"They came back all excited, saying they were the first ever to follow the Missouri to its head. They named a little lake, up near the summit, in a marshy flat, Lilian Lake, after me. Just a little way beyond that they found a big saucer-like spot in the round little hole up there--peaks all around it, like it had sunk down. Well, out of that circular marsh the creek comes. That's the head--the utmost source. The snow from the peaks feeds into that cup, or rather saucer, up on top, back of Mount Jefferson. "I don't think they went as far toward the actual head as I did myself, for it was late and they had their horses to find. Now on September 26, 1895, I rode horseback up in there with Mr. Allen, and we rode right on up over Hanson, and down into Hell Roaring, and beyond where they left their pack horse. We rode almost all the way, and got into that Hole in the Mountains, as Mr. Brower calls the depressed valley up on top. But we rode on clear past it, three miles, and found the creek plain that far. "Almost up to the top of the divide, the creek turns northeast. It comes out from under a big black rock, near a clump of balsam--like my spring here, only not so big. Mr. Brower and Mr. Culver had marked a rock and put down a copper plate for their discovery. I had a tin plate, and I scratched my name and the date on that. There wasn't any mark of anyone else there, and we were quite beyond the place where Mr. Brower stopped. So maybe I am the first person, certainly the first woman, to see the real upper spring of the Missouri River. "Now here I am, all alone in the world, as you see. Would you like to see my pressed flowers and my other things?" The young explorers looked at the tiny, thin little old lady with reverence, and did not say anything for a long time, before they began to look at the treasured belongings of the faraway cabin home. "Do you boys want to go up?" she asked, after a time. "We came for that," said Rob. "You couldn't climb up the canyon all the way, maybe. Do you think you could get up over the mountain, the way we did?" "You don't know these boys," remarked Uncle Dick to her. "They're old mountain climbers and can go anywhere." "They'd want a guide, and I couldn't go, now. And they'd want horses." "Well, we'll leave out the guide, and we could leave out the horses, like enough, for we can go to the foot of the mountain in the car. But on the whole I can think we'll ride up, for a change." "You can get horses down at the ranch a little way. I have none here now." "All right. To-morrow we'll outfit for the climb."