I went to the farmers market and got Tomato, bok choy, Lion’s Mane and Oyster Mushrooms, green beans, brussel sprouts, sweet corn, cucumbers, peppers, and kohlrabi.

I have four new neighbors upstairs in the house I am renting in Winona. I got to take Thomas and Josh fishing in my little pontoon I call Marsh Monster. It was a perfect summer evening, the Sunday before their classes start. All four of the boys upstairs play soccer for St Mary’s College, and they came and introduced themselves to me the first day I was home. I cooked them all a Sunday lunch with all the I produce I had purchased. I think we are going to get along fine.

Thomas caught a nice bass, and Josh and I both caught some smaller bass on pool 5a just above Winona.

The lotus bed that I filmed for my last Substack has turned from a field of blossoms to a field of seed pods. They are quite beautiful in their own way. The vast beds of lotus are located above the spillway that is connected to Lock and Dam 5a, just above Prairie Island Campground. The spillway seems to keep them from spreading to the backwaters of Blackbird Slough, which is devoid of Lotus. It would be nice if some lotus pods somehow made their way over the spillway and planted themselves in Straight Slough or Blackbird Slough, so the paddlers from the campground could enjoy them. Maybe they need a helping hand.

My time on board the American Serenade was precious. The first week was a downstream trip from Red Wing to Alton, with stops at La Crosse, Dubuque, Davenport, Hannibal, and Alton, Illinois. Passengers rode the cruise coaches to the Gateway Arch in St Louis, and some passengers went to the Louis and Clark State Historic Site in Hartford, Illinois. That is the one with the full-scale model of their keelboat, split down the middle so the boat's contents are on display. It is a fantastic learning center. The video I made for it is in On the Trail of Lewis and Clark Part 3.

I took an Uber to the Melvin Price Lock and Dam, which you can see from our mooring spot in Alton, just beyond the Clark Bridge. The National Great Rivers Museum is also at the Lock and Dam, and they offer tours throughout the day. I explored the museum while waiting for the tour to begin. I crashed a barge on the simulator and learned about the various structures the Army Corps of Engineers uses to control the Great River. I watched one of the movies they produced that talks about the Great River. They have a timeline of river history featuring key figures, plus taxidermy and facts about many of our river and bluff creatures.

Me on top of the Melvin Price Lock and Dam

The tour was pretty cool. We took a large elevator up to the top of the dam structure, and peered down at the locks and tainter gates. There was a strong smell of dead fish, as the river was littered with dead carp. Apparently this invasive species hasn’t adjusted to the warm waters of late summer, where the native species seem to be tolerating it just fine.

Downstream view of the Melvin Price Lock and Dam

Placed in operation on October 10, 1989, Melvin Price Lock and Dam is a 1,160-foot-long dam structure equipped with a 1200-foot lock chamber and a 600-foot lock auxiliary chamber, nine Tainter gates, and an emergency spillway. The 1200 foot chamber allows full-size tows (three barges wide by five barges long) to pass through the lock without having to break apart. The Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) is funding future upgrades to Locks and Dams 20 to 25 to install similar 1200-foot locks. The same program also seeks to fund ecosystem projects to mitigate environmental damage the commercial shipping industry inflicts on the river. Some of these funds went toward the island building I wrote about in a recent Substack, Natural Resources Board Tour. I just responded to Barry Draskowski’s comment on that Substack, and I hope we can continue that discussion about our siltation problem.

Our two stops in Hannibal were enjoyable. We were greeted by Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher, who were two of the best young actors to play the parts. In 1956, seventh-grade students in Hannibal competed to portray Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher. Tom and Becky have participated in parades locally and nationally. They have made appearances in 15 states, plus Japan, Canada, and Mexico. They have greeted presidents, vice presidents, first ladies, and governors. Their pictures have appeared in magazines and newspapers around the world. They have been in movies, travel films, and on TV news programs throughout the United States. This year’s Tom and Becky delivered an excellent engagement skit.

I also had a wonderful lunch with Richard and Patricia Garey at their home. Richard came on board as Mark Twain and entertained the passengers with his usual top-shelf delivery. He also took guests for a stroll through historic Hannibal, just a block from the boat. Patricia has been busy painting, and her works are on display at the Alliance Art Gallery in Hannibal.

Adriana greets visitors at the Alliance Art Gallery in Hannibal, Missouri

On the return trip, we stopped in Muscatine instead of Davenport, and in Winona instead of La Crosse. One passenger booked a two-week trip down and back, and he got to see two extra cities. I love Muscatine, especially the National Pearl Button Museum, which tells the story of that boom-and-bust industry. At one time, half of the world’s buttons were fashioned from mussel shells in the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Like the logging boom, the industry continued until it decimated the resources, leaving several mussel species extinct and many on the endangered list. I expect to put out a future Substack on this subject.

The Clammer Statue in Muscatine, Iowa

When we stopped at Dubuque, I was asked to accompany passengers on the Field of Dreams Excursion. I usually go to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, but I like to go where I am needed, so along I went to a ball field that was fashioned on a farm for a movie set. We had 48 passengers who chose the Field of Dreams excursion over the other excursions offered, and they all seemed to enjoy it.

Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.

In addition to the movie site, the excursion stopped at the Baseball Hall of Dreams museum in Dyersville, which had some nice souvenirs, though like most gift shops, they had nothing made in the United States, so I didn’t purchase anything.

Although it has nothing to do with the river, I enjoyed exploring the Field of Dreams, and I do love that movie.

I ended the trip up with a hike up Barn Bluff in Red Wing. The caretakers of Barn Bluff must have done a controlled burn, because the native prairie species were thriving near the upstream overlook. Blazing Star, Thimbleweed, Goldenrod, and Sunflowers. Barn Bluff is the easiest bluff to hike up, because the good people of Red Wing have installed concrete stairs on the steep parts of the bluff. I hope you are finding time to get out and enjoy nature where you live. I’m off on another river adventure and will check in with you again in a week or so.

Painted Lady on Blazing Star on Barn Bluff in Red Wing, Minnesota

This early-morning scene shows raindrops pooling on the lotus pads as the lotus blossoms begin to open for the day. The Wisconsin bluffs in the background are shrouded in dissipating morning mist.

Earlier this month, my friend Dudley joined me for a morning outing on Pool 5a just above Winona, Minnesota. We put in at McNally Landing, then, just outside the little channel that leads to the backwaters, the glories of our creator revealed themselves in a way that left us both speechless. The bluffs of Wisconsin were nearly completely shrouded at 7 AM, but they gradually dissipated as we quietly witnessed a soul-fulfilling scene, unfolding in slow motion as we drifted along and positioned ourselves for the best angles, trying to capture what we were seeing, smelling, and hearing. The air had been washed clean by life-giving rain in the night, as evidenced by the gathered globules of water on the surface of the lotus pads that floated on the outer edge of this massive patch of American Lotus. The light scent of the blossoms as they were opening wafted lazily on an almost imperceptible breeze. As this backwater channel is distanced from highways, railroads, and the main channel, cardinals and blackbirds dominated the auditory currents, as occasional sandhill crane and canada goose calls enhanced the beauty before us. An osprey flew by, purposefully heading for his favorite fishing spot at Lock and Dam 5a.

These scenes are hidden from roads and the main channel. Only fishing boats, canoes, and kayaks can access scenes like this. I am fortunate to witness wonders unfolding on this great river, which excite me and make me want to share them in the best way I can.

The American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea) blooms from Late July through early September on the upper Mississippi. It is the largest native wildflower blossom in North America. The bees comb through their stamens, collecting pollen as they seek out the nectar of this fragrant blossom. The stamens hold close to the center pod of young blossoms, but each day relax outward like tousled hairs, revealing the deep orange shaft of each yellow-tipped style. Lotus attract a wide variety of pollinating insects.

The seed pod is already emerging from the center of the flower. Blossoms open during the day and close at night. Each blossom lasts 3 or 4 days before its petals drop.

Three stages of the lotus seed pod. Dried lotus pods are often used in dried flower arrangements, and were used as rattles for toddlers of the native americans and early settlers along the Mississippi River.

When the petals drop, the seed pod remains and eventually dries up and turns brown. The seeds resemble acorns and will rattle inside the pod when shaken. The lotus leaves are very large and have an oily surface, so water beads up on them. The leaves are often held above the water by a strong, flexible stem. The tubers are eaten by waterfowl. Native Americans used lotus as a dietary staple for centuries. Lotus is a good source of protein and is grown in Asia as a sacred offering, a food source, and for its ornamental beauty. All parts of the lotus are edible and have been used for medicinal purposes for several ailments. It has been used as an antidote for mushroom poisoning as well as for teas, tonics, and astringents.

1.) SEEDS-The seeds from a lotus seed head can be eaten when they are green, and they will have a sweet flavor and can be eaten like peas. If you wait until the seeds begin to turn brown, the seeds will have a nuttier taste. The seeds can be ground into paste and used to make pastries. Seeds can also be ground into flour for use in baking.

