They had been obliged to escape so rapidly that Captain Clark lost his compass (that is, circumferentor) and umbrella, Chaboneau left his gun, with Captain Lewis' wiping-rod, shot-pouch, and tomahawk, and the Indian woman had just time to grasp her child, before the net in which it lay at her feet was carried down the current." Such a storm is known in the West as a cloud-burst.

Overland emigrants in the early rush to California often suffered loss from these sudden deluges.

A party of men, with wagons and animals, have been known to be swept away and lost in a flood bursting in a narrow canyon in the mountains.
"Captain Clark now relinquished his intention of going up the river, and returned to the camp at Willow Run.

Here he found that the party sent this morning for the baggage had all returned to camp in great confusion, leaving their loads in the plain.

On account of the heat, they generally go nearly naked, and with no covering on their heads.
The hail was so large, and driven so furiously against them by the high wind, that it knocked several of them down: one of them, particularly, was thrown on the ground three times, and most of them were bleeding freely, and complained of being much bruised.