John Palliser crossed the Rockies through a pass in 1858 that led to the headwaters of the Palliser River, a tributary of the Kootenay River now named in his honor. (However, at first, his party referred to it as Palliser's River.) His expedition made it downstream to Columbia Lake, but had some trouble making their way back to Alberta; the return route that they had chosen proved too dangerous to negotiate. After trading for some horses and new supplies from a band of Ktunaxa, they made it back over the Rockies later that year through North Kootenay Pass near Lower and Upper Kananaskis Lakes, after traveling up the Elk River.