2.) TUBERS-Lotus tubers are similar to sweet potatoes. The tubers can be used in multiple ways: sliced, pickled, cooked, candied, or stir-fried.

3.) LEAVES AND STEMS- Leaves or stems of the lotus can be eaten raw or cooked.

4.) FLOWERS- Flowers can be dried and used in recipes for cooking.

Enjoy the video, and please comment and share.

We gathered at the Maiden Rock State Natural Area, overlooking Lake Pepin. I was ashamed to admit I had never been there, though it was on my list of overlooks that I intended to visit.

The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board, Project Managers, project partners, and constituent partners (like me) gathered at the stunning overlook at Maiden Rock State Natural Area.

The historical significance of the bluff is that of the indian legend of the maiden who made her suicidal lover’s leap to avoid marrying a brave she did not love. I cannot help but digress and include Mark Twain’s version of this from Chapter 59 of Life on the Mississippi. On his journey from New Orleans to St Paul, they picked up an elderly gentleman in La Crosse, who seemed very adept at describing the scenery.

“After this excursion into history, he came back to the scenery, and described it, detail by detail, from the Thousand Islands to St. Paul; naming its names with such facility, tripping along his theme with such nimble and confident ease, slamming in a three-ton word, here and there, with such a complacent air of ‘t isn’t-anything,-I-can-do-it-any-time-I-want-to, and letting off fine surprises of lurid eloquence at such judicious intervals, that I presently began to suspect—”

It turns out this man was a professional who had toured with a panorama, and when he reached Maiden Rock, Mark Twain asked him to tell the story of the unfortunate indian maiden.

“A little distance above Lake City is a famous point known as Maiden’s Rock, which is not only a picturesque spot, but is full of romantic interest from the event which gave it its name, Not many years ago this locality was a favorite resort for the Sioux Indians on account of the fine fishing and hunting to be had there, and large numbers of them were always to be found in this locality. Among the families which used to resort here, was one belonging to the tribe of Wabasha. We-no-na (first-born) was the name of a maiden who had plighted her troth to a lover belonging to the same band. But her stern parents had promised her hand to another, a famous warrior, and insisted on her wedding “him. The day was fixed by her parents, to her great grief. She appeared to accede to the proposal and accompany them to the rock, for the purpose of gathering flowers for the feast. On reaching the rock, We-no-na ran to its summit and standing on its edge upbraided her parents who were below, for their cruelty, and then singing a death-dirge, threw herself from the precipice and dashed them in pieces on the rock below.’

‘Dashed who in pieces—her parents?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, it certainly was a tragic business, as you say. And moreover, there is a startling kind of dramatic surprise about it which I was not looking for. It is a distinct improvement upon the threadbare form of Indian legend. There are fifty Lover’s Leaps along the Mississippi from whose summit disappointed Indian girls have jumped, but this is the only jump in the lot that turned out in the right and satisfactory way. What became of Winona?’

‘She was a good deal jarred up and jolted: but she got herself together and disappeared before the coroner reached the fatal spot; and ‘tis said she sought and married her true love, and wandered[…]”

Excerpt From Life on the Mississippi

Mark Twain https://books.apple.com/us/book/life-on-the-mississippi/id396446649

State Natural Areas are created to protect the last remaining vestiges of Wisconsin’s native landscape that have escaped extensive alteration or substantially recovered from disturbance over time. While their purpose is different than that of a State Park, they are almost all open to the public. They have few or no amenities for visitors, as their purpose is to serve the flora and fauna that are being preserved. Collectively, these sites make up about 1% of Wisconsin’s acreage, but they shelter 90% of Wisconsin’s rare plant species and 75% of rare wildlife species.

The Maiden Rock Bluff State Natural Area was purchased for globally rare dry prairie and oak savanna. There was surviving dry prairie where it became too steep to farm, but much of it had been invaded by eastern red cedar, so the restoration project began thinning the red cedar. The acreage that had been farmed has been replanted in native prairie plants, and the prairie is maintained by bi-annual fires, the way natives had maintained all the bluffs in our region. The Scientific Area shelters Western Sagebrush, Peregrine Falcons, and two species of rare snakes, the North American Racer and Timber Rattlesnake. There is a large population of timber rattlers here, so if you visit, I recommend you stick to the trail while you admire the gorgeous oak savannah and rock outcroppings, and make your way to the spectacular overlook. Here we learned about the importance of partnerships, and we heard from Sarah, a representative of Landmark Conservancy, one of the key partners in this project, and an adjacent conservation easement that expands and protects this important habitat. The Raptor Resource Project is also involved in banding Peregrine Falcons at this site.

Of course, none of these natural areas could be maintained solely by available government agency personnel, so they rely heavily on community volunteers. I encourage you to get involved and volunteer at a natural area or refuge in your area. The work is satisfying and gives you a sense of investment in your local public lands.

We then moved on to Bay City Campground and Park, where we had lunch in the shelter, then boarded three pontoon boats to view the Pierce County Islands project.

Ever since I moved back to the Upper Mississippi in 2010, I kept hearing about the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance, another conservation group that cares deeply about their section of the Mississippi River. Their biggest issue is the same as most of our groups’ biggest issue - sedimentation. Their sedimentation is perhaps worse than any of ours, as Lake Pepin has become the settling basin for the discharge of the Minnesota River. The Minnesota River discharges an average annual suspended-sediment load of about 1.8 million tons per year. At Mankato, the average load reaches 2,700 tons per day—equivalent to a 10-ton dump truck load of soil every five and a half minutes. This is all due to unsustainable modern agricultural practices associated with row crops (corn and soybeans). Tillage and tiling of farm fields enable tremendous losses of topsoil to erosion. This results in delivering silt, nitrogen, pesticides, and herbicides to the river. Without wetlands or buffer zones to protect the river, the backwater areas are filling in at up to ten times the natural sediment rate, as well as suffering the consequences of the excess nitrogen and phosphorus, pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals being applied to food and fuel source crops.

Bay City, located at the top of Lake Pepin, had become so choked off with silt that its boat landing became nothing more than a canoe launch at most times. This was not just an inconvenience to boaters. This meant that the once healthy aquatic habitat for fish, reptiles, and amphibians was massively degraded, and that when the ice froze thick, there was no water left for fish to live in during the winter months.

The Pierce County Islands project is a multi-government agency, multi-community, multi-non-government agency, multi-private contractor, and multi-purpose project. Brenda Kelly could not hide her enthusiasm for the cooperation across the board for this incredibly successful project. While the project area is not quite open to the public yet, Bay City is now reconnected with the main channel of the Mississippi River. Islands have been restored and protected. A large new island has been constructed, using dredge spoils from the main channel and fine particulates (muck) from the backwaters as topsoil. It will be such a joy to see as these islands become repopulated with native riparian species.

The most exciting thing for me to see was the vanes and groins. Groins (or jetties) jut out from the bank to stabilize shores and trap sediment, while submerged vanes guide powerful currents away from vulnerable areas. My pet peeve with island building and restoration has been that the shorelines are all lined with continuous rip-rap, or limestone boulders. While they can hold an island in place permanently, how does a turtle crawl up a wall of limestone boulders to lay her eggs? How does a line of limestone replace a natural shoreline, where the aquatic species and land species meet? These angled limestone installations are a design that addresses that issue, breaking up the continuous wall of rip-rap and allowing for a natural shoreline to exist between the rock structures.

The groins (jetties) can be seen here as angled rock structures that keep an island’s shore in place, while creating biodiversity and allowing natural shoreline access to creatures that move back and forth from the island to the river.

A diversion structure was built to address future sedimentation, pushing the silt load downstream from the project.

Brenda Kelly of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources explains the history and construction of the Pierce County Islands Project on our August 12, 2026 tour.

During construction, eagles successfully fledged from a nearby nest, herons and egrets continued to wade in the waters opposite the construction site, and beneficial native vegetation (lotus and arrowhead) are waiting nearby, eager to take root in the newly created habitat. It warmed my heart to see our Mississippi River backwaters, the pride and joy of the Mississippi River, being restored to function once again. Yes, this is just one project in an otherwise accelerated decline of habitat in the overall picture. But for this riverlorian, joy filled my heart and my being as a witness to this glorious success story that is nearing completion. We cannot put the river back the way it once was, but this project is the fulfillment of the best that we can hope for in one spot on our glorious Upper Mississippi River.

American Lotus blossom on the Upper Mississippi River

This is me on top of Beacon Rock on the Columbia River on one of my recent cruises.

If you are a subscriber, you may feel a little bit of whiplash when my entries come out, because I publish whatever I am working on at the time for various reasons, mostly deadlines for upcoming presentations. This is why I can’t just stick with one subject until it is done. Luckily, Substack gives me the option of organizing into sections. I think of each section as a column. You can subscribe to everything, or choose which section or sections you want to subscribe to. You can also click on a section and watch the episodes in order, as they are intended to be seen as a series.

