the 23d of March, 1806, they began their long journey homeward. Before leaving the winter camp, Captains Lewis and Clark took the precaution to post up in a secure place a brief statement, giving notice to whoever might visit that remote shore, that this party (giving their names) had explored the interior of the North American Continent by way of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, giving the date of the arrival on the Pacific coast and the time of the departure homeward. If any disaster should overtake them on the perilous return journey, here would be evidence of the success of the expedition and the results of their explorations would not be entirely lost to the world.

It is remarkable fact that this brief notice was discovered by some Indians, taken by them and delivered to a Captain Hill, who was coasting near the Columbia River, carried by him to Canton, China, and sent from there to the United States, reaching Washington in January, 1807, nearly a year after the safe return of the explorers. This was one of the most important expeditions ever sent out by our Government. It gave our country the first authentic information of its vast western possessions from the mouth of the Missouri along the eastern shores of Kansas and Nebraska, the western shore of Iowa, the interior of Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon. It gave the first knowledge to civilization of numerous Indian tribes and nations, the lofty mountains of the Snowy Range, several of the greatest rivers and valleys of the west, the fir and pine forests, natural scenery not surpassed in grandeur by any other portion of the globe.