Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1917-07-05

Any nIan San nim lnal. no goou!s
Him-big river" and she pointed to-
ward the right hand stream.
"As l thought, WILL" said Lewis,
nodding. And again to the Indian girl.
DO you remember this placer"
She nodded her head vigorously and
smiled.
"See!!'
With a pointed stick she began to
sketch a map on the sand of the river
bar, showing how the Yellowstone fow-
ed from the south-how, far on ahead,
its upper course bent toward the Mis-
souri,, with a march Of not more than
a day between the two. The maps of
this new world that first came back to
civilization We're copies Of Indians
drawings made with a pointed stick
upon the earth or with a coal on q
whitened hide.
"She knows, WILL" said Lewis. "See.
this place she marks near the noun
tain summit, where the two streams
are close. Some time we must explore
that crossing!!"
'I'm SURE I'd rather trust her map
than this one here of old Jonathan
Carver" answered Clark, the map MAX
Ell. Ellis idea Of this country is that
four great rivers head about where we
are now. He marks the river Bourbon
which l e heard of-as running
north to Hudson bay, but he has the
st. Lawrence rising near here, too, and
it must be 1900 or 2,00O miles OF to.
the east! The Mississippi, too, be
thinks, heads about here, at the mouth
OF the Yellowstone, and yonder runs
the Oregon river, which I presume is
the Columbia river. IT'S all very sim
pie, on Carver's maps, but perhaps not
quite so easy, If we follow that of
Sacajawea. This country is wider than
any of us ever dreamed"
"And greater and more beautiful in
every way" assented his companion.
They stood and gaZed about them at
the scene Of wild beauty. The river
ran in long curves between bold and
s%culptured bluffs, among groves Of ma
tive trees, now softly green. Above,
on the prairies, lay a carpet Of the shy
wild rose, most beautiful Of the prai-
RE blossoms. All about were shrubs
and flowers, now putting forth their
claims in the renewed life Of spring.
On the plains fed the buffalo, far as
the eye could reach. Antelope, deer,
the shy bighorn, all these might be
seen, and the footprints Of the giant
bears along the beaches. 1t was the
wilderness, and it was theirs. They
owned it all!
Thus far they had seen no sign of
any human occupancy. They did not
meet a single human being, red or
white, all that summer. A vast silent,
unclaimed land, beautiful and abound
ing, lay waiting for occupancy. There
was no map Of it, none save that writ
ten on the soil now and then by an In
dian girl sixteen years of age.
They plodded on now, taking the
right hand stream, with full confidence
in their guidance, forging onward a
little every day between the high
banks Of the swift river that came
down from the great mountains. April
passed and May.
ed Sacajawea.
And at last. two months out from
the Mandans. Lewis looked westward
from a little eminence and saw a low,
broken line, white in spots, not to be
confused with the lesser eminences Of
the nearby landscape.
'It Is the mountains!' he exclaimed.
There lie the Stonies! They do exist!
We shall surely reach them! We have
wonr'
Not yet had they won. These shin
ing mountains lay a long distance to
the westward, and yet other questions
were to be settled ere they might be
reached.
Often again in emergencies, often
again in cases Of doubt, whether to go
in this direction or that, whether to
take this fork Of a river or that, did
Sacajawea come to the rescue with
unerring instinct. Always did she
guide them true. And so q niche is
due her in history as one who has a
right to share in the glory Of that ex-
petition.
May we not wonder in these later
days if any of us, who reap so care
lessly and so selishly where others
have plowed and sown, reflect as we
should upon the first cost of what we
call our own? The $15,OOO,O0O paid
for the vast empire which these men
were exploring-that was little-that
was naugft. But, ali, the cost in blood
and toll and WEAKNESS, in love and
loyalty and faith, in daring and suffer
ing and h%eartbreak of those who went
ahead! It was a few brave leaders
who furnished the stark, unainching
courage for all.
After many hardships the mountains
were reached, and Lewis led an ad-
n party across the range. One
day, deep in the mountains, he was
sweeping the country with his spy
glass, as was his custom. He gave a