Lewis Crosses the Continental Divide

With a small advance party, Lewis reached the Continental Divide at Lemhi Pass — the boundary between the Louisiana Territory and the Oregon Country. He drank from a spring that was “the most distant fountain of the waters of the Mighty Missouri.”

“Thus far I had accomplished one of those great objects on which my mind has been unalterably fixed for many years. Judge then of the pleasure I felt in allying my thirst with this pure and ice-cold water.”

But the view from the summit shattered any remaining hopes for an easy portage to Pacific waters. Instead of a gentle slope to a navigable river, Lewis saw range after range of snow-capped mountains stretching to the horizon. Jefferson’s dream of a short portage between the Missouri and the Columbia was an illusion.