Camp Disappointment

During the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806, Captain Meriwether Lewis left the main party at the Missouri River with three of his best men to explore the headwaters of the Marias River. He hoped to report to President Jefferson that the headwaters rose north of the 49th parallel, which would have extended the boundaries of the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. The party camped on the Cut Bank River from July 22-25, 1806, in a "beautifull and extensive bottom." Deep in Blackfeet territory, the men were uneasy, and Lewis wrote that "game of every discription is extreemly wild which induces me to believe the indians are now , or have been lately, in this neighborhood." From here Lewis saw that the river rose to the west rather than the north as he had hoped. Disheartened by this discovery, by the cold, rainy weather, and by the shortage of game, he named this farthest point north Camp Disappointment.

Montana · United States