An “Inchanting” Dream, A Day in Paradise
Journal 2005 06 15
An “Inchanting” Dream, A Day in Paradise
Meriwether Lewis was a man who had a day of heaven on earth that modern adventurers can only dream of. He penned one of his longest journal entries of the expedition as he recorded for posterity the joy of his exploration.
Always first fulfilling his obligation to his men and mission Lewis dispatches Private Joseph Fields with a letter to Captain Clark informing him of their discovery of the falls. Another soldier is put to work making a scaffold to dry meat and fish. A small party is sent to get what is left of the buffalo meat they left yesterday. Wolves are their constant companions when they have killed animals for meat. The men report later in the day that not much of the meat was left after the wolves took advantage of their free lunch.
About ten that morning Lewis determines that preparations for camp, provisions for the party coming upriver are well under way and that further exploration upriver would be fruitful. And I’m guessing that the ever-curious mind of the wilderness explorer Meriwether Lewis, whose heart for wild places and exploration was born as a boy in the frontier of colonial America, was primed to overflowing to see what other wonders lay upstream.
Lewis took his rifle and espontoon, a long spear like weapon with a pointed blade attached to the end, and left this primitive camp on a SW bearing along the course of the river.
He has proceeded about five miles upriver passing many beautiful rapids and waterfalls. He reaches another falls that he remarks would dwarf any of the grandest falls in the then United States. Its beauty is placed behind the initial discovery of the Great Falls by comparison. He remarks that he should have turned back to camp at this point but the louder roaring he hears upriver draws him. How many of us should have taken the prudent action, but were drawn by something that captivated our curiosity?
Upon discovery of another magnificent waterfall Lewis attempts to describe them. He eventually concludes that one is “pleasingly beautiful” while the other is ”sublimely grand”. “…if a skillful painter had been asked to make a beautiful cascade that he would most probably have presented the precise image of this one.” Poetic, lyrical praise from an adventure that most would only describe as a long camping trip.
Lewis is swept up in this idyllic dream that has captivated him and late in the day realizes that returning to camp this night is not an option. You’ve got to believe that maybe, just maybe, he didn’t want to leave this valley of paradise.
He shoots a buffalo from the biggest herd he has yet to see and in his rapture does not immediately reload his musket. A mistake he vows to never make again. A great white bear, actually a grizzly of white color, stalks him as Lewis with fascination watches the life drain from the gigantic bovine. Reality intrudes upon his dream when the big bear advances on him from twenty paces. As Lewis turns to look for cover from which to load his rifle the bear roars and charges. Lewis races eighty yards to the river and quickly finds deeper water hoping to force the bear to swim to reach him. As he takes a defensive posture with his espontoon the bear stops, turns and runs three miles across the valley into the woods. Lewis gets out of the water, reloads his rifle and “feels confident once more in his strength.”
Next he notices what he thinks is a wolf, but then sees it is a type of big cat he has not seen before. As he approaches it, the cat crouches as if to spring on him. He rests his rifle on the shaft of his espontoon and fires at the cat. The big feline returns to his burrow. Lewis reloads. Upon examining the cat’s tracks Lewis determines it to be of the “tiger” kind. Always confident of his skills, Lewis concludes he did hit the animal with his shot.
Lewis is no more than three hundred yards from the cat’s burrow when three buffalo separate from the herd and run full speed at him. Lewis greets this charge with some amusement in light of his time with the bear and tiger and changes his direction and charges the charging buffalo. As the distance closes to one hundred yards the three buffalo come to “a mad halt”, take a good view of me and retreat with precipitation.”
It is now half past six in the early evening and in spite of his earlier decision to make camp overnight in the valley Lewis changes his mind as he thinks “that all the beasts of the neighbourhood had made league to distroy me, or that some fortune was disposed to amuse herself at my expence….”
Lewis ponders his day, “…the curious adventures wore the impression on my mind of inchantment; at sometimes for a moment I thought it might be a dream…” but the prickly pear cactus poking through his moccasins remind him that he is indeed alive, awake and not dreaming! He sets his path towards camp downriver.
He arrives at camp after dark, relieving the fears of his men and eats a hearty supper and gets a good nights rest. He makes no mention of dreaming, but I would imagine dreams could barely rival reality this day for our adventurer.
I have for many days let this record stew in my mind and heart. I genuinely believe a book could be written from the seeds germinated this one day. For the purposes of this “daily” musing I will limit myself to my overwhelming thought regarding this parallel walk with this great explorer.
Our human hearts want paradise on earth. Lewis recognizes his dreamlike enchantment with the discoveries of this day. Then, and always then, threat of death and pain remind him that it is not paradise on earth.
We need to see that even when we have had what we would call a perfect day, reality will intrude and threaten death and pain. These constant reminders that we live in a real world force us back to the refuge of our brothers as we move through life together. God has order. Adventure? Certainly. Fulfillment? Without question. Brotherhood? Foundational.
At the end of the day, are we retreating to the refuge we find in one another? Or, do we tempt fate and make our camp alone in the midst of danger? Lewis found his men. Have we found ours?