Our Mighty Mississippi, my virtual trip down the river with songs and stories. I have published 19 of these so far and will probably end up with at least 30 entries in the section. Since I am embarking on the American Serenade in Red Wing on the Upper Mississippi River on August 15, you can expect more entries in this section soon.

On the Trail of Lewis and Clark is my only completed section, with 9 entries. We start in Pittsburgh and follow the route of Lewis and Clark as their story unfolds in writing, art, photos, videos, and music.

Columbia and Snake Rivers will be similar to Our Mighty Mississippi, with Port Previews and music videos featuring the seven Woody Guthrie songs that I recorded for the Columbia and Snake River cruises that I do with American Cruise Lines.

Conservation Corner contains things I want to share from my various conservation activities. I am deeply involved in the Izaak Walton League of America. I am a founding member of the Upper Mississippi River Chapter based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and an active member of the Will Dilg Chapter in Winona, MN. I am a member or subscriber to Brice Prairie Conservation Association, Audubon Upper Mississippi River, The Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Mississippi River, Mississippi Park Connection (72 mile corridor through the Twin Cities), Friends of the Refuge Headwaters (Winona area), Friends of the Refuge Mississipppi River Pools 7 & 8, Friends of Pool 9, and Stewards of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge (Savanah District).

From the Archives are performances and presentations, mostly songs from my past that I want to share.

Current Currents is my brand new column, more about sharing where I am and what I am doing at the time of writing. I started out doing this at the beginning of each installment, but I want my sections to educate and entertain as a standing work, not just a weekly blog.

So I am going back and modifying some of my earlier postings, and I just completed a rewrite of Our Mighty Mississippi, Part 1. I hope you have time to check it out. The video is the same, but my writings are a good lead-in to this most ambitious project, telling the story of the Mississippi River in a way it has never been told before. With writings, music, art, photos, movies, interviews, links to more complete stories and sites, Our Mighty Mississippi is an entertaining look at America’s Greatest River.

While I was on the Columbia River Cruises, my new friend and trusted colleague Stephen Merritt helped me write and rehearse a new show called Marking Time. It is autobiographical in nature as I travel through all the various musical genres that I have been blessed to interpret over the years. It was well received, and I hope to share more of that in the near future.

I realize this Substack could be perceived as writing about writing, but I needed to communicate the underlying structure of what I am trying to accomplish with these writings. I hope to get more of my talks up this winter when I don’t have imminent presentations to write or polish.

Thanks for reading and supporting this busy riverlorian.

We, humans, have had a great effect on our rivers. On the Upper Mississippi, we are seeing sedimentation accelerated up to 10 times the natural sedimentation rate. Runoff from tilled and tiled farm fields is the main contributor to this increased sedimentation. Not only does it choke off the backwater channels, reducing or eliminating human access to those areas, but it fills in the deep holes that were once premium habitat for fish. The diversity of depth in the backwaters has been reduced so much that finding fish in the backwaters in winter has become difficult. I can no longer access several fishing holes that I could fish from when I was younger.

Rieck’s Lake along HWY 53 above Alma, Wisconsin is one of many places that has experienced a massive decline in habitat diversity from agricultural runoff. The Buffalo River enters the Mississippi River here. This is a popular place to pull off the Great River Road and view wildlife.

The excess nitrogen that comes with all this sediment creates dead zones throughout the backwaters in low-flow years. And the pesticides that run off the farm fields are killing insects indiscriminately in most of our rivers and lakes. Fish and birds eat insects and insect larvae. North American bird populations have declined by roughly 29% since 1970, translating to a net loss of nearly 3 billion breeding adult birds across the United States and Canada. Much of this population decline is due to a lack of insects to eat.

My mentor, colleague, and friend Barry Drazkowski has written a wonderful article entitled The River We Have Sought: A River’s Mortality, and I want to share that with you today. In his article, he refers to two books that are rarely in my library, because I keep them next to me in my office. These are the books I refer to most often in studying and writing about the Upper Mississippi River, and I highly recommend them if you are seeking an understanding of this most glorious resource, our Upper Mississippi River. The River We Have Wrought was written by my friend and colleague John Anfinson, whom I just had a visit from last weekend. Immortal River was written by the late Cal Fremling, a professor from Winona State University. He signed a copy that he shared with my father, who helped him with some of the research for the book.

As a Riverlorian, I have a duty to share what I have learned about the river with anyone who will listen. I share the good, the bad, and the ugly. If I can help people learn to appreciate the river, their next step is to experience the river, and then to become a river advocate. As Will Dilg said, fish and wildlife cannot speak, so you must speak for them. I am finding my home for conservation in the Izaak Walton League of America, and I invite you to join me. I am a member of the Will Dilg Chapter in Winona, Minnesota, and the new Upper Mississippi River Chapter in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Click here to find a chapter near you. At the bottom of Barry’s article, he provides several thoughtful links for anyone who wants to move from a river appreciator to a river advocate.

Click Here for Barry’s Article: The River We Have Sought: A River’s Mortality

When the American Pride pulls into Lewiston, it is late morning, and passengers have just one afternoon to visit the area, as most fly out the following morning. My recommendation is to stay there for a day or two before leaving the area. There is a Holiday Inn within walking distance where the incoming passengers stay. There is so much you will want to experience in this area. So let me help you prioritize your choices.

While you can’t see it from the river, you are in the Palouse Region, known for growing wheat. My previous Substack entitled The Palouse, and Hell’s Canyon Part 2 are companions to this episode. Let’s start with a brief history of the area.

Nimiipuu, “the people” (Nez Perce), were created in North Central Idaho at the dawn of time. For at least 12,000 years, indigenous people have inhabited the region. In Hells Canyon, I took photos of these petroglyphs that have been carbon-dated back that far.

French Fur Traders gave them the name Nez Perce when they began trading with the tribe. The Nez Perce people are credited with saving the lives of the Corps of Discovery Expedition, who entered this area hungry and without adequate shelter from the harsh winter. The explorers would likely have suffered a tragic ending if not for the assistance of Nimiipuu. On the return trip, the tribe provided the members of the Lewis & Clark Expedition food, shelter, and guidance for a month while they waited for the snow to melt in the Rocky Mountains.

Nez Perce Tourism offers a warm welcome to Nimiipuu Country, providing tours specifically designed to connect you to Nimiipuu culture through interactive storytelling, song, drum, and dance.

Today, the Tribe hosts PowWows and other community events in various locations throughout the year. Tribal enterprises include forest products, limestone quarry operations, two popular casinos, an RV park, convenience stores, and the Red Wolf Golf Club. Travelers are welcomed today just as the Nez Perce welcomed the Corps of Discovery Expedition nearly 200 years ago.

The Nez Percé traditionally centered their domestic life in small villages along streams with abundant salmon, which, after drying, became their main source of food. They also sought a variety of game, berries, and roots. Their dwellings were communal lodges, A-framed and mat-covered, varying in size and sometimes housing as many as 30 families.

After they acquired horses early in the 18th century, the Nez Percé prospered. Horse transport enabled them to mount expeditions to the eastern slope of the Rockies, where they hunted bison and traded with Plains peoples. Always somewhat warlike, the Nez Percé became more so, adopting many war honors, war dances, and battle tactics common to the Plains, as well as other forms of equestrian material culture such as the tepee. The Nez Percé built up one of the largest horse herds on the continent. They were almost unique among Native Americans in conducting a selective breeding program, and they were instrumental in creating the Appaloosa breed.

Petroglyphs in Hell’s Canyon

The first people of European ancestry to visit the Lewiston area were members of the David Thompson expedition of 1803. Thompson was looking to establish fur trading posts for the Hudson’s Bay Company of British North America (now Canada). Thompson established MacKenzie’s Post as the first white settlement in Idaho. He was intent on trading with the natives for furs. But the local Nez Perce tribe’s men considered beaver trapping to be women’s work; the tribe was migratory, and apparently, the indian women thought they already had enough to do. The settlement was a failure.

On October 10 of 1805, the Corps of Discovery camped on an island near the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers. Just six years later, fur traders and trappers began to penetrate the area; they were later followed by missionaries. By the 1840s, emigrant settlers were moving through the area on the Oregon Trail. In 1855, the Nez Percé agreed to a treaty with the United States that created a large reservation encompassing most of their traditional land

.

The 1860 discovery of gold on the Salmon and Clearwater rivers generated an influx of thousands of miners and settlers, which led U.S. commissioners in 1863 to force renegotiation of the treaty. The new treaty reduced the reservation’s size by three-fourths, and continued pressure from homesteaders and squatters further reduced the area.

