, you might say. It was at the Three Forks that Colter
and Potts, two of the Lewis and Clark men, were attacked by the
Blackfeet, and Potts killed and Colter forced to run naked, six miles
over the stones and cactus--till at last he killed his nearest pursuer
with his own spear, and hid under a raft of driftwood in the Jefferson
River.

"And when the fur men came up and built their fort, they had the Lewis
and Clark hunter Drewyer to guide them at first. But the Blackfeet made
bitter war on them. They killed Drewyer, as I told you, not far ahead of
us now, at the Forks. And they drove out Andrew Henry, the post trader.
He just naturally quit and fled south, over into the Henry's Lake
country, in Idaho, and kept on down the Snake there, till he built his
famous fort in there, so long known as Fort Henry. Well, he came in this
way; and on ahead is where he started south, on a keen lope.

"Can we get across, south from here, into Henry's Lake, Billy?" he
asked.

"Easy as anything," said Billy, "only the best way is to go by car from
my place. Lots of folks go every day, from Butte, Helena, all these
towns all along the valleys. Perfectly good road, and that's faster than
a pack train."

"That's what I have been promising my party!" said Uncle Dick. "But they
shall not go fishing until they have got a complete notion of how all
this country lies and how Lewis and Clark got through it."

"They hardly ever were together any more, in here," said Rob. "First
one, then the other would scout out ahead. And they both were sick.
Clark was laid up after he met the boat party at the Forks, and Lewis
took his turn on ahead. What good sports they were!"

"Yes," said John, "and what good sports the men were! They'd had to
track and pole up here, all the way from the Falls, and at night they
were worn out. Grub was getting scarce and they hadn't always enough to
keep strong on. And above the Forks they had to wade waist deep in ice
water, for hours, slipping on the stones, in their moccasins, and their
teeth chattering. I'll bet they hated the sight of a beaver, for it was
the beaver dams that kept all the shores full of willows and bayous, so
they couldn't walk and track the boat, but had to take to the stream
bed. Why, the beaver were so bad that Lewis got lost in the dams and had
to lie out, one night! And he didn't know where his boats were, either."

"Well, that's what brought in the first wave of whites," said Uncle
Dick--"