The Great Falls - Worth the trip

Great Falls 2010 June

You really need to see the Great Falls.

Not this year, there isn’t much water.

To get there, you have to find the directions for Ryan Dam. (I didn’t know this so our search was a bit crazy).

Great Falls 2013 June

The falls that Lewis and Clark saw were around 90 feet and Lewis with his basic math was able to triangulate the height within 1 ¾ feet correctly.

Mathematicians of the world rejoice.

Historians and storytellers stand in awe.

Finding the Great Falls proved to the Corps of Discovery they were on the right river (see the Decision Point blog post to understand).

Then those poor tired men had to portage a couple of tons of equipment 20 miles around the falls. It took them 20 days!

Exhausting!

My favorite part of that story is that Clark made them dance at night to keep their spirits up.

Imagine how popular he was with that order.

 

If you want to know what Lewis was off doing while the others were hefting all that equipment through the tall-grassed, rolling-hilled, rattlesnake-loving prairie--email me and I'll tell you.

 

But…going out to the tiny island to look at the falls (and the dam) is worth the trip.

The bridge wobbles. Can only have six people on it. And the warning??? 

You decide.