the beautiful river of Marias,' flowing from the north [west] adds its peaceful waters to those of the rapid and impetuous stream. Still lower, but on the opposite side, the Dearborn" and the Fancy disembogue themselves through mouths respectively 150 yards in width.
After many other rivers of considerable width and extent, we come to the Yellowstone,' the largest but one of all the tributaries of the Missouri, resembling the latter in many respects. This river too has its source in the Rocky Mountains and is 850 yards wide at its mouth. Its bed is spacious and its current rapid; its length is about I,6oo [750] miles, and at its confluence with the Missouri it appears to be the larger of the two. For a considerable distance above the mouth its banks are well wooded and its bottom lands are extensive and very fertile. The grey and
8 Maria's river (Lewis and Clark), named for a lady acquaintance of one of these officers. Modern usage drops the apostrophe and makes it simply Marias. The stream is a large one, and drains an extensive tract of country. Lewis and Clark were in doubt, when they came to it, whether it was not the main stream.
Error. The Dearborn river joins the Missouri from the west above the Great Falls.
a The Yellowstone river is one of the most noted rivers on the continent. It is not only a great river, in itself worthy of high comparison, but it comes from a region which in recent times has acquired celebrity throughout the world as that singular place where nature seems to be still engaged in finishing the work of manufacturing a planet. The river comes mainly in its upper course from the Yellowstone National Park. It flows through the beautiful Yellowstone lake, over the Great Falls, and through the Grand cafion, and exhibits within a distance of fifty miles a combination of grandeur and beauty unparalleled upon any other river in the world.
From its source it flows north zgo miles to the great bend of the Yellowstone, where it turns abruptly to the east. It then flows nearly due east for about zoo miles, when it turns gradually to the north and finally flows northeast to its junction with the Missouri. It receives no tributaries worthy of mention from the north, but many important ones from the other side. Of these the principal one is the Big Horn river, which, in its upper course, bears the name of Wind river.