I am currently reading “The Journals of Lewis and Clark” edited by Bernard DeVoto. I’m often made skeptical by measurements of rivers made by the explorers, mainly Clark. At one point Clark writes “…river here about 2-1/2 miles wide” in regards to the Columbia River. Are these measurements accurate?

by ErectEeyore
ErectEeyore

This seems unbelievably wide to me. Was Clark mistaken? Were rivers wider in the early 1800s? Do I have a poor understanding of rivers?