Interstate 15 is the latest in a series of roads that have traversed this area since prehistory. Although used for generations by Native Americans, the first recorded use of this route was by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on August 10, 1805. They . . . — — Map (db m261401) HM
Few points along the route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition have the significance of this site, now beneath the waters of Clark Canyon Reservoir. Noted on their maps as "Fortunate Camp", the Lewis and Clark Expedition journeyed here hoping to . . . — — Map (db m124302) HM
The Big Island
Camp Fortunate was located near the base of the prominent island in Clark Canyon Reservoir. The singular mountain in the open plain that Meriwether Lewis described is a limestone rock outcrop that separated the . . . — — Map (db m256062) HM
Following an Indian road on the east side of the Beaverhead River, Captain Meriwether Lewis, along with three men, arrived here on August 10, 1805 and stopped long enough to lunch on freshly killed deer. Several days earlier, Lewis struck out . . . — — Map (db m256061) HM
On the day he reached the "two forks" Lewis wrote in his journal, "I do not believe that the world can furnish an example of a river running to the extent which the Missouri and Jefferson's rivers do through such a mountainous country . . . — — Map (db m261413) HM
Sidney Edgerton arrived at Bannack from Ohio in September 1863 to begin his appointment as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Idaho Territory. The massive territory encompassed Idaho, all of Montana, and the western half of Wyoming, with the . . . — — Map (db m124263) HM
Lewis and Clark Trail 1806
First important gold camp 1862
Scene of vigilante activities 1863
First capital Territory of Montana 1864-1865
First county seat of Beaverhead County 1864-1881
In grateful memory of the early pioneers who . . . — — Map (db m49535) HM
Montana's first gold rush began near here at Grasshopper Creek in the summer of 1862. Prospectors John White and company camped along the insect infested banks as they looked for a shortcut to the Deer Lodge valley. They panned the gravel - as was . . . — — Map (db m124290) HM
Lewis and Clark Trail 1806. First Important Gold Camp 1862. Scene of Vigilante Activities 1863. First Capital Territory of Montana 1864-1865. First County Seat of Beaverhead County 1864-1881. In grateful memory of the early pioneers who founded our . . . — — Map (db m145711) HM
Bannack epitomizes the tough, primitive towns that sprang up with gold discoveries. Its story also illustrates a century of survival, through boom and bust periods associated with resource extraction and technological advances. On July 28, 1862, . . . — — Map (db m124262) HM
The waters of the Beaverhead River opened this southern gateway to Montana through which have passed:
Ancient Indian Trail
Lewis and Clark Expedition 1805-1806
First Missionary, Father DeSmet 1840
Great Beaverhead Wagon Toll Road . . . — — Map (db m145713) HM
This Plaque and Chimes Installed to the Glory of God in Memory of Beaverhead County Boys Who Gave Their Lives in World War II
Raymond Arrigoni • James Barlow • William Bender • Phil Burke • Thomas Butler • Frank Buyan • LaRue Cantrell . . . — — Map (db m180755) WM
The prominent geological feature to the west is called Beaverhead Rock. On the afternoon of August 8, 1805, members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition pulled its canoes up the Beaverhead River toward the Continental Divide. They sighted what Clark . . . — — Map (db m193249) HM
By the time the Corps of Discovery passed through here, the "Valley of the Beaverhead" was already common ground for many Indian tribes. The Beaver's Head was a well-known landmark not only to the Shoshone but other Rocky Mountain tribes who passed . . . — — Map (db m193247) HM
The End of Navigation
The Corps of Discovery's travel on the Missouri River came to an end here in mid-August of 1805. Lewis and Clark followed Thomas Jefferson's order to ascend the Missouri drainage as far as possible by boat and ran . . . — — Map (db m256263) HM
The City Hall building was built in 1914. The ground where the building sits was purchased from David Robb for $4,450. It was designed by renowned architect Fred R. Willson and built by contractor William Reed. Construction began in April 1914 and . . . — — Map (db m180694) HM
This monument design is taken from the small pocket compass carried by William Clark on the expedition. Clark’s compass was made by Thomas Whitney in Philadelphia.
Fortunate Chapter of the National Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage . . . — — Map (db m128185) HM
The four buildings that make up this small historic district show the growth of Dillon’s city government. Buildings include ones constructed in the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and the 1960s, when the city built a shelter for one of its water . . . — — Map (db m180751) HM
Built in 1902, this building was the second location of the Dillon Implement Company, a company that was founded in August of 1886. The first location was north of the Union Pacific Depot on Montana St. The second building was constructed from stone . . . — — Map (db m180752) HM
This tablet marks the site of the first public school building which was also used for the first court house-theatre and library in Dillon
Dedicated to the pioneers of the valley on the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Dillon.
