Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 23 This was when Lois stepped in and said, "Come on, Frank, get to the point." He didn't skip a beat and continued with, "Sacagawea was ill and went to soak in the sulfur springs. Right down by the springs two miles on the Missouri Riv- er, about a half-mile below where Bell Creek comes into the river, everyone said there are little rapids there that are no sweat. So we are already throwing our lures in, and my friend was standing up in fact, and he says, 'Did you hear a roar by any chance?' And I said no, I hadn't. It wasn't long, and we saw the wind was coming out of the north, and we were in the middle of the river, and there is these seven-foot rapids that go all the way across the river that stopped Lewis on their expedition. We couldn't get to shore, and I had a horse and a half Evinrude on the back, and the only thing I end- ed up with after that rapid was the two tighteners. It's called Big Eddy, and it ate us alive. We watched our stuff go by, we went upside down, and we were on those big rocks down there." I asked what year this was. Lois said, "1910." We all laughed at that one, and Frank kept going. "It was in 1984. We gathered what we could of our gear, which wasn't much. We were soaked, and it's getting dark, the paddles were gone... we had some candles, and from the light of the candles, a lady in a truck saw us and saved us." I could tell Frank was quite proud that he ran the rapids that had stopped Lewis. We went outside to take a look at Mountain Palace and watch some boaters go by. It was hard to say goodbye. As I traveled toward Fort Benton, the plains seemed to become vaster as the Highwood and Bear Paw Mountains stood tall off in the distance. In Fort Benton, I got something to eat and listened to the band Stick and String at the Public House. The violinist, Karen Pogorzelski, likes to play music

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