In the evening of July 18, 1805, Captain Meriwether Lewis passed a large creek about 30 yards wide that entered on the starboard side, with a bold current, low banks, and a bed formed altogether of stones, and he named it Ordway's Creek after Sergeant John Ordway. This stream is now called Little Prickley Pear Creek and has its origins at the Continental Divide near Helena, Montana. Its upper reaches abound in fish and provide an important spawning tributary for migratory rainbow and brown trout from the Missouri River. The name given by Lewis changed many years ago, and many landmarks named for the expedition have not remained unchanged over the last two hundred years. Sergeant Ordway was the expedition's first sergeant and was often left in charge when both captains were absent.