Placed by . . . — — Map (db m145700) HM
Your observations are to be taken with great pains & accuracy, to be entered distinctly & intelligibly for others as well as yourself, to comprehend all the elements necessary —President Thomas Jefferson
On August 13, 1805 William . . . — — Map (db m128184) HM
The point where the Beaverhead River entered the Blacktail Fault is marked by a dramatic change in the landscape. This fault uplifts the Blacktail Mountains over 9,000 feet. All of this topography (?) over the last six million years and the fault . . . — — Map (db m255994) HM
This site was the pivotal point in the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The party camped here in August 1805. They cached their boats and aided by the influence of Sacajawea obtained horses from her people the Shoshone Indians
The Great . . . — — Map (db m124304) HM
In midsummer, 1862, John White and party discovered gold on this creek several miles down stream. The first major gold rush to what is now Montana resulted. — — Map (db m124264) HM
The Andrus Hotel was built to be a first-class establishment to serve the City of Dillon and to accommodate train travelers in the ares. Jesse M. Warren, a well known Butte Architect, designed the building for construction. Dar Hardware of Dillon . . . — — Map (db m209430) HM
The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed this way going west August, 1805 and returning July, 1806.
‘Though the Pathfinder may die, the paths remain open.’
Beaverhead Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. June 14, 1928 — — Map (db m145710) HM
Instruments for ascertaining, by celestial observations, the geography of the country through which you will pass, have been already provided. —President Thomas Jefferson
The data collected by Lewis and Clark is a striking indicator . . . — — Map (db m128183) HM
The Martin Barrett House, built in 1912, was the in-town retirement home of prominent pioneer rancher, politician and philanthropist Martin Barrett and his wife Alice. One of the finest examples of early-twentieth-century architecture in Dillon, the . . . — — Map (db m209432) HM
It was acquire many years ago in the mountains southwest of Dillon, MT. The tree could be as much as 500 years old. The Sheepeaters placed a mountain sheep skull in the crotch of a tree, and over a hundred years or more the tree grew around it. . . . — — Map (db m180689) HM
The Nez Perce camped near here on Horse Prairie Creek, Aug. 12 1877 following the Battle of the Big Hole Aug. 9-10. General Howard was summoned when beating drums arroused [sic] the citizens of Bannack. Women and children were quartered in the Meade . . . — — Map (db m49537) HM
Interstate 15 is the latest in a series of roads that have traversed this area since prehistory. Although used for generations by Native Americans, the first recorded use of this route was by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on August 10, 1805. They . . . — — Map (db m124291) HM
Route of the Red Rock Stage that ran from Red Rock MT. to Salmon ID from 1866 to 1910, a 125 mi. daily trip, year round. The "Mud Coach" was pulled by 6 horses The ranch house to your right was the original stage stop. — — Map (db m256267) HM
”…you will take careful observations of …objects distinguished by such natural marks & characters of a durable kind…”
—President Thomas Jefferson
There is a remarkable view from the crest of Clark's Lookout and it is . . . — — Map (db m128182) HM
Looking for Clark
As the sun rose over their camp on the morning of the 17th of August 1805, Captain Meriwether Lewis dispatched his interpreter George Drouillard downstream to search for Captain William Clark and the rest of the . . . — — Map (db m255992) HM
In Commemoration of
Sacajawea
who guided Lewis and Clark through this
the land of her childhood and capture
On August 17th, 1805 she rejoined her tribe near this site. The services she rendered the expedition were invaluable. . . . — — Map (db m124293) HM
In 1804-06, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led about 40 soldiers and boatmen on an epic journey. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned this “Corps of Discovery” to find a route to the Pacific Ocean through the newly acquired Louisiana . . . — — Map (db m124305) HM
At the beginning of the 1800s, the science of Geology still was in its infancy; in fact the word geology in its currently accepted meaning was not used until 1778. Before the mid=1700s, the study of the origins of the earth and its rocks, . . . — — Map (db m256272) HM
William Clark was central to the success of the Corps of Discovery expedition not only during the two years spent crossing the continent but also because he produced maps of the west long after his return.
