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Love Affair with Lewis and Clark
When Captain Clark set out with a crew of five men to survey a portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri in June of 1805, his primary concern was expedience. Uppermost in his mind was the quickest and easiest route to portage the falls and return to their “highway”, the Missouri River. The seventeen miles ¾ plus 46 poles course was marked with ‘stakes and flags’ so it could be more easily followed later on. When completed he reported it as “a tolerably good road.” Of no concern to him was the fact that he was plotting a “road” that would not perish. He had no way to know that “Clark’s Road” would be marked and remarked and still be traveled 200 years later. How could he have known that he was surveying a national landmark?
“In 1878, in company with three others, we carried a pack along practically the identical route of their [Lewis and Clark’s] portage, the records of which we used as a guide. While during the two succeeding seasons we traversed the entire route from Black Eagle Falls to the Great Falls and Portage Coulee; stood often under the original cottonwood tree with its Black Eagle nest, used to name the first fall; and in 1879 and 1880 portaged several boats around the falls by a better road on opposite side of the river.” With these actions W.A. Hedges set in motion the Great Falls community’s love affair with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The above words, written in a 1927 letter, record the first known efforts to learn about the Expedition’s activities in the Great Falls area.
The next recorded “Lewis and Clark” activity was by artist Charles M Russell. Russell seemed to always have been interested in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. During his life Russell created some twenty pieces of art using the Expedition as his subject. Several pieces such as “Lewis and Clark Meeting the Indians at Ross’ Hole” and “York” dealt with specific events of the journey. Although his art reflected a broad setting, five pieces he did during the period of 1896 to 1906 dealt with the Expedition in the Great Falls area.
Russell grew up in St. Louis hearing stories about the Corps of Discovery’s great journey since his great grandfather, Silas Bent, witnessed first hand the Expedition’s triumphant return in 1806. Bent was in charge of the official surveys of the Louisiana Territory and worked closely with Governor Lewis. A few months before his death, Lewis nominated Bent to be the Presiding Judge of Louisiana Territory. In that capacity he also had many dealings with William Clark. The family stories made a lasting impression on the naturally curious young Russell. They were at least part of what lured him to the western frontier and the life of an artist in Great Falls.
In October of 1913 Russell and three companions floated about 40 miles of the Missouri River on a two week trip in what is known today as the Missouri Breaks. They took a copy of the journals with them and identified many of the sites the Captains described a century before.
The 1917 Montana Legislature passed legislation for memorials to be built in Great Falls and Three Forks that together would form a State Memorial to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. No money was appropriated by the Legislature so, in spite of a competition to design the memorial sponsored by the Sons of Montana Pioneers, no memorial was ever produced.
Wrangling among literally every town in the state ended with a final Legislative designation of Fort Benton as the location for the State Memorial in 1925. But once again no money was appropriated to finance the memorial so nothing was built. During these years many Great Falls residents apparently were bitten by the Lewis and Clark bug as they worked to get a memorial built in their city.
Clark’s Road was again marked in 1924 by several Boy Scout Troops. This time instead of “stakes and flags” five concrete markers with bronze plaques attached were used. Seventy Boy Scouts representing ten troops hiked over the same trail used by Lewis and Clark in 1805, starting at White Bear Island at 8 o’clock and reaching the Big Falls dam at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
When Captain Clark set out with a crew of five men to survey a portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri in June of 1805, his primary concern was expedience. Uppermost in his mind was the quickest and easiest route to portage the falls and return to their “highway”, the Missouri River. The seventeen miles ¾ plus 46 poles course was marked with ‘stakes and flags’ so it could be more easily followed later on. When completed he reported it as “a tolerably good road.” Of no concern to him was the fact that he was plotting a “road” that would not perish. He had no way to know that “Clark’s Road” would be marked and remarked and still be traveled 200 years later. How could he have known that he was surveying a national landmark?
“In 1878, in company with three others, we carried a pack along practically the identical route of their [Lewis and Clark’s] portage, the records of which we used as a guide. While during the two succeeding seasons we traversed the entire route from Black Eagle Falls to the Great Falls and Portage Coulee; stood often under the original cottonwood tree with its Black Eagle nest, used to name the first fall; and in 1879 and 1880 portaged several boats around the falls by a better road on opposite side of the river.” With these actions W.A. Hedges set in motion the Great Falls community’s love affair with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The above words, written in a 1927 letter, record the first known efforts to learn about the Expedition’s activities in the Great Falls area.
The next recorded “Lewis and Clark” activity was by artist Charles M Russell. Russell seemed to always have been interested in the Lewis and Clark Expedition. During his life Russell created some twenty pieces of art using the Expedition as his subject. Several pieces such as “Lewis and Clark Meeting the Indians at Ross’ Hole” and “York” dealt with specific events of the journey. Although his art reflected a broad setting, five pieces he did during the period of 1896 to 1906 dealt with the Expedition in the Great Falls area.
Russell grew up in St. Louis hearing stories about the Corps of Discovery’s great journey since his great grandfather, Silas Bent, witnessed first hand the Expedition’s triumphant return in 1806. Bent was in charge of the official surveys of the Louisiana Territory and worked closely with Governor Lewis. A few months before his death, Lewis nominated Bent to be the Presiding Judge of Louisiana Territory. In that capacity he also had many dealings with William Clark. The family stories made a lasting impression on the naturally curious young Russell. They were at least part of what lured him to the western frontier and the life of an artist in Great Falls.
In October of 1913 Russell and three companions floated about 40 miles of the Missouri River on a two week trip in what is known today as the Missouri Breaks. They took a copy of the journals with them and identified many of the sites the Captains described a century before.
The 1917 Montana Legislature passed legislation for memorials to be built in Great Falls and Three Forks that together would form a State Memorial to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. No money was appropriated by the Legislature so, in spite of a competition to design the memorial sponsored by the Sons of Montana Pioneers, no memorial was ever produced.
Wrangling among literally every town in the state ended with a final Legislative designation of Fort Benton as the location for the State Memorial in 1925. But once again no money was appropriated to finance the memorial so nothing was built. During these years many Great Falls residents apparently were bitten by the Lewis and Clark bug as they worked to get a memorial built in their city.
Clark’s Road was again marked in 1924 by several Boy Scout Troops. This time instead of “stakes and flags” five concrete markers with bronze plaques attached were used. Seventy Boy Scouts representing ten troops hiked over the same trail used by Lewis and Clark in 1805, starting at White Bear Island at 8 o’clock and reaching the Big Falls dam at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.