Many Nez Percé, perhaps a majority, had never accepted either treaty, and hostile actions and raids by both settlers and Native Americans eventually evolved into the Nez Percé War of 1877. For five months, a small band of 250 Nez Percé warriors, under the leadership of Chief Joseph, held off a U.S. force of 5,000 troops led by Gen. Oliver O. Howard, who tracked them through Idaho, Yellowstone Park, and Montana before they surrendered to Gen. Nelson A. Miles. During the campaign, more than 260 soldiers and more than 230 Nez Percé, including women and children, died.

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

During the gold rush, Lewiston became a city of tent housing and had a transient population of 7,000 to 8,000.

Lewiston was the first capital of the Idaho Territory. The original territory encompassed an area of 324,000 square miles – an area larger than Texas – and included all of present-day Montana, virtually all of Wyoming, including western strips of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. President Abraham Lincoln appointed William H. Wallace as the first governor of Idaho Territory, and Wallace selected Lewiston as the capital of the new territory before arriving on July 10, 1863.

This replica of Idaho’s First Territorial Capitol Building was built by high school students of Lewiston, Idaho.

In 1862, the first edition of The Golden Age newspaper appeared in Lewiston, Idaho. The title of this newspaper, printed at the peak of the Idaho Gold Rush, was highly appropriate. As it went to print, tens of thousands of migrants were streaming into areas like Pierce, Elk City, and Florence. These fortune seekers, who were trespassing on sovereign Nez Perce Territory against the expressed wishes of the Tribe and its leaders, felt that the instant wealth from gold mining justified their actions. This violated the treaty rights of the Nez Perce people and altered the environment in ways that degraded the first foods and landscape, which the Tribe had carefully stewarded since time immemorial. The pages of the Golden Age demonstrate the centrality of gold to the new territory. Newspaper advertisements announced mining news, advertised miners’ saloons, and noted the arrivals and departures of steamboats and stagecoaches bringing mining equipment and miners to the area. Gold mining brought conflict to the town on the far western reaches of the United States, and the Civil War had its effect as it revealed divided sympathies. The Golden Age’s publisher discovered how divided it was when he raised an American flag above his office. Confederate sympathizers shot 21 holes in Old Glory to demonstrate which side they were on in the conflict.

A resolution in late 1864 to have the capital moved from Lewiston to Boise was passed by the Idaho Territorial Legislature on December 7. Boise became the capital in 1866; the move was very unpopular in northern Idaho and in violation of a court order. The territorial governor, Caleb Lyon, and the territorial secretary secretly took the territorial seal, archives, and treasury, and fled from Lewiston. Lyon went downriver to Portland, Oregon, a trip marked by the alleged theft of the treasury from his steamboat cabin. The territorial secretary departed southward for Boise to avoid public outrage.

.The north-flowing Snake River departs Hells Canyon and forms the state boundary with Washington, while the west-flowing Clearwater River defines the northern border of the city. At their confluence at the city’s northwest corner, the lower Snake River turns west into Washington, and after passing four dams, empties into the Columbia River near the Tri Cities.

We docked in Clarkston, on the Snake River and just downstream from the confluence with the Clearwater River. The dock is next to Dave’s Golf Shop and driving range, Kate’s Cup of Joe drive-through, Hells Canyon Visitor Bureau, a Walmart, and a Costco.

The Green Belt Trail is right by our boat. It is 4.2 miles long, and we are moored near the trailhead.

It is an easy walk along the trail to the bridge that connect to Lewiston, or you can continue to walk under the trail along the Snake River for a nice view across at Lewiston. If you cross the bridge you are near the Lewis and Clark center. It is a small, always open interpretive center with a unique statue of Sacagawea.

Sacagawea’s hair and body extend back into the rock with many local creatures etched into it.

3 blocks from the bridge is the Nez Perce County Historical Society and Museum. It is also the first stop on American Cruise Lines local loop on the Cruise Coach:

The Nez Perce County Historical Society and Museum has captured some magic in presenting local history through four buildings and a streetcar. They even invite you to play the 1876 Steinway.

Click to go to Nez Perce County Historical Society and Museum website

Hell’s Gate State Park Visitor’s Center is the second stop on the loop, and has lots of Lewis and Clark info, centering on their friendly relationship with the Nez Perce Tribe. It is also a peaceful place to relax and feel centered in nature.

Click here to go to Hell’s Gate State Park Website

Hangar 180 was the third stop on the loop, and you will meet some wonderful people and see these historic airplanes that are kept in immaculate condition.

Click Here to go to Hangar 180 Website

Hell’s Canyon is spectacular, no matter what season or what mode of transportation you choose to experience it with. Last fall, I chartered a helicopter to experience it from the air, then I drove up the canyon as far as the road would take me and viewed some petroglyphs. They date back roughly 12,000 years. Now that I have driven, flown, and jet boated it, I would love to canoe it. The rapids are gentle enough that it would be easy to navigate in a canoe. The wildlife in the canyon is so used to the jet boats that they barely looked our way as we roared up against the currents.

The video combines those three trips. I hope you enjoy the ride into one of nature’s spectacular places, Hell’s Canyon.

The Palouse is defined by blown-in volcanic ash, mixed with clay soils that hold moisture yet readily release it to plants, making it perfect for growing wheat (and other rotated crops) with no irrigation. This is the only region we travel through on this route that doesn’t rely on irrigation from the dammed-up rivers. So now with this video, I can show the passengers on American Cruise Lines what is in those barges we pass on the river. Nearly 60% of our wheat exports come down the Columbia River, and much of it is grown in the Palouse Region, where the Snake River makes its turn from flowing north to flowing west, at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers.

It is well worth visiting the Palouse. I was like a kid in a candy store as I drove through the rolling hills of ripening wheat, legumes, and bright yellow canola.

The site for booking weddings, fundraisers, or eco-tours at Pheasant Hollow Farm is https://thebarnatmaderfarm.com.

Here on the Columbia and Snake rivers, I am the Guest Speaker, with no evening entertainment duties. That suits me just fine for now, as I am constantly rehearsing and updating my talks to give passengers the best possible experience. I still manage to sing some songs during my presentations, and I will be performing the seven Woodie Guthrie Songs that I recorded last winter in a talk tomorrow morning. The songs are interspersed with biographical information about this great American Patriot and pillar of the folk music community.

The American Pride docked at Stevenson, Washington

One of the best things about riding a Mississippi-style steamboat on the Columbia River is that I can sneak a little Mark Twain in, and the passengers really seem to enjoy it. I have been staying in the officers’ quarters on the hurricane deck (fifth deck), two doors down from the captain and right next to the navigation mate. It is quite nostalgic for me. Back in 2013, I was newly married, and the first time I stayed in one of these rooms, my dear friend, Richard Garey (Mark Twain), walked by our cabin and remarked, “I see they put you in the Amish Honeymoon suite!” The bunk beds are stainless steel, and the top bunk is not easy to get out of, but we managed just fine. Now that I am single, I actually prefer this room to a stateroom, as the door opens onto incredible scenery five stories in the air. The route is fabulous, moving from the temperate rainforest on the Pacific coast, through the notoriously windy Columbia River Gorge, to the low desert along the Columbia River, and then to the high desert along the Snake River. Tonight I plan to share Mark Twain’s love poem to the Mississippi River on the top deck under the stars after evening entertainment.

My On the Trail of Lewis and Clark column is now complete, and if you look for the section tabs in Substack, you can click on a section to read it in order from start to finish. I have not included any pay bars in the Lewis and Clark section, and I hope you enjoy it enough to share it with others.

I made a video of Hell’s Canyon to show at tonight’s Port Preview, unfortunately I cannot upload it at this time. This is a singular spot on God’s green earth that rivals the dramatic presentation of any spot on the globe. I will give you a few photos for now and share the video when I can get to some high-speed internet.

Seven-sided columnar basalt in Hell’s Canyon.

While there may be some Trumpeter swans in the video, they are mostly Tundra Swans that I filmed on Lake Onalaska and at the Overlook by Brownsville, Minnesota. This is different from what I usually post, so let me know if you think I should be digging into the archivesfor extra content to publish in between my newly created material.

This is from a concert version of Our Mighty Mississippi at the Muse Theatre in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Paul Leithold put the band together for me, and Steve Arenz sang backup vocals. It is an early video of mine, but I think it is worth sharing rather than letting it sit on outdated hard drives. Let me know what you think.

Dec 30 Clark: Our fortification is completed this evening, and at sunset, we let the natives know that our custom will be in the future, to shut the gates at sunset, at which time all Indians must go out of the fort and not return into it until next morning after Sunrise, at which time the gates will be opened. Those of the Warciacum Nation, who are very forward, left the houses with reluctance.

