BCJ_SPRING 17 Digital Edition

FLOATING THROUGH
HISTORY AND WILDERNESS
Retracing the Trail of Lewis and Clark
in the Missouri River Breaks
The water…on either side of the river has trickled down the soft sand cliffs and worn it into
a thousand grotesque figures which, with the help of a little imagination, and an oblique view,
at a distance are made to represent elegant ranges of lofty freestone buildings, having their
parapets well stocked with statuary.
Captain Meriwether Lewis
May 31, 1805
BY E. DONNALL THOMAS JR.
PHOTOS BY LORI THOMAS AND THE AUTHOR
WE HAD LAUNCHED AT COAL BANKS LANDING NEAR THE MONTANA HAMLET OF VIRGELLE THE PREVIOUS
EVENING AND COVERED 11 RIVER MILES BY THE TIME WE REACHED THE WHITE CLIFFS SECTION OF THE MIS-
SOURI RIVER BREAKS. SEVERAL YEARS HAD PASSED SINCE I’D LAST SEEN THESE REMARKABLE FORMATIONS,
AND THEY AROUSED THE SAME WONDER LEWIS HAD RHAPSODIZED ABOUT TWO CENTURIES EARLIER. IN
CONTRAST TO THE MONTANA THAT HAS BEEN SUBDIVIDED AND GENTRIFIED DURING THE LAST DECADE, THIS
SECTION OF THE MISSOURI RIVER HAS HARDLY CHANGED AT ALL – NOT JUST IN 10 YEARS, BUT IN 200. AND
IT’S THERE FOR ALL TO ENJOY, WHETHER THE AGENDA FOCUSES ON HUNTING, FISHING, PHOTOGRAPHY OR
SIMPLY THE URGE TO RECONNECT WITH THE RAPIDLY VANISHING WILD.
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