Soul Stance River - 21

Four days have been spent going about like goats following curves and ravines, climbing cliffs and being tortured by prickly pears the cactuses from hell that I'm certain are alive and plotting to puncture our feet, in many areas they are almost unavoidable and punish with ease, Drouillard fell into a town of them and had his whole left side pierced like a salt shaker, Windsor and I barely saved ourselves from sliding off a 90 foot cliff, but I have the information I need to know that the Missouri is the left, southwest river despite the clarity of the water and it's somewhat mellow character, Ordway's crew believe the murky, deeper north river is the way to go as does every single member of the expedition, including Sacagawea, yet Clark and I after studying the maps, characteristics, and our intuitions have firmly decided to take the mission westerly, no one agrees, but no one refuses either, a great evidence in their respect and trust in us, we felt very proud that despite their disagreement no hesitation surfaced once the command was given, trust flows both ways, and their can never be too many demonstrations of such strength for it nourishes our synergy with no chance of fat or crash, tomorrow we ride the clear river into what we hope will be the Rockies, its early June, we don't have time to play watch the flowers grow and we certainly don't have the resources for an early, severe winter, if we hit those mountains late, we may be buried there, As usual I'm hiking ahead of the boats with a few others, thinking about how yesterday, while alone on the prarie for a couple of hours I was chased by a bear, charged by two male buffalos, and stalked by a mountain lion, living is becoming very dangerous around here, through my thin moccasins I'm noticing slight but steady trembling, at first I thought it was my nerves, am I getting the salt shakes from lack thereof, as I continue to move in line with the higher peaks a rumbling is aggravating the air the sound, nay, onrush of 100, 000 cavalry charging into pitched battle is what my senses are receiving right now, speeding to an elevated portion of the riverbank where the view is clear I behold across the way the most immense, powerful performance of nature ever, the Great Falls, a waterfall that must be 40 feet deep is raging in wet splendor as if a volcanic eruption with the purist water imaginable just pouncing and splashing and thrashing through the very heart of life vapors and mists billowing high and wide desperate to drench the earth rainbows darting into every direction all at once oh I tell you, this is how planets are made, wow!!! J.A.B.