Ep. 39: The River That Flowed From Nowhere, Part II | The American West
episodePreviously titled “Ep. 39: The River That Flowed From Nowhere, Part II” — renamed by the publisher on Sep 15, 2026
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Like Apollo 13 in the 1970s, Thomas Jefferson's 1806 Red River expedition into the West was a failure. This is part two of how their story should have gone. I'm Dan Flores, and this is the American West.
The River That Flowed From Nowhere Part 2. January 15, 1807. Natchitoches, Dr. Sibley's home. My dearest President Jefferson. And so our journey continued. On the 30th of September, with the Red River commencing to flow from a northwest direction and the unfamiliar mountains gathering their strange shapes around us, we came to a considerable stream of water coming in from the west. Directly exiting the mountains, its waters salty but less so than the main river. Here, our Pawnee guide, Tattasuk, advised us that this was the last point for several days where the river's waters could be drunk, that we must ascend this west fork called the Thule with our pack mules to where the water became sweet and fill every skin bag we possessed for continuing the journey up the main river.
Mr. Freeman thus split the party, leaving 18 at a camp at this place while nine of us followed the Thule into its mountain fastness. Wholesome and sweet water was obtained within five miles of travel up this little stream, and our skin bags were soon filled to brimming. But so weird and oddly enchanting was the country that it drew us onward. And with one of the Indians and Mr. Talapoon, Mr. Freeman and I decided to explore further this narrow and most interesting defile.
What discovery begins Part II of 'The River That Flowed From Nowhere'?
This was our first experience with a kind of scenery which became frequent, though never common to our eyes, during the next months of our travel. A scenery, if I may, never before known within the confines of the United States. The majority of the views we here submit to the presidential eye, recorded with our camera obscura box, are of these canyons and of the rock mountains along the River Dunbar. Yet I must add the sensible fact that none of the profiles we recorded can give an adequate impression of this country, which would require all the imagination and skill of Europe's best painters of landscape to capture. It's now four months since I've returned from this region, yet its fantastical shapes and hues of its coloring linger in my mind like the faint impressions of a dream."
Had I not seen it all with my own eyes, I would not believe such a place as the region about the head sources of the Red River exists. The chasm of the Thule, which is called by those familiar with the country a canyon, continued for another ten miles beyond the point where we left the pack mules. The reading with our instruments was taken far up it in a grassy basin surrounded by astonishing freestanding columns of red sandstone rock, but short of its ultimate source. Here was the first place in more than 15 miles that the canyon could be crossed by horse, and through it a large and well-traveled Indian road was found. Remarkable as this place was, however, it paled in comparison to a point past the day before.
This place, which we called the Defile, for stirring the mind of thoughts of awe, exceeded any view we had during the entire journey." In this defile, the opposing red-brown sandstone walls, filled with pebbles and shells, closed to less than 60 feet apart one from the other, and rose sheer and vertical to giddy heights. Strange lyrical birdsong and the roar of a spring that gushed from a rock amphitheater filled the canyon with sound. Owing to some superstition, Tadasuk was struck by a sudden desire to escape the spot, and finding some footholds carved into the north face, he attempted an ascent which I accompanied with the barometer. A two-hour climb brought us to the crest of one of the surrounding peaks.
Yet imagine my astonishment when we found ourselves not atop a mountain as I had supposed.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:33
2
What discovery begins Part II of 'The River That Flowed From Nowhere'?
2:33–12:50
3
How do Freeman and Custis describe the Thule canyon and its strange scenery?
12:50–59:27
4
Why do the explorers encounter vast herds of buffalo and what does that reveal?
59:27–1:07:56
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Gunfighters
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