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Lewis and Clark 200  >>  Montana  >>  Fort Benton  >>  Community Interest  >>  Centers  >>  Upper Missouri Visitor Center

Upper Missouri Visitor Center Fort Benton, Montana Location:    Fort Benton Fort Benton, MT 59442 N/A This web page has had 3594 unique visitors. Upper Missouri Visitor Center Website Description: Fort Benton features the wide streets and brick buildings of a bygone age. A peek in the windows of the Grand Union Hotel (constructed in 1882) reveals the graceful style of living once enjoyed by travelers to the diminishing frontier. The 15th Street Bridge was constructed in 1888 and now serves as a walking path. "Explorers at the Marias" faces the river. This statue is Montana's official state memorial to Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea and includes the figure of her infant son, Jean Baptiste. The statue was created larger-than-life, over 20 feet tall, and with great attention to detail. The instruments held by the figures are based on the actual equipment used by Lewis and Clark. Famed Western sculptor Bob Scriver, born in Browning, Montana, researched the expedition for a year. The keelboat Mandan is a must-see. It is a faithful recreation of a keelboat that was constructed for the film, "The Big Sky." Museums and historical buildings line a walking route through the town. The original fort was a 250 - foot square built of adobe with a wooden front section. Old Fort Park contains its remaining traces, and a recreation of Old Fort Benton is under construction. The Museum of the Upper Missouri next to Old Fort Park is open mid-May to mid-September, 9 to 7. The town has been home to two famous animals, a dog and a bison. Shep, a sheepdog, saw his master's coffin loaded onto a train. For the next five years, he met every train that came to town. He was eventually run over by a train and buried on the hill overlooking the depot. His bronze statue now stands near the Grand Union Hotel. The Museum of the Upper Missouri houses the stuffed remains of Big Bull, originally a Smithsonian exhibit piece. The Big Bull was used by the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing as a model for paper money (including a ten-dollar note featuring Lewis and Clark), a postage stamp, and the Buffalo Nickel. The BLM's Upper Missouri Visitor Center features a slide show with readings from the expedition journals, Memorial Day through Labor Day, and is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Activities: Canoe Rentals, Float Trips, Guided Tours of the Wild and Scenic Sights by Pontoon Boat Museums, Picnic Grounds, Steamboat Rides, Walking Tour Directions and/or Additional Information: Follow MT 80 to Fort Benton. Historical marker stands off of US 87 northeast of Fort Benton