Tuesday Dec 31 Clark: last night was Cloudy and Some rain, this day prove Cloudy and Showery all day, all the Indians Continue at their Camp near us, two other Canoes arrived, one from the Warciâcum Village with 3 indians and the other of 3 men & a Squaw from higher up the river and are of the Skil-lute (Chinook) nation, those people brought with them Some Wappato roots, mats made of flags and rushes dried fish, and a few Shaw-na tâh-que and Dressed Elk Skins, all of which they asked enormous prices for, particularly the dressed Elk Skins. I purchased from those people some Wappato, two mats, and about 3 pipes of their tobacco in a neat little bag made of rushes. This tobacco was much like what we had seen before with the Shoshone or Snake indians, for those articles I gave a large fishing hook and Several other Small articles; the fishing hooks they were very fond of. Those Skillutes are much better behaved than the Warciacum. Indeed, we found a great alteration in the Conduct of them all this morning. The sight of our sentinel on his post at the gate, together with our determined procedure of putting all out at sunset, has made this reform in those Warciacoms, who are forward, impertinent, and thievish.

Jan 2 Lewis: The large and small or whistling swan, sandhill crane, large and small geese, brown and white brant, Cormorant, mallard, Canvasback duck, and several other species of ducks still remain with us, though I do not think that they are as plentiful as on our first arrival in the neighborhood. Drewyer visited his traps and took an otter. The fur of both the beaver and otter in this country is extremely good; those animals are tolerably plenty near the sea coast, and on the small Creeks and rivers as high as the Grand Rapids, but are by no means as much so as on the upper part of the Missouri.

The nativs all leave us the fort this evening before Sun Set without being told or desired to do So— we had Sinks dug & a Sentinal box made— a Skillute brought a gun which he requested me to have repared, it only wanted a Screw flattened So as to Catch, I put a flint into his gun & he presented me in return a peck of Wappato for payment, I gave him piece [NB: piece] of a Sheap Skin and a Small piece of blue Cloth to Cover his lock for which he was much pleased and gave me in return Some roots.

Jan 3 Lewis: At 11 A. M. We were visited by our near neighbors, Chief Co-mo-wool and six Clatsops. They brought for sale some roots, berries, three dogs, and a small quantity of fresh blubber. This blubber, they informed us, they had obtained from their neighbors, the Callamucks, who inhabit the coast to the S. E., near whose village a whale had recently perished on the beach. We determined to travel to that spot to acquire some of that blubber.

This blubber the Indians eat, and esteeme is excellent food. Our party from necessity have been obliged to subsist some length of time on dogs; they have now become extremely fond of their flesh. It is worthy of remark that while we lived principally on the flesh of this animal, we were much more healthy, strong, and more fleshy than we had been since we left the Buffalo country. For my own part, I have become so perfectly reconciled to the dog that I think it an agreeable food and would prefer it vastly to lean Venison or Elk.

Sacagawea trades her blue beads for a sea otter robe, which she gave to Captain Lewis

When the winds finally subsided and they set out to the whale, Sacagawea asked for and was granted permission to go along. She had travelled all this way and wanted to see the ocean. By the time they arrived at the scene of the whale grounding, the natives had already butchered the whale, so they bartered for all the whale oil and blubber they could carry back with them.

Lewis described the Whale Blubber: it was white & not unlike the fat of Pork, tho’ the texture was more spongy and somewhat coarser. I had a part of it cooked and found it very palatable and tender; it resembled the beaver or the dog in flavor.

The winter was damp and rainy, with only occasional patches of sunshine. They were eager to leave this place, so on March 23, 1806, they presented Fort Clatsop to Chief Coboway (a Clatsop Indian), and the Expedition began its trek home. They reached the Nez Perce in late May to find that they had honored their word and kept the horses safe for them. The snows were still deep in the Bitterroot mountains, so they had to wait there with the Nez Perce until late June. I became a doctor to the natives, who brought food in exchange for my healing services. Once the snow had melted enough, we crossed the mountains via the Lolo Pass, and we were all grateful to once again reach Traveler’s Rest.

At Travelers Rest, they split into three parties to further explore the country. Clark led a party to the south to intersect with the Yellowstone River, so they could map its course and make notes of the countryside. Sacagawea recognized the country and advised them on the easiest pass through the mountains to reach the Yellowstone. Once they reached the river, they built canoes and started the descent, mapping and making celestial observations along the way. They expected to rendezvous with the rest of the expedition at the point where the Yellowstone joins the Missouri River.

Lewis led a small party north, following the Marias River, and discovered that the Missouri River Basin extends into British Columbia. This helped define what was gained in the Louisiana Purchase. On his expedition up the Marias River, Lewis made two more discoveries: The Richardson’s ground squirrel and the sage grouse. He also had his most dangerous encounter with a small group of blackfoot indians, who tried to steal their horses and guns. Two blackfoot indians were killed, and Lewis and his party rode as fast as they could away from the conflict, riding even by moonlight, as he was certain a large party of Blackfeet would be in retaliatory pursuit. The Blackfoot had succeeded in stealing Lewis’ horse, but since Lewis’ party ended up the conflict with the upper hand, he was riding one of the indians’ horses. “My indian horse carried me very well, much better than my own would have done, and leaves me with but little reason to complain of the robbery.” Fully exhausted, they pushed on until they reached the Missouri River, and were overjoyed to see the main party with the canoes descending the river to meet them. They reached the caches they had left on their way up and found the red pirougue with too much rot to repair, so they set out with the White Pirougue and five canoes. Unfortuneatly, while out hunting, Pierre Cruzatte, who is blind in one eye and shortsighted in the other, mistook Captain Lewis for an elk, and shot him in the buttocks. Lewis was recovering in the bottom of the canoe when they finally reunited.

After the expedition, William Clark married Julia Hancock on January 5, 1808. They had five children; the firstborn was named Meriwether Lewis Clark, Sr.

William Clark was appointed the principal Indian agent for the Louisiana territory by President Thomas Jefferson.

In 1813, Clark became the Governor of the Missouri Territory, a position he held until 1820

In 1822 he was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis, a post he held until his death.

He also served as the surveyor general for Illinois, Missouri, and the Arkansas Territory between 1824 and 1825.

William Clark died at age 68 in 1838.

End of On the Trail of Lewis and Clark.

After the disaster of the failed portable boat, all men who weren’t sick were put to work making canoes out of ponderosa pine. They made five canoes and another cache of gunpowder and supplies they couldn’t take with them. The Nez Perce agreed to take care of the horses, which they branded. They finally left camp on October 7, and for the first time since leaving the Ohio River almost two years before, they were traveling downstream. But this was not to be a leisurely downstream paddle. They would drop 900 feet in elevation by the time they reached the Pacific Ocean, nearly 500 miles later. Just as I do On the Trail of Lewis and Clark part 3 as William Clark for American Cruise Lines, the following video is in 1rst person, as William Clark.

The Corps of Discovery

The Corps of Discovery felt the urgent need to reach the Pacific Ocean. They boldly ran all of the rapids as they appeared in front of them. The incredulous Indians lined the banks watching to see these foolish voyagers drown. But when the boats did capsize, the Indians were more than willing to help. They started out on the Clearwater River, which emptied into the Snake, and then into the Columbia River.

The men of the Corps of Discovery, who a few days before were facing their mortality, were now contemplating their own immortality. There were injuries and near drownings, and discoveries made as they ran impossible-looking whitewaters. But miraculously, they all survived. The Corps of Discovery purchased fish and dogs from the Indian camps along the river to eat. Clark continued to record the distances between rapids for his map. At night, they took celestial readings with a sextant, a chronometer, and an artificial horizon to pinpoint their position on the globe.

Oct 14: Clark here we dined, and for the first time for three weeks past I had a good dinner of Blue wing Teal. After dinner we Set out and had not proceded on two miles before our stearn canoe in passing through a Short rapid opposite the head of an Island, run on a Smooth rock and turned broad side, the men got out on the [rock] all except one of our Indian Chiefs who swam on shore, The Canoe filled and sunk. A number of articles floated out, such as the men’s bedding, clothes & Skins, the greater part of which were caught by 2 of the Canoes, whilst a 3rd was unloading & stemming the swift current to the relief of the men on the rock who could with much difficulty hold the canoe. however in about an hour we got the men and canoe to shore with the loss of some bedding, tomahaws, shot pouches, skins, and clothes. All wet, we had every article exposed to the sun to dry on the island. Our loss in provisions is very considerable. All our roots were in the Canoe that Sunk, and cannot be dried sufficient to save. Our loose powder was also in the Canoe and is all wet. This I think, we shall save.—

Comcomly Indian Burial Canoe displayed at the Astoria Column in Astoria, Oregon

Oct 20 Clark: On the upper part of this Island, we discovered an Indian vault. Our curiosity induced us to examine the method those natives practiced in disposing the dead, the Vault was made by broad poads [boards] and pieces of canoes leaning on a ridge pole which was Suported by two forks Set in the ground Six feet in hight in an easterly and westerly direction and about 60 feet in length, and 12 feet wide, in it I observed great numbers of humane bones of every description perticularly in a pile near the center of the vault. We observed fishing nets of various kinds, baskets of different sizes, wooden bowls, robes, skins, trenchers, and various kinds of trinkets, in and suspended on the ends of the pieces forming the vault; we also saw the skeletons of several horses at the vault & a great number of bones about it, which convinced me that those animals were sacrificed to the deceased.

