We continued climbing, and in a short time reached the crest.  I sprang upon the summit, and another step would have precipitated me into an immense snow field five hundred feet below.  To the edge of this field was a sheer icy precipice; and then, with a gradual fall, the field sloped off for about a mile, until it struck the foot of another lower ridge.  I stood on a narrow crest, about three feet in width, with an inclination of about 20 deg.  N., 51 deg.  E. As soon as I had gratified the first feelings of curiosity, I descended, and each man ascended in his turn; for I would only allow one at a time to mount the unstable and precarious slab, which it seemed a breath would hurl into the abyss below.  We mounted the barometer in the snow of the summit, and fixing a ramrod in a crevice, unfurled the national flag to wave in the breeze, where never flag waved before.  During our morning’s ascent, we had met no sign of animal life, except the small sparrow-like bird already mentioned.  A stillness the most profound, and a terrible solitude forced themselves constantly on the mind, as the great features of the place.  Here, on the summit, where the stillness was absolute, unbroken by any sound, and the solitude complete, we thought ourselves beyond the region of animated life; but while we were sitting on the rock, a solitary bee (bromus, the bumble bee) came winging his flight from the eastern valley, and lit on the knee of one of the men.

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=_271._= THE COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON.

The Columbia is the only river which traverses the whole breadth of the country, breaking through all the ranges, and entering the sea.  Drawing its waters from a section of ten degrees of latitude in the Rocky Mountains, which are collected into one stream by three main forks (Lewis’, Clark’s, and the North Fork) near the center of the Oregon valley, this great river thence proceeds by a single channel to the sea, while its three forks lead each to a pass in the mountains which opens the way into the interior of the continent.  This fact in relation to the rivers of this region, gives an immense value to the Columbia.  Its mouth is the only inlet and outlet, to and from the sea; its three forks lead to the passes in the mountains; it is therefore the only line of communication between the Pacific and the interior of North America; and all operations of war or commerce, of national or social intercourse, must be conducted upon it.  This gives it a value beyond estimation, and would involve irreparable injury if lost.  In this unity and concentration of its waters, the Pacific side of our continent differs entirely from the Atlantic side, where the waters of the Alleghany mountains are dispersed into many rivers, having their different entrances into the sea, and opening many lines of communication with the interior.

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=_Elisha Kent Kane,[68] 1822-1857._=