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Touring Great Falls

By: Falcon Guides

If you have only a short time in Great Falls, spend it at the new Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center on the Missouri River near Black Eagle Falls. Opened in 1998, this $6-million facility (with 5,500 square feet of exhibits) offers visitors one of the nation’s most compelling and comprehensive looks at the expedition and its legacy.

The center’s entrance resembles a coulee cutting into the hillside, similar to those the Corps of Discovery encountered on the Great Falls portage. Inside, the portage itself is recreated in a life-size diorama that shows the men struggling against the land and elements. (“The Explorers at Giant Springs 1805,” Bob Scriver’s last major sculpture before his death in 1999, sits near the base of the portage diorama.) Other exhibits upstairs set the stage for the trip by detailing Jefferson’s instructions to the corps and Lewis’s preparations for the trip, and by showing the status of the United States in 1803. Before going downstairs, take time to view the 30-minute film created especially for the center by noted documentary filmmakers Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan—essentially an abridged version of their acclaimed PBS documentary on the Corps of Discovery. The film briefly outlines the explorers’ outgoing and return journeys; the array of native peoples the expedition met along the way; and the changing landscapes they saw from Camp Wood to the Pacific Ocean.

Once the film ends, exit to the downstairs level. Here, a “Journey Through a Crowded Wilderness” unfolds from two perspectives: the expedition’s on your left and the Native Americans’ on the right. Visitors learn how relations between the explorers and the natives ranged from warm to wary. Here, more than anywhere else along the trail, native contributions to the expedition are given their due, and the captains are gently taken to task for not fully appreciating the tribes they encountered. “Lewis and Clark’s journals tell us much about these peoples, but the captains’ interpretation was sometimes prejudiced by their own culture,” one exhibit reads. “They often described only external features and events, neglecting the spiritual or cultural significance of what they saw.”

There are plenty of hands-on and interactive exhibits along the way. Try lashing willow onto a boat; test your strength by “pulling” a canoe against a current; decide which way to go at the Marias-Missouri confluence; or try to figure out the modern names of some prairie creatures described by Lewis and Clark. Thought-provoking questions abound: When the corps saw no Indians for four months after leaving the Mandan villages, were the natives deliberately avoiding them? (The explorers did see plenty of evidence of tribal activity, including prayer cloth offerings and smoke from distant fires.) The final exhibits examine the expedition’s outcome and display some notable reproduction artifacts, including a gorgeous recreation of a buffalo robe brought back from the Mandan villages. (The original is on view at Harvard University’s Peabody Museum.)

Downstairs in the Jefferson Commons and outdoors near the river’s edge, costumed interpreters give regular talks on such topics as bears, moccasin making, and tepee raising. The interpretive trail leading from the center to the river is delightful, with songbirds darting amid the lush riverside greenery. Other center features include an art gallery, a research library, and the headquarters of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation. The Portage Cache gift shop sells books, toys, gifts, and postcards.

To get to the center, follow River Drive, which runs north and east of central Great Falls. Summer hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day. The rest of September, hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. October through late May, the center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for students and seniors 62 and over; and $2 for children ages 6 through 17. For more information, call (406) 727-8733.

If possible, time your Great Falls visit with the town’s annual Lewis and Clark Festival, held late each June about the same time the explorers arrived. It’s one of the best trail-related festivals, with activities including a living-history encampment, noted speakers, float trips, and even a day camp for children. Registration is necessary for many events; contact the interpretive center for exact dates or more information.

Near the interpretive center, Giant Springs/Heritage State Park is also worth a stop. Clark discovered the spring on June 18, 1805, and Lewis later said it was the largest he’d ever seen, perhaps the largest in America. Indeed, Giant Springs lives up to its name with a flow of nearly 8,000,000 gallons per hour. The water comes from the Madison limestone formations lying beneath most of eastern and central Montana. Rainfall and melted snow soak into the limestone to the Great Falls area, where it flows upward about 700 feet through fractures before being pushed out at Giant Springs. This 38-mile trip takes hundreds of years, but the water gains momentum as it travels until it is pumped out at Giant Springs with a force of about 134,000 gallons per minute. The spring also forms the Roe River, the shortest in the world at just over 200 feet.

The springs are rich in calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate, and sulfate. These minerals are all excellent for nurturing trout, and a hatchery is located at the site. Visitors may buy fish food to feed the hatchlings—a great source of cheap entertainment! A playground, picnic tables, and big shade trees make this a very pleasant place to visit. Giant Springs/Heritage State Park is open from dawn to dusk, with the fish hatchery open daily from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call (406) 454-5840.

As the interpretive center shows, Great Falls had long been a key spot in Indian travels through the region. Because the confluence of the Missouri and Medicine (now Sun) rivers boasted the best fording spot for 40 miles in any direction, Indians frequently followed the Medicine River to its mouth here before crossing the Missouri and heading for elk and buffalo hunting grounds on the Plains. Today, this junction is overseen from Broadwater Overlook Park, off 10th Avenue South. The park’s centerpiece is a heroic-sized bronze statue of Lewis and Clark sculpted by Bob Scriver to commemorate the Montana state centennial in 1989. In addition to the captains, it shows York and Lewis’s dog, Seaman.

Lewis is pointing—but at what? After finding the remaining falls on June 14, Lewis discovered the Medicine River, which Indians at Fort Mandan had told him to expect. Elated, Lewis decided to kill a buffalo and make camp at the site. He picked his target, shot the beast, and stood watching it die, all the while neglecting to reload his rifle. Suddenly, he saw a grizzly bear walking toward him. Lewis headed off toward a tree where he intended to make camp, but the bear followed him. So Lewis switched directions, heading instead for the river, running in until he was waist-deep in water. He planted his feet, grasped his trusty espontoon, and held it menacingly toward the bear—an action that apparently startled the griz. Luckily for Lewis, the bear spun around and ran out of the river, out of sight. This same incident is depicted on a mural titled “The One That Got Away,” painted by John Carlon on the side of the Army-Navy Store at Central Avenue and 8th Street North near downtown Great Falls.
Traveling The Lewis And Clark Trail