Charles M. Russel Chinook Canoes

William Clark, Oct 20 1805

I observed on the beach near the Indian Lodges two beautiful canoes of different shapes and sizes, similar to what we had seen above - wide in the middle and tapering to each end, on the bow, curious figures were Cut on the wood. Capt. Lewis went up to the lodges to see those Canoes and exchanged our Smallest Canoe for one of them by giving the owner a hatchet and a few trinkets. He informed us that he had purchased it from a white man below for a horse. These canoes are neater made than any I have ever seen and calculated to ride the waves, and carry immense burdens. They are dug thin and supported by cross pieces about 1 inch in diameter, tied with Strong bark through holes in the Sides.

October 24 Clark: Our two old chiefs (Nez Percé) expressed a desire to return to their band from this place, Saying “that they Could be of no further Service to us, as their nation extended no further down the river than those falls, and as the nation below had expressed hostile intentions against us, would Certainly kill them; particularly as They had been at war with each other;” we requested them to Stay with us two nights longer, and we would See the nation below and make a peace between them, they replied they “were anxious to return and See our horses” we insisted on their Staying with us two nights longer to which they agreed; our views were to detain those Chiefs with us until we Should pass the subsequent falls, which we were told was very bad, and at no great distance below, that they might inform us of any designs of the natives, and if possible to bring about a peace between them and the tribes below.

The expedition arrived at the short narrows and the long narrows. These are now upstream and underwater from the dam at The Dalles.

At this place, the water of this great river is compressed into a Channel between two rocks not exceeding forty-five yards wide and continues for a ¼ of a mile, when it again widens to 200 yards and continues this width for about 2 miles, when rocks again intersect it. This obstruction in the river accounts for the water in high floods rising to Such a height as the last falls. The whole of the Current of this great river must at all Stages pass thro’ this narrow channel of 45 yards wide. as the portage of our canoes over this high rock would be impossible with our Strength, and the only danger in passing thro those narrows was the whorls and Swills arriseing from the Compression of the water, and which I thought (as also our principal watermen Peter Crusat) by good Stearing we could pass down Safe, accordingly I deturmined to pass through this place notwithstanding the horrid appearance of this agitated gut Swelling, boiling & whorling in every direction (which from the top of the rock did not appear as bad as when I was in it. However, we passed safely to the astonishment of all the Indians, who viewed us from the top of the rock.

They arrived at what is now The Dalles. They stayed until October 28 to dry out cargo and patch the canoes. On Oct 28, they only made 4 miles due to a strong headwind that incited large waves on the ever-widening river. The canoe purchased from the Indians rode the waves easily, while the dugouts they built were getting swamped.

Hood River and Mount Hood. From the Dalles to Hood River, the climate changes in just 20 miles, from arid desert to lush, rainy lands, perfect for growing cherries and other crops.

Nov 7 Clark: Great joy in camp! We are in View of the Ocean: in the morning, when the fog cleared off just below the last village, this great Pacific Ocean, which we have been so long anxious to see, and the roaring made by the waves breaking on the rocky shores may be heard distinctly.

Their joy was short lived. What they were hearing was the Columbia River Estuary, not the Pacific Ocean.

We were helpless to travel toward the ocean against a relentless headwind with waves that would swamp our dugout canoes. We became entrapped in miserable, stormy conditions alongside the great river. We were pinned between a relentless surf and a near-vertical cliff, on a steep, rocky, log-ridden shore.

Nov 8 Clark: I sent out 2 men, and they killed a Goose and two Canvasback Ducks

Thankfully, each day, they were visited by the Chinook and Clatsop Indians, who brought them food. They spent nine more days at an abandoned Chinook Village waiting for the weather to clear.

Some rain all day at intervales; we are all wet and disagreeable, as we have been for Several days past, and our present Situation a very disagreeable one in as much; as we have not level land Sufficient for an encampment and for our baggage to lie Clear of the tide, the High hills jutting in So Close and Steep that we cannot retreat back, and the water of the river too Salty to be used, added to this the waves are increasing to Such a hight that we cannot move from this place, in this Situation we are compelled to form our Camp between the hite of the Ebb and flood tides, and rase our baggage on logs—

Clark: “The Seas rolled and tossed the Canoes in such a manner this evening that Several of our party were Sea Sick.”

We floated past the villages of Multnomah, Kathlamet, and Wahkiakum, making brief contact, giving medals and gifts, and trading for food. English words and curse phrases we noted among the Skillots and their neighbors in early November.

Thievery was practiced by all the tribes that visited us.

On November 17, Captain Lewis returned to camp, having traversed Haley’s Bay to Cape Disappointment and the Sea Coast to the North for some distance. Several Chinook Indians followed Capt Lewis, and a Canoe came up with roots, mats, and other items to sell. Those Chinnooks made us a present of a root boiled much resembling the common licorice in taste and Size: They call it cul-wha-mo]. In return for this root, we gave more than double the value to satisfy their craving disposition. It is a bad practice to receive a present from those Indians, as they are never satisfied with what they receive in return, which is often ten times the value of the articles they gave. This Chinook Nation is about 400 Souls inhabiting the country on the Small rivers which run into the bay below us, and on the Ponds to the north-west of us, live principally on fish and roots. Our hunters killed 3 Deer, 4 brant, and 2 ducks today, and informed me they Saw Some Elk Sign. I directed all the men who wished to see more of the main Ocean to prepare themselves to set out with me early on tomorrow morning. The principal Chief of the Chinnooks & his family came up to see us this evening—

Dec 3, 1805 Clark: A fair, windy morning, wind from the East. The men returned with the Elk, which revived the Spirits of my party very much. I am still unwell and can’t even eat the flesh of the Elk. A Chinook canoe of 8 Indians came to our camp. They are on their way down to the Clât Sops with Wap pa to barter with that nation. I purchased a few of those roots for which I gave Small fish hooks; I ate those roots with a bit of Elk’s Soup, which I found gave me great relief. I found the roots both nourishing and as a check to my disorder.

The Indians proceeded down through immense high waves. Many times, their Canoe was entirely out of Sight before they were half a mile away. Sergt. Pryor & Gibson, who went hunting yesterday, have not returned until after night. They informed me that they had killed 6 Elk at a great distance, which they left lying, having taken out their intestines that they had been lost, and in their ramble saw a great deal of Elk Sign. After eating the marrow out of two Shank bones of an Elk, the Sacagawea chopped the bones fine, boiled them, and extracted a pint of Grease, which is Superior to the tallow of the animal. Some rain this evening.

As soon as we began building the fort, I led five enlisted men to a spot fifteen miles away, down along the coast, where we set up a salt factory. The Columbia River discharges so much fresh water that we had to travel this far to get pure, salty seawater.

Three men remained there through the winter, boiling seawater to create high-quality salt for preserving meat and flavoring food. They ended up producing four bushels of Salt.

This replica of the salt factory is at its original spot in the nearby city of Seaside, Oregon.

Fifty years later, the Izaak Walton League was the leading plaintiff in a case which forced the government to begin habitat restoration projects to mitigate damage done by the 9 foot channel project, which resulted in 29 sets of Locks and Dams being constructed on our Upper Mississippi River, which enabled commercial traffic (barges) to carry huge amounts of cargo up and down this magnificent waterway. Today, the Izaak Walton League is again speaking for the river. We interact with government agencies and other non-governmental agencies (NGOs) to advocate for the river's health and continued public access to this magnificent resource.

The newly formed Upper Mississippi River chapter, based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, grew out of my premier performance of A Visit From Will Dilg at the Pump House in La Crosse. I cannot wholly express my overwhelming pride and satisfaction in catalyzing such a wonderful group of people who care deeply for our Great River.

A big part of our mission is to educate, to bridge the gap between scientists, historians, and government agencies, and the general public. Barry Drazkowski, a lifelong member of the Will Dilg Chapter in Winona, Minnesota, and a board member of the Upper Mississippi Chapter in La Crosse, came up with the idea of publishing a newsletter. The two chapters invested time and money to bring this to fruition, and the resulting first issue has exceeded all expectations.

