blackfoot-valley

The glacial action in the area, or even the former existence of great glaciers was not understood by the science of the day when Lewis made his visit. Lewis also mentioned that they passed a large crooked pond at 4 miles further, most likely the Kleinschmidt Lake. It is easy to imagine Lewis and his party riding across the valley’s north- ern end on that summer day of July 6th, 1806, with a wary eye for Indians of whom they had been warned. Take away the grazing cattle and their feed crops and it probably wouldn’t have looked very different than it does today, although wildlife was certainly more abundant. Lewis mentioned antelope in the area, which today are gone. He also carefully noted and took specimens of sagebrush and other shrubs growing there. At a place where they had camped the previous night west of Ovando’s present townsite, they found the remains of a war-party camp (probably of Hidatsas, related to the Crows) which they guessed had been used two months before. At some point during the day while passing through the Ne- vada / Blackfoot Valley, in Lewis’s words they came upon fresh tracks, “the trail which we take to be a returning war-party....They have a large pasel of horses....We expect to meet with them, and are therefor much on our guard day and night.” Fortunately, they had no encounters with any Indians hostile or other- wise along the Blackfoot. On July 7th, at a place about ten miles beyond the present town of Lincoln, they turned north up Alice Creek and soon stood 65