Museums and Decision Point

Sunday, June 7, 2015
Early today we found ourselves climbing this hill

to Decision Point.

Lewis and Clark had learned a good deal about what to expect in their travels from the Mandan Indians after spending the winter with them but there was one point while traveling the Missouri River when they couldn't figure out which river to follow.  This was the view they had

They knew that they should be approaching some falls that would require them to portage so on June 4, 1804 Clark followed one of these rivers and Lewis the other promising to return to this point in two days and make the decision based on what they found ahead.   Unfortunately Lewis decided travel a couple of extra days which had the men worried but he did return and they decided to go off to the right feeling that was the Missouri River even though at this point it wasn't as muddy or filled with as much floating wood as the river to the left.  Luckily they chose the right one but this could have been the make or break point of their travels if they had taken the left fork - the Marias River.

Our guide Don Peterson shared some of their journals with us describing those few difficult days and the steps they took to make this major decision.  He has spent his life delving into all aspects of the expedition and is just a wealth of information.  He has even written some materials about the expedition. We truly feel lucky as a group to have him leading us during our three days in Great Falls, Montana.

Since we are in the area, he has also wanted to share some of the history of the area as well so today we spent a good deal of time at a variety of different museums all in the small town of Fort Benton - a town that considers itself the birth place of Montana because of the significant trading post it had on the Missouri.

Our travels took us to that fort 

and in to the buildings to learn about life in the fort, life in those early days, and visit the trading post.

Out in front was this buffalo press for compressing the skins for shipping 

including this sign explaining how it worked

A short walk along the river took us to this statue of Lewis and Clark with Sacagawea looking up the river.

In the same area was the

with yet more displays showing life in the area in the early years.

We had lunch prior to this in a small cafe in town and by the time we'd finished all of this everyone was ready for a treat at the local ice cream place.

We had already toured another museum - the Montana Agricultural Center and Museum of the Great Plains near the cafe that at first  appeared to be small with its claim to fame at the entry - buffalo given to them by the Smithsonian Museum.

But once we started to walk around we discovered room after room after room of items covering life in the area once farming was established  along with its small town.  In fact the town was there for our viewing as well

including a typical home

all three rooms worth

This was the little church

with the little bench in the entrance way referred to as the Sunday School bench. It must have been a mighty small class

Our final stop was at the 

with its lovely view of the Missouri and the high cliffs at this point

Here displays and a film told the story of the ice age and its affect on the creation of the land and water.  Inside the displays had to do with the wildlife of the area including plants, animals and fish.

We are continuing to have gorgeous warm weather with the temperatures rising into the mid 80s during the day and then cool nights (50s) with lots of beautiful blue skies and puffy white clouds. Tomorrow we are looking forward to actually taking a ride on the Missouri River.