We anticipate a newsletter every other month, or every three months, so we will not fill your inbox or share your information. You can sign up to receive future issues here on our homepage:

https://www.willdilg-iwla.org

Then click on the link and start reading, or go directly to the PDF here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/690297be6977635223bb1395/t/699512963967fd65d3b2b11c/1771377302999/February+2026+Great+River+Soundings.pdf

I wrote the lead-off article, which was mostly extracted from my recent Substack, What Would Will Dilg Do? We hear from the Chapter Presidents, Fritz Funk and Anne Conway. Anne also penned the article introducing Joseph Barisonzi’s practical, action-oriented resolution, Get it Done!, which frames and hones existing Izaak Walton policies to encourage and prioritize actions that chapters can take to achieve solutions to the environmental issues we currently face. Barry Drazkowski sums up a recently completed restoration project on Sam Gordy’s Slough. After a calendar of events, Anne Conway writes about youth engagement in environmental activism, and we learn about Salt Watch and what Salt Data tells us. Lake Winona is an example of what happens when salt from highways and municipalities washes into streams and lakes.

The two anchors of the Newsletter are what I especially hope you will read and digest, as they teach us how we got to our present physical and environmental status on the Upper Mississippi, and where we currently sit with current legislation and support for programs that were in place before our current administration began its efforts to shrink the government. Melinda Knutson penned How Healthy is the Upper Mississippi River?, and Alderwoman Olivia Dorothy, a longtime river champion from East Moline, Illinois, and member of the group One Mississippi, has hopeful news about funding for restoration projects along our Upper Mississippi in her article, Bumpy Road for the Federal Conservation on the Upper Mississippi is Smoothing Out, Maybe. Then, Barry Drazkowski introduces a new initiative to create grassroots support for our Government Agencies, which have experienced downsizing. The newsletter concludes with efforts to collect River Rat Stories at the Oral History Lab at the Winona History Center.

There is so much to read and think about in this newsletter. I recommend taking it one article at a time. The two Izaak Walton League Chapters would love your feedback, and I promise to read any comments you have at our two chapter meetings.

The Gates of the Mountains by Alex Wiles, National Park Service

On July 18, 1805, Lewis and the party paddled upstream against an immense current coming out of the mountains. The passage narrowed to two vertical cliffs on either side, with no way to pull off. He named the passageway “The Gates of the Mountain.” They saw bighorn sheep high up on perpendicular cliffs.

Bighorn Sheep

Lewis: Set out early this morning. Previous to our departure saw a large herd of the Big-horned animals on the immensely high and nearly perpendicular cliff opposite to us; [1] on the face of this cliff they walked about and bounded from rock to rock with apparent unconcern where it appeared to me that no quadruped could have stood, and from which had they made one false step they must have been precipitated at least a 500 feet. This animal appears to frequent such precipices and cliffs where, in fact, they are perfectly secure from the pursuit of the wolf, bear, or even handle themselves.—

In mid July, the Expedition reached the Three Forks of the Missouri River and camped on the ground that Sacagawea had been taken from five years before. They named the three forks the Galatin River, Madison’s River, and Jefferson River, the latter of which they then followed.

Indians Discover Lewis and Clark by Charles M. Russell

On July 18, Captain Clark took a party and proceeded ahead on foot to search for the Shoshones. The Shoshone were wary of the Corps of Discovery and hid from them. They were a more primitive tribe, without rifles, and had been attacked many times by other tribes, so they lived in fear of strangers.

Sacagawea was always with Clark, and she recognized Beaverhead Rock (north of present-day Dillon, Montana) and said the party was near her people's home. They were unsuccessful at locating the indians, however, and so they rejoined the main party.

Desperate to find the Indians and the horses they would need, this time Lewis decided to scout ahead with three men. A few days later, Lewis finally made contact with the elusive Shoshone. He tried unsuccessfully to negotiate for the horses they would need to cross the daunting mountains. He tried to tell the leader, Cameawhait, that the main party included a woman of Shoshone descent. He was getting nowhere with negotiations, so he decided to wait.

Lewis meets Shoshone by Charles M. Russel

At noon the following day, the rest of the party arrived in canoes. Sacagawea immediately recognized her people, and she began to dance. She showed more joy and emotion than she had displayed throughout the entire trip. She was reunited with the girl who had been captured with her but had escaped. They danced and sang. Clark then brought Sacagawea to the council. It was highly unusual for a woman to be in council with the ring of men. Sakagawea kept her head down. But when Sacagawea heard the chief’s voice, she recognized it as her brother, who had become chief since her abduction. She cried out to her brother, who then recognized her. The reunion was ecstatic. Of course, this made everyone happy, especially Lewis and Clark, who saw their prospects for buying horses suddenly become more probable.

Clark: The Great Chief of this nation proved to be the brother of Sacagawea and is a man of influence, sense, ease & reserved manners, appears to possess a great deal of sincerity. The canoes arrived & unloaded—everything seemed to astonish those people. The appearance of the men, their arms, the Canoes, the Clothing, my black servant & the sagacity of Capt Lewis’s dog. We spoke a few words to them in the evening respecting our route intentions, our want of horses, & gave them a few presents & medals—

In the evening, we made several inquiries to those people about the Columbia River, the Country game & etc. The account they gave us was verry unfavourable, that the river abounded in immence falls, one perticularly much higher than the falls of the Missouri & at the place the mountains closed so close that it was impracticable to pass, & that the ridge Continued on each side of perpendicular cliffs inpenetratable, and that no deer, elk or any game was to be found in that country, aded to that they informed us that there was no timber on the river sufficiently large to make small canoes. This information, if true, is alarming.

Those people greatly pleased, as our hunters killed three deer & an antelope, which was eaten in a Short time, the Indians being so harassed & compelled to move about in those rugged mountains that they are half-starved living at this time on berries & roots which they gather in the plains. Those people are not beggarly but generous, only one has asked me for anything, and he for powder.”

They camped where they had met the Shoshones and called it Camp Fortunate.

On August 28, 1805, Lewis made a cache of things they couldn’t carry over the mountains. They set off from the Shoshones with 29 horses, looking for a mountain pass. Cameahwait had told them that the Nez Perce Indians had used this “very bad trail” to come up from the Columbia River side of the mountains. This is now also called the Lolo Trail. A Shoshone guide named Old Tobey accompanied the expedition. Old Toby misguied them down an impassable trail where they had to kill a colt to eat, naming the creek, Colt Killed Creek.

Not knowing where to cross the divide, the Captains split up to explore two options. Captain Clark explored the Salmon River but soon discovered it was impassible. “Every man appeared disheartened from the prospects of the river, and nothing to eat.” Today, it is nicknamed “The River Of No Return.

Yes, that is me cleaning the snow off the Continental Divide Sign for you to see it. You’re welcome. While we are talking about my trip, I wanted to tell you about Lolo Pass, which the Corps of Discovery had to traverse. At the top of the pass, you see a sign “Winding Road - next 99 miles.” It was hard to imagine traveling on the steep sidehills with pack horses, through dense forest. and in the snow.

After crossing the Continental Divide, they were expecting to look down and see a river heading westward to the sea, but all they could see was mountain after mountain. The mountains to the west were already snow-covered, but the Corps of Discovery pressed on.

Sept 12 Clark: From this mountain, I could observe high, rugged mountains in every direction as far as I could see. With the greatest exertion, we could only make 12 miles up the mountain and encamped on the top of the hill near a Bank of old Snow about 3 feet deep lying on the Northern Side of the mountain. We melted the Snow to drink, and cooked our horse flesh to eat.

The Bitterroot Mountains were high, and there was no easy pass. On September 16, they endured an all-day snowstorm.

William Clark, Bitterroot Mountains, September 16, 1805: “a thickly timbered country of 8 different kinds of pine, which are so covered with snow that in passing through them we are continually covered with snow. I have been wet and as cold in every part as I ever was in my life. I was at one time fearful my feet would freeze in the thin moccasins which I wore.”

“We were obliged to cut a road, over rocky hill Sides where our horses were in danger of slipping to their certain destruction & up & Down Steep hills, where Several horses fell, some turned over, and others slipped down Steep hill Sides, one horse Crippled & 2 gave out. With the greatest difficulty, risk, and caution, we made five miles & Encamped on the left Side of the Creek in a Small Stony bottom.”

They decided Clark should go ahead with the hunters and find food, while Lewis would lead the party with Pack horses.

Even in horrific travel conditions, where survival should have been their only concern, Lewis identified more new species: the Black Woodpecker, the Blue Grouse, the Spruce Grouse, the Oregon Ruffed Grouse, as well as the Sitka alder and the Western Red Cedar.

The Black Woodpecker, also known as Lewis’s woodpecker

On Sept 20, they finally emerged onto a fertile plain and found a partially butchered pack horse that Clark had left for them, but discovered that one of their own horses was missing.

Lewis: “he informed me by note that he should proceed as fast as possible to the level country which lay to the S. W. of us, which we discovered from the heights of the mountains on the 19th. There, he intended to hunt until our arrival.”

On Sept 22, Reuben Field met them from the advance party with a horse packed with food, and the starving main party gorged themselves. Much of the food was dried salmon, which their system was not used to, so they all soon became ill. Despite his illness, Lewis was grateful to have triumphed over the Rocky Mountains.