An “Inchanting” Dream, A Day in Paradise
Meriwether Lewis was a man who had a day of heaven on earth that modern adventurers can only dream of. He penned one of his longest journal entries of the expedition as he recorded for posterity the joy of his exploration.
Always first fulfilling his obligation to his men and mission Lewis dispatches Private Joseph Fields with a letter to Captain Clark informing him of their discovery of the falls. Another soldier is put to work making a scaffold to dry meat and fish. A small party is sent to get what is left of the buffalo meat they left yesterday. Wolves are their constant companions when they have killed animals for meat. The men report later in the day that not much of the meat was left after the wolves took advantage of their free lunch.
About ten that morning Lewis determines that preparations for camp, provisions for the party coming upriver are well under way and that further exploration upriver would be fruitful. And I’m guessing that the ever-curious mind of the wilderness explorer Meriwether Lewis, whose heart for wild places and exploration was born as a boy in the frontier of colonial America, was primed to overflowing to see what other wonders lay upstream.
Lewis took his rifle and espontoon, a long spear like weapon with a pointed blade attached to the end, and left this primitive camp on a SW bearing along the course of the river.
He has proceeded about five miles upriver passing many beautiful rapids and waterfalls. He reaches another falls that he remarks would dwarf any of the grandest falls in the then United States. Its beauty is placed behind the initial discovery of the Great Falls by comparison. He remarks that he should have turned back to camp at this point but the louder roaring he hears upriver draws him. How many of us should have taken the prudent action, but were drawn by something that captivated our curiosity?
Upon discovery of another magnificent waterfall Lewis attempts to describe them. He eventually concludes that one is “pleasingly beautiful” while the other is ”sublimely grand”. “…if a skillful painter had been asked to make a beautiful cascade that he would most probably have presented the precise image of this one.” Poetic, lyrical praise from an adventure that most would only describe as a long camping trip.
Lewis is swept up in this idyllic dream that has captivated him and late in the day realizes that returning to camp this night is not an option. You’ve got to believe that maybe, just maybe, he didn’t want to leave this valley of paradise.
He shoots a buffalo from the biggest herd he has yet to see and in his rapture does not immediately reload his musket. A mistake he vows to never make again. A great white bear, actually a grizzly of white color, stalks him as Lewis with fascination watches the life drain from the gigantic bovine. Reality intrudes upon his dream when the big bear advances on him from twenty paces. As Lewis turns to look for cover from which to load his rifle the bear roars and charges. Lewis races eighty yards to the river and quickly finds deeper water hoping to force the bear to swim to reach him. As he takes a defensive posture with his espontoon the bear stops, turns and runs three miles across the valley into the woods. Lewis gets out of the water, reloads his rifle and “feels confident once more in his strength.”
Next he notices what he thinks is a wolf, but then sees it is a type of big cat he has not seen before. As he approaches it, the cat crouches as if to spring on him. He rests his rifle on the shaft of his espontoon and fires at the cat. The big feline returns to his burrow. Lewis reloads. Upon examining the cat’s tracks Lewis determines it to be of the “tiger” kind. Always confident of his skills, Lewis concludes he did hit the animal with his shot.
Lewis is no more than three hundred yards from the cat’s burrow when three buffalo separate from the herd and run full speed at him. Lewis greets this charge with some amusement in light of his time with the bear and tiger and changes his direction and charges the charging buffalo. As the distance closes to one hundred yards the three buffalo come to “a mad halt”, take a good view of me and retreat with precipitation.”
It is now half past six in the early evening and in spite of his earlier decision to make camp overnight in the valley Lewis changes his mind as he thinks “that all the beasts of the neighbourhood had made league to distroy me, or that some fortune was disposed to amuse herself at my expence….”
Lewis ponders his day, “…the curious adventures wore the impression on my mind of inchantment; at sometimes for a moment I thought it might be a dream…” but the prickly pear cactus poking through his moccasins remind him that he is indeed alive, awake and not dreaming! He sets his path towards camp downriver.
He arrives at camp after dark, relieving the fears of his men and eats a hearty supper and gets a good nights rest. He makes no mention of dreaming, but I would imagine dreams could barely rival reality this day for our adventurer.
I have for many days let this record stew in my mind and heart. I genuinely believe a book could be written from the seeds germinated this one day. For the purposes of this “daily” musing I will limit myself to my overwhelming thought regarding this parallel walk with this great explorer.
Our human hearts want paradise on earth. Lewis recognizes his dreamlike enchantment with the discoveries of this day. Then, and always then, threat of death and pain remind him that it is not paradise on earth.
We need to see that even when we have had what we would call a perfect day, reality will intrude and threaten death and pain. These constant reminders that we live in a real world force us back to the refuge of our brothers as we move through life together. God has order. Adventure? Certainly. Fulfillment? Without question. Brotherhood? Foundational.
At the end of the day, are we retreating to the refuge we find in one another? Or, do we tempt fate and make our camp alone in the midst of danger? Lewis found his men. Have we found ours?
posted by @2007 Dick Cinkovich | 1:06 PM
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