His three maps of the Western United . . . — — Map (db m128181) HM
"the road took us to the most distant fountain of the waters of the mighty Missouri in surch (sic) of which we have spent so many toilsome days and wristless (sic) nights." - Meriwether Lewis, August 12, 1805
What's in a name? . . . — — Map (db m109502) HM
"two miles below McNeal had exultingly stood with a foot of each side of this little rivulet and thanked his god that he had lived to bestride the mighty & heretofore deemed endless Missouri." - Meriwether Lewis, August 12, 1805
Hugh . . . — — Map (db m109500) HM
In 1806, Captain William Clark and his crew traveled through here on horseback moving quickly on their return trip to St. Louis. Arriving at present day Jackson Hot Springs in the afternoon of July 7th, they stopped to experiment with cooking in . . . — — Map (db m124223) HM
On their return journey, the Corps of Discovery divided into two groups at Traveler's Rest, near present day Lolo, Montana. Captain William Clark and his party traveled through today's Big Hole Valley on their way to Camp Fortunate to recover their . . . — — Map (db m124260) HM
For generations the Hamilton Ranch was widely-known as the Carroll Ranch - and it served as a vital link between the Big Hole and Beaverhead valleys. Its location at the base of this mountain pass made the ranch a perfect stopping point for . . . — — Map (db m124225) HM
Meriwether Lewis is hardly the only person ever to have found himself evaluating the meaning and purpose of his own life. But the words he wrote on the evening of August 18, 1805 - when camped about 35 miles southeast of where you stand now - have . . . — — Map (db m124227) HM
Ranching, anchored in the natural productivity of rangelands, is one of the main reasons so much or the landscape surrounding you still looks as it did centuries ago. The climate here is too harsh for farming, but native rangeland vegetation is . . . — — Map (db m124228) HM
Undaunted Stewardship® is a statewide partnership involving 19 agricultural and conservation groups in Montana, managed and directed by Montana State University, the Montana Stockgrowers Association and the federal Bureau of Land Management. The . . . — — Map (db m124243) HM
On a clear day, the sweeping views from here take in more than 400 square miles. Most of these lands look much as they have for centuries. Human travel routes haven't changed much either. Highway 278 mirrors very closely that Captain Clark and his . . . — — Map (db m124222) HM
The Department of Transportation launched an ambitious program in 1936 to promote the state's scenic, recreational, and historical treasures. The brainchild of department engineer Bob Fletcher, the program included roadside historical markers, . . . — — Map (db m124334) HM
This area once echoed with the sound of creaking wagon wheels, cracking whips, and profanity so intense the mountains vibrated with sulfur! The old wagon road between Montana and Utah passed very close to this rest area. It first saw use in the . . . — — Map (db m124336) HM
About four million years ago, this part of the North American Plate slid over a gigantic source of heat in the mantle known as the Yellowstone hot spot. In Yellowstone National Park, this heat is responsible for the geysers, mud pots, and hot . . . — — Map (db m124335) HM
(Two panels are on this interpretive stand:)
July 8, 1806
The Way It Used To Be... Way Back
Just over two hundred years ago...
We proceeded down Willards Creek on the S.W. Side about 11 miles...The Country . . . — — Map (db m124268) HM
Glance out several hundreds feet across the meadow in front of you and you'll find an enclosed hot springs, bubbling with hot water and spewing out steam. On July 7, 1806, this "boiling hot spring" provided a late afternoon dinner stop for Captain . . . — — Map (db m256077) HM
Pursued by the U.S. Army since June 1877, approximately 800 Nez Perce (nimi•pu•) men, women, and children traveled over the Bitterroot Mountains and camped here in the Big Hole Valley. Thinking there was no immediate pursuit by the Army, this . . . — — Map (db m123743) HM
From this vantage point you can visualize the general progress of the Battle of the Big Hole, but at a distance from the fear and chaos of its hand-to-hand combat. The landscape has changed little since the morning of August 9, 1877. This lush . . . — — Map (db m123741) HM
(Inscriptions are found on three sides of this monument.)
On This Field
17 officers and 133 enlisted men of
the 7th U.S. Infantry
under its Colonel
Bvt. Major General John Gibbon with 8 other
soldiers and 36 citizens . . . — — Map (db m123812) WM
Across the valley is the Continental Divide and the beautiful Bitterroot Mountains. The famous Big Hole River winds through the valley that is noted for abundant hay, fine cattle and horses, great hunting and fishing, beautiful scenery and friendly . . . — — Map (db m124221) HM
To the
everlasting
Memory of the
Brave Warriors of
Chief Joseph's Band
who fought on
these grounds
in the
Nez Perce War
of 1877
In Memory of
the Indians, Infants,
Children, Women
and Old Men
who . . . — — Map (db m123755) HM
(Three panels make up this informational marker:)
Natural Travel Corridor
Clark's 1806 Route
Captain Clark and his party found great quantities of camas just beginning to bloom when they passed here on Sunday July 6, 1806. . . . — — Map (db m123738) HM
In front of you on the morning of August 9, 1877, you would have seen soldiers and Montana volunteers pass by as they began to deploy for the coming attack on the Nez Perce encampment just through the trees.
Following the army's surprise attack, . . . — — Map (db m123745) HM
