Great Falls, Montana

Visited Aug. 3-7, 2021

By Janell

This directional sign was outside the office at our Great Falls KOA campground.

We visited the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center, which is located right on the Missouri River, just a few miles from downtown Great Falls. We found the center to be very well done, and we spent about three hours there learning about Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery Expedition.

 

Coming upon the Great Falls of the Missouri River was good news to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, as it confirmed they were heading in the right direction (the correct fork of the river). They'd been told by the Hidatsa Indians that they would come to a large impassable waterfall in the Missouri and that they would need to portage around it, carrying their canoes and their supplies. It was reported to be less than a mile of ground they would need to cover before returning to the water, and they estimated it would take about a half day. However, as Lewis scouted further ahead he discovered four more waterfalls and realized the portage would be much, much longer. 

In fact, the expeditioners would need to hike a total of 18 miles to get around the five waterfalls! They left their heaviest boat and equipment hidden near the base of the falls and began the trek overland upriver -- carrying, dragging and pushing their canoes and supplies. They created makeshift wagons, and when the wind was strong, even attached sails to help the equipment along. The portaging lasted 11 days and required several round trips by wagons and men, totaling approximately 130 miles!

 

Think about that the next time you're kicking yourself for having to make an extra trip back to the store!

The display below depicts how the expeditioners had to manage the travel over land. (It's a little washed out in this photo, but through the window we could see the Missouri River.)

Members of the Corps of Discovery, including Lewis' dog Seaman, a Newfoundland.

Everyone of us learned about Sacajawea in elementary school, right? If you're like me, you've been saying and spelling her name wrong all these years. See the info below to learn how to correctly say "Sacagawea" and to learn about the confusion.

Long before there were Ray-Bans ...

 one might've worn these snow goggles, made from clam shells and rawhide, to protect against snow blindness.

More than halfway through the crew's 28-month expedition (yet still in the westward segment of it), Meriwether Lewis reflected upon the passing of his 31st birthday. He wrote the following in his journal:

"Sunday August 18th 1805.

I reflected that I had as yet done but little, very little indeed, to further the hapiness of the human race, or to advance the information of the succeeding generation. I viewed with regret the many hours I have spent in indolence ... I resolved in future, to live for mankind, as I have heretofore lived for myself."

Wow. Just. Wow.

It had been 14 weeks since we'd been on our bikes! We didn't really realize it had been that long, but there just hadn't been appealing trails. (Marty's always looking out for them when he researches things to do.) Anyway, we got back on the bikes in Great Falls. We bicycled 19.5 miles on the River's Edge Trail. We started at Gibson Park.

 

I have no idea what to say about this "thing" that's at a street corner in Gibson Park, but it begged to be photographed.

 

 

The trail, as the name "River's Edge" suggests, runs along the Missouri River. We pedaled right below the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, where we'd been just the day before. 

 

  

  

The Black Eagle Dam as seen from the bike trail.

 

I wonder who these folks could be ...

Along the bike trail we also passed through Giant Springs State Park. This giant spring was discovered by Lewis & Clark in 1805 and is one of the largest fresh water springs in the country. Over 150 million gallons of water flow from Giant Springs every day and cascade into the Missouri River. The water emerges from the ground at a consistent 54 degrees all year long.

Here's William Clark's description:

"... the largest fountain or Spring I have ever Saw, and doubt if it is not the largest in America Known, this water boils up from under th rocks near the edge of the river and falls imediately into the river 8 feets and keeps its Colour for a mile which is emencely Clear and of a bluish Cast..."

 

Below is a close-up of the aquatic plants growing in the pool of Giant Spring. If you look again at the photo above, you can probably make out the plants in the pool on the right.

There was no plaque, so we don't know whether this is a buffalish or a fishalo. It reminded me of a project our youngest son, Garrett did in elementary school. The assignment was to choose two animals, and using clay, create a fictional animal that combined the characteristics of both real animals. Garrett made a "liawk" (that would be a lion and a hawk). We probably still have the liawk in a box somewhere.

After a morning of pedaling bikes, we then drove our car about 45 minutes -- seemingly out to the middle of nowhere, to see Ryan Dam and the "Great Falls". 

To properly view the dam and falls you must go out to Ryan Island via the footbridge below -- a suspension bridge. Maximum six persons on the bridge at one time, and if someone is already coming from the opposite side you need to wait till they exit before entering the bridge. On the way out to the island it was just the two of us on the bridge, and I was following Marty. It swayed quite a bit, making me walk as though I'd had too much to drink. I can only imagine if there were six people on the bridge!

 

 

 

This is "Great Falls" or "Big Falls", the largest of the five great falls of the Missouri River. It looks significantly different today than when Lewis and Clark were here in 1805.

 

The crew could hear the great waterfalls for miles before they could see them. 

