What is the importance of the Rocky Mountains to the Lewis & Clark story?
In actuality the river travel is the least significant portion of the journey. Crossing the Rocky Mountains is the heart and soul of the expedition. It is the key of the trip. They believed the Rockies resembled the Appalachians in the eastern half, a single chain of mountains. They had no idea the Rockies are not a single chain of mountains, more than a hundred named mountain ranges in Montana and northern Idaho alone. Two hundred fifty to 300 miles wide. The key is getting through the Rockies. They are literally lost in the Rocky Mountains. Lewis and Clark crossed the Bitterroot Mountains three different times. Their journey was not a straightforward expedition. Present-day Montana presented the Expedition with some interesting problems, also. I start their travail at the Marius River, while they are still on the plains. The Marius was one river the Native Americans had given them no advance information about. They hit it at spring run-off. They took eight days to make a decision reg
