TuzigootJournal: Fort Benton

Fort Benton, about 40 miles NE of Great Falls, is called the Birthplace of Montana. This was the terminus for steamboats that came up the Missouri from St. Louis -- a shallow rock ledge prevented further travel upstream. Its heyday as the "world's innermost port" lasted for 30 years until the coming of the railroads. Here's a signboard with historic pictures.

Now, Fort Benton is a charming little riverfront town. Their Summer Celebration is regarded as one of Montana's best festivals, the paper said, so that made it irresistible to us -- better than that educational stuff going on at the Lewis and Clark Center.

Fort Benton's got Old West storefronts, a nicely preserved hotel, and some of the best-located park benches I've ever seen. All that plus Boy Scout barbecue beef - piled higher than you usually see - and fresh donuts, arts and crafts. We had a fine time.

That hat lady seems to be every place I go.

The old bridge across the river, foresightedly preserved, now has a couple of picnic tables and park benches. I think I could spend some quality hours out there.

Just after we saw this sign saying we were on what once was the "bloodiest block in the West" we heard loud, angry voices. Road rage -- two drivers frankly pointing out each other's mistakes. Good thing they weren't packing iron. That came later, with blanks.

There's trouble brewin', but this is the first time I've seen a shootout that included a motorized skunk. Wait, I think that's what one driver called the other.

The riverfront park also features a very nice Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea (that's how they spell her name in Montana), and child statue.

The scene depicted is called Decision Point. The Corps came to the junction of two rivers of similar size. Which branch to take? (This was before Yogi Berra came along and said that when you come to a fork in the road, take it.) The Mandan Indians in ND had told them about the junction with the Yellowstone River and they had told them about waterfalls on the upper Missouri, but this junction had not been discussed (or was lost in translation). They explored both rivers a ways, but that was not decisive. L&C picked the left fork and that turned out to be right - er, correct. Soon after they advanced that direction the scouting party out in front thought they saw smoke, but when they investigated they found it was mist from the Falls.

The right hand river at Decision Point was named the Marias River after Lewis's lady friend, Maria. (Another Montana River was named the Judith by Clark.) We crossed that river and it's now Marias Creek. There are upstream dams and lakes and farming that have greatly limited its flow. Also, they say the Missouri, with multiple upstream dams, is now only flowing at about 1/3 the level that L&C saw.

One last Fort Benton scene: the stately county courthouse.

One of the nicest part of our trip to Fort Benton was the road we took -- the road less traveled. The main highway to Fort Benton from GF is the road we came into town on -- lots of construction and loose gravel. On the map we saw a state highway that worked its way to FB south of the river. This was really a beautiful drive: rolling hills and scenic valleys, bright green prairie and wheat fields, big blue sky. Here's a collection of wheat elevators along the way.

This country is known as the Missouri Breaks. It's very similar to the Dakota hills along the Missouri in those states. Here's an aerial website picture.