Lewis described it in his journal as:

 

 “…the grandest sight I ever beheld…whin my ears were saluted with the agreeable sound of a fall of water and advancing a little further; I saw the spray arise above the plain like a collumn of smoke . . . which soon began to make a roaring too tremendous to be mistaken for any cause short of the great falls of the Missouri…”

 

The falls are a much less grand sight today, as the hydroelectric Ryan Dam was built here in 1915.

 

From upstream to downstream, the five falls along a 10-mile segment of the river are:

 

Black Eagle Falls - Black Eagle Dam

Colter Falls (a half mile upstream from Rainbow Falls and set behind Rainbow Dam, these falls are submerged now)

Rainbow Falls - Rainbow Dam

Crooked Falls (aka Horseshoe Falls)

Great Falls (aka Big Falls) - Ryan Dam

 A closer look at Great Falls and Ryan Dam

 

 

Returning from the island on the footbridge

 

One morning we drove about an hour to the small town of Fort Benton, MT. Marty had booked a canoe trip on the Missouri River for us. A shuttle driver from Missouri River Outfitters picked us up, along with another couple, at Fort Benton and drove us upriver to our put-in point at Carter Ferry. From Carter Ferry Marty and I canoed 16 miles down the river back to our car in Fort Benton. 

This was some of the same stretch of river that Lewis and Clark would've traveled in 1805, except they were going upriver! We probably paddled about 3/4 of the time (Marty somewhat more than me), and we floated with the current the rest of the time. Lewis and Clark had no such luxury; floating would've taken them backwards.

The skies were a mix of blue and smoke throughout the day. Almost no one else was on the river. The other couple from the shuttle got on the river ahead of us (while we were busy applying sunscreen) and was already just a speck in the distance. About 14 miles into the trip we passed a small fishing boat. Other than that ... no one. It was very peaceful.

This was our lunch spot where we dined on cheese and crackers and salami with a beer.

We saw much wildlife while on our canoe trip. While cows would not be considered "wild", we did see them. You can see that two of this herd had ventured out into the river to cool off. They kept their eyes on us as we paddled by them. 

The pelicans were not as concerned about us as the cows; or as the deer in the photo below.

Earlier on the river we had seen a deer ambling up the hillside, but I didn't even notice this deer until Marty pointed her out to me. She watched us closely as we passed. One false move from us, and she would've disappeared into the foliage! 

I saw two big fish: one swam across right in front of our canoe, and the second one I only glimpsed the tail end of it jumping back into the river. We also saw several birds of prey overhead (perched and flying).

 

As you can see we aren't wearing life vests, although they did come with the canoe. The shuttle driver said that if the river had more water in it, we should wear them. Now however, he said "if you get into trouble ... just stand up"!

 

The river was indeed quite shallow. Sometimes our paddles were scraping the rocks on the bottom; other times it was about as deep as the length of our paddles. So, we felt pretty safe without the vests.

Look at the dramatic coloring of the cliffs - so interesting!

 

Like chocolate ice cream with butterscotch sauce on top!

 

 

 

Back in Fort Benton now. 

Fort Benton was originally established as a trading post in 1846. Trade was with the Blackfoot Indians and primarily for buffalo robes, which were then sent by boat down the Missouri River to St. Louis.

From mthistoryrevealed.blogspot.com:

For hundreds of years, bison had been integral to the survival of the Plains Indians. With the expansion of white settlement and new, brutally-efficient hunting methods, bison hides became a major export. In 1858 alone, an estimated 20,000 hides were shipped from Fort Benton down the Missouri River to St. Louis. By the 1870s, Native Americans had largely been relocated to reservations and their hunting took place under the supervision of Army troops. In 1882, more than 5,000 bison hunters and skinners were working in southeastern Montana, northeastern Wyoming, and western North Dakota. A single herd of 50,000–80,000 animals was slaughtered in one season. By 1885, with the exception of a few small, protected herds, bison in Montana had largely been exterminated.

With the decline of the fur trade, the fort became a U.S. Army post from 1868-1881. Beginning in the early 1860s, with the arrival of the first steamboats, a town began to grow up around the fort. Besides being one of the most important ports on the Missouri-Mississippi river system, Fort Benton was once the "World's Innermost Port" – the furthest point of navigable water on the Missouri River.

Then in the late 19th century construction of the transcontinental railroad system changed everything, and suddenly Fort Benton's port was no longer an integral part of the trading game.

Today's Fort Benton is a quaint riverfront town chock full of history; it's also a place to launch your canoeing, fishing, or hunting trips.

I'm telling you, there is no shortage of Lewis and Clark statues in Montana, with and without Sacagawea!

These two pics were taken looking out from the edge of the campground property on our last day in Great Falls. We finally got blue skies, and aren't they gorgeous?! It had been a month since we'd seen anything like this.