Yellowstone River: A Water Expressway

Following the route Sacajawea pointed out through what is now Bozeman Pass, Clark and his party arrived at the Yellowstone River, which Clark called the Rochejhone, a French word that translates to Yellowstone, while several tribal names translate to Elk River. This water route would carry the party to the Missouri River as they anxiously sought to rendezvous with Lewis, proceed to the Mandan Indian Villages where they had wintered two years earlier, and finish their journey home. After months of traveling slowly across mountains and prairies on foot and horseback, they moved downstream on the Yellowstone at speeds of up to 70 miles per day. On July 15, 1806, William Clark wrote that he arrived at the River rochjhone at 2 P.M. and that the Roche passed out of a high rugged mountain covered with snow, noting the Gallatin Range on the west and the Absaroka Range on the east.

Montana · United States