Great Falls, Montana

We started this morning at the Great Falls.  Oh, my!  We have seen the destruction of the Missouri flood downriver last month, but the beauty of the river over the Great Falls is breathtaking!  We had an absolutely beautiful day as well.  I don't think the sky could possibly have been more blue this morning.

We are in front of Ryan Dam and the Great Falls.  From the journal of Lewis it appears he was standing in approximately the same place when he discovered the falls.

This picture shows just the falls without the dam.

I learned today that William Clark used a sextant and rod to measure the height of the falls and figured they were 97' 3/4".  The actual height is 96'.  He was only off by 1' 3/4" - pretty good!

When we left Great Falls we headed a little further north to Morony Dam, the furthest dam on this portion of the river.  We tried to find Sacajawea Springs but couldn't find the trail.  Apparently, moderate trails in Montana are a little different than ones in Indiana!

When we left Morony Dam we headed to Fort Benton.  There is about 250 miles of the Missouri that has changed little since the time of Lewis and Clark.  The views are so lovely and often you can look in every direction and not see any sign of man.  It is wide open territory.

This is a small portion of that section of the river.

Terry and I decided we wanted to avoid the interstate when all possible and get off the beaten track when getting from point A to point B.  Today was a great example.  We went the back way when heading to Fort Benton.  Surprisingly enough, this road was actually on both of our GPS units!

It was really just a path between farm fields on either side but our GPS  knew it was there!

Each year in my classroom I have my kids do two different problem solving activities about decisions Lewis and Clark had to make along their journey.  One of the activities is when they come to where the Marias and Missouri Rivers come together.  Lewis and Clark had to figure out which way was really the Missouri.  The Native Americans had given them information as to which way was correct but they spent 10 days exploring to be able to make the correct decision.  Next year when I do this activity with my students I will have a picture of the exact spot to add to the information.

This is where the Marias and MIssouri Rivers meet.

Tomorrow we leave Great Falls and head toward Bozeman, Montana.  Missouri River Headwaters State Park will be the focus of tomorrow's activities.