Remarkable Hills on the Upper Missouri
Engraved by Salathe Printed by Bougeard
Tableau 34. Remarkable Hills on the Upper Missouri
$1,100.00

On August 6, 1833, the keelboat carrying Prince Maximilian and Karl Bodmer upriver from Fort Union to Fort McKenzie approached what Maximilian described in his journal as "the most interesting part of the whole course of the Missouri - the Stone Walls." Elsewhere he explained that "Lewis and Clark gave a short description of this remarkable tract without, however, knowing the name.... which was added later."

The high, eroded banks of the river in this area presented an increasingly dramatic aspect, according to the prince, who related that "the most strange formations are seen.. .. . towers, pulpits, organs with their pipes, old ruins, fortresses, castles, churches with pointed towers."

In an effort to depict as many of these unusual formations as possible, Bodmer directed the keelboat to cross frequently from one bank to the other, Maximilian again reporting: "While sketching here, one was called again to the other side, while the boat sped forward with a sailing
wind. The strangest figures flee away ... and one really regrets having to trade them off every moment for new, still stranger ones."

The majority of the views reproduced in this print were based on pencil drawings and watercolors made on or about August 6 which now are in the Joslyn collection. At upper left is a formation known as "the Dike," in Bodmer's day. Directly below it, at left center, is La Barge Rock, which is pictured again in Tableau 41 of this series. Both formations appear on the same watercolor sheet in the Bodmer collection at Joslyn.

The uppermost of the larger views, at center, was based on a study made a month earlier, on July 7, describing the weathered bluffs on the Missouri above the mouth of the Yellowstone River, where Maximilian reported that, lacking a sufficient wind for its sail, the keelboat was hauled forward by members of the crew using large hawsers.

For other views of the upper Missouri landscape, see Vignette XVIII and Tableaux 29, 35, 37, 40, 41, 44, and 47.

Text by David Hunt, Director, Stark Museum, Orange, Texas, USA

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