Montana15

From Great Falls, we drove to Fort Benton - the oldest, continuously inhabited settlement in Montana. Along the way, we stopped to overlook a bend in the beautiful Missouri River. The Missouri was the first trail west as Lewis and Clark used it as their route to the Rocky Mountains.

Upon reaching Fort Benton, we stopped in at this center to learn more about the natural and cultural history of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. The UMRBNM covers about 375,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered public land in central Montana. The 149-mile Upper Missouri National Wild and Scenic River flows through the monument and the land and the rugged, surrounding uplands are commonly called the Missouri Breaks. They are defined in part by their history. The entire region was the homeland and lifeblood of American Indians. The river served as the pathway for Lewis and Clark, then the waterway for steamboats and a drawing card for fur trappers and traders. Later, the river and the Missouri Breaks were sanctuaries for desperados trying to stay a step ahead of the law. The land was also a source of hope and inspiration for several generations of homesteaders. Unfortunately, the only way to really experience the Breaks is via a multi-day float trip on the river.

In August 1936, a casket containing a sheepherder's body was loaded on a baggage car headed East for burial. A dog, of Collie strain, watched with anxious eyes. He would be there to meet every train for the rest of his life. Conductor Ed Shields, by 1939, pieced the dog's story together linking the Shep with the body shipped that August day. With the real story known, Shep became famous. Many, many well-intentioned offers to adopt him were gently declined; friends knew Shep's sole aim was to keep his vigil. Shep died January 12, 1942, slipping on the tracks before an oncoming train. His passing was mourned by all who knew his story. He was laid to rest atop the bluff above the depot. His funeral was attended by hundreds. Reverend Ralph Underwood took as his theme Senator George Graham Vest's "Eulogy on the Dog", a tribute to a dog's faithfulness to his master which Shep so fully exemplified. If you'd like to read Vest's words, go to: http://www.fortbenton.com/shep/eulogy.html.

This heroic-sized statue, by renowned western artist Bob Scriver, depicts Lewis and Clark, along with Sacagawea and her infant son. The memorial commemorates the nine days the Corps of Discovery camped at the confluence of the Marias River and Missouri River while exploration determined which river was actually the Missouri and the way to the Pacific.

Fort Benton was founded in 1846 by the American Fur Company at the head of navigation on the Missouri River. It was the premier Blackfoot trading post in the Northwest. Fort Benton is known as the "Birthplace of Montana".

We usually think of "forts" as army posts but, as mentioned earlier, this fort was a fur trading station.

Fort Benton first gained fame as a trading post. The discovery of gold in the Montana and Idaho Territories brought countless fortune seekers, outlaws, merchants and madams to this riverside town. Whiskey followed gold, and infamous trails were forged into Canada, including the Whoop-up Trail into Alberta and the Fort Walsh Trail into Saskatchewan. As the terminus for the 642-mile long Mullan Wagon Road, Fort Benton became a crucial link between Missouri and Walla Walla, Washington along the Columbia River. Steamboats plied the Missouri River to Fort Benton for thirty years, until the railroad signaled an end to this town's prominence as the “World's Innermost Port”. This once feisty outpost played such a vital role in the expansion of the West, that it is now registered as a National Historic Landmark.