Lewis: “The pleasure I now felt in having triumphed over the Rocky Mountains and descending once more to a level and fertile country where there was every rational hope of finding a comfortable subsistence for myself and party can be more readily conceived than expressed, nor was the flattering prospect of the final success of the expedition less pleasuring.”

They encamped with the Nez Perce indians, who welcomed them warmly. The Nez Percé were a bit like the Shoshones in that they had had no contact with the whites, other than some trade goods that had reached them from the Columbia River tribes. They had only one or two rifles, and they were perennial targets for the Blackfeet whenever the Nez Percé made their way over the mountains to hunt buffalo. Game was still scarce, but the Nez Perce were kind and generous. So Lewis and Clark purchased roots, fish, and dogs from the Nez Perce, and gathered information for their trek down through the mountains to the Columbia River.

Sept 23: Clark: We assembled the principal Men as well as the Chiefs and by signs informed them where we came from where bound our wish to inculcate peace and good understanding between all the red people &c. which appeared to Satisfy them much, we then gave 2 other Medals to other Cheifs of bands, a flag to the twisted hair, left a flag & handkerchief to the grand Chief, a shirt to the twisted hair & a knife & Handkerchif with a Small pece of Tobacco to each. Since those people had no provisions for the day, we decided to purchase small articles of merchandise. Accordingly, we purchased all we could, such as roots, dried berries, red Haws, and fish. In the evening, set out and proceeded on to the 2d Village [1] 2 miles distant, where we also purchased a few articles all amounting to as much as our weak horses Could Carry to the river. Capt. Lewis & 2 men were very sick this evening. My hip was very painful. The men traded a few old tin canisters for dressed elk skin to make themselves shirts. At dark, a hard wind from the southwest accompanied by rain lasted for half an hour. The women were busy gathering and drying the Pas-she co root, of which they had dug significant quantities in piles. hot day

Pas-she co is the Shoshone designation for the Camas, which has an edible bulb and grows plentifully in the region. It has an undesirable effect on the stomach when undercooked or raw, which the men discovered by experience.

Among the many items that Lewis purchased in Pittsburgh was a collapsible metal frame of a boat frame, which the men took to calling “The Experiment”. After hauling it all the way up the Missouri, over the great falls portage, and through the Bitterroot mountains, they finally began to assemble the frame and cover it with elk hides.

But with no pine pitch nearby to seal the seams with, the boat leaked and sank quickly. The frame was abandoned, and they had to build more canoes.

Sept 24 Clark: A fine morning, collected our horses, dispatched J. Colter back to hunt the horses lost in the mountains & bring up Some Shot left behind, and at 10 o'clock we all set out for the river. Capt Lewis, scarcely able to ride on a gentle horse. Several men were so unwell that they were compelled to lie on the Side of the road for some time; others were obliged to be put on horses. I gave Rushes Pills to the Sick this evening. Several Indians follow us.

Nicknamed Thunderclappers, Rush’s Pills were a mercury-based purgative laxative designed by Dr. Benjamin Rush and used by Lewis and Clark as a cure-all for various ailments. All of the men, sick or not, looked forward to a downstream run to the Pacific Ocean.

The Red River basin is so flat in Northwest Minnesota that the water from the tiles (pipes) under the fields must be pumped up and into the ditches that lead to the Red River, and eventually to the dead zone in Hudson’s Bay.

This part of the basin is so flat that farmhouses must have levees around them to protect them from flooding.

My colleague Chris Jones already did the math and research, so I don’t have to. The article below is a must-read for anyone who cares about our rivers, lakes, lands, and the future world that your offspring will inherit.

The Swine Republic

Seeing Red

“The best framed and best administered governments are necessarily expensive; while by errors in frame and maladministration most of them are more onerous than they need be, and some of them are very oppressive.”—Abraham Lincoln…

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a year ago · 65 likes · 20 comments · Chris Jones

Will Dilg Continues to Inspire Us

Will Dilg was the founding national president and founding editor of the monthly publication of the Izaak Walton League of America. He was a charismatic speaker and influential writer who grew the league to more than 100,000 members in less than two years. His colleagues were sports writers who shared and amplified his voice in newspapers and magazines across the nation.

After suffering the tragic drowning of his only child on the Upper Mississippi River, Will Dilg rose from the depths of depression to become a champion for the preservation and restoration of the great outdoors. One of his first actions was to fulfill his promise to Sigurd Olsen to support the formation and protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. The Izaak Walton League fulfilled that promise by working with US Senator Hubert Humphrey to pass a bill and secure protections for the area, and the league continues the ongoing fight for protection in this pristine and scenic area.

Izaak Walton League member Steven Marking is a performing artist and content creator who has adapted the title of Riverlorian. A lifelong conservationist, Steve champions the Mississippi River Watershed, and now also the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest. Steve brought Will Dilg back to life in his movie and stage show entitled A Visit With Will Dilg. Marking wrote a script that utilizes Will Dilg’s words to inspire us all to rise up and speak out for the restoration of our great outdoors. While the story centers around the formation of our Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, the message is applicable anywhere that land, air, and water have been degraded by human activity. At the premier performance in La Crosse, Wisconsin, 20% of his audience signed up to speak up for fish and wildlife, and a new chapter, the Upper Mississippi River Chapter, was formed. It currently has 54 members and is collaborating with UW-La Crosse and other non-governmental organizations on several conservation activities along the Upper Mississippi River.

A Visit From Will Dilg combines 1920’s articles and images with high-resolution images and movie clips of the refuge’s flora and fauna to showcase what was saved. The character of Will Dilg appears both as a fisherman who has returned to deliver an important message to us and as a man in a suit and tie, selling the idea of the refuge to the American public in the 1920’s. The story is told by these characters and by supertitles that transcend time and place to explain how human greed and hubris have done extensive damage to the natural world. Marking also employs closed captioning in both the movie and the live show to be as inclusive as possible.

Steven Marking performs A Visit From Will Dilg for biology and agriculture students at Owatonna High School in Owatonna, Minnesota.

Marking just finished a run of 10 performances in 10 days in Wisconsin and Minnesota, presenting five shows for students and five for adult audiences. For the schools, Marking has condensed his 50-minute show to 36 minutes, giving him time to engage with students afterward. After taking questions and explaining the process of making the show, Marking challenges the students to find ways to apply the lessons learned from the show to their local environment.

The show has been successful from the 5th grade up. One of his recent performances was for the Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers Convention. After delivering the 50-minute show, he led a two-hour discussion of ecological issues that attendees face in their counties around Wisconsin.

“Every time I give the show, the message to speak up for fish and wildlife hits home with the audience. I have received tremendous feedback from students and adults. Playing the character of Will Dilg has emboldened me to speak out on the issues we face and offer solutions to move from our currently unsustainable urban and agricultural practices to methods that are environmentally sustainable and healthy for humans.”

The show raises awareness of the Izaak Walton League and its commitment to land, air, and water by showcasing the successful grassroots movement that saved our Upper Mississippi River lands from agricultural reclamation. The movement is a plain example of what can be accomplished when people speak with a unified voice.

“I think we can learn an important lesson from this show. Dilg and his followers presented a single issue to the American People and then to the United States Congress. If we look at our most pressing environmental issues, most can be distilled into a single, unifying issue: clean water. Since we are at least 60% water, clean water is something we can all agree is an essential human right and something we can demand of our legislators.”

The movie version of A Visit From Will Dilg is available for rental on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. It is also available to all Izaak Walton Chapters to screen at chapter events. Marking would love to bring a live production to your event to help raise awareness, inspire, and grow your membership.

You can learn more about A Visit From Will Dilg at Stevenmarking.com, and sign up to receive his river stories via email at Riverlorian.substack.com.

Student responses to “A Visit from Will Dilg”

Holmen High School responses from Feb 13 Science Class Presentation:

Thank you so much for coming to speak to us. I thought that the way you presented to us was awesome. I really liked how it was like a movie. It was a great way to see a new presentation like that. I also liked how you really knew what you were talking about. I thought it was really cool when you talked about locks and dams. -Wesley Bork

Hello Mr. Marking,

Your presentation in our Animal Science class last Friday was very interesting. I’ve never met a Riverlorian before so it was interesting to get to know your job and learn about the work you do. I liked your speech with the movie in the background, the views were really pretty! My favourite part of it was the song that you sang, that was very good. I also liked our discussion afterwards as we had to think about some of your aspects ourselves.

Thank you for visiting us, I learned a lot of new things!

Best wishes,

Franziska Oste

Great Performance and engaging. It was interesting and had lots of invormatin I didn’t now. I recommend more emphasis on the benefits for hunting and fishing, - because they are super popular around here.

“I liked how informative it was and it was entertaining. I think larger groups like Environmental Science would like it. I was engaging in a way that helped me retain info.”

-Carlin O’Hearn, 10th grade