Lewis & Clark Revisited

Yes, this is Lewis and Clark country. In 1804, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and the Corps of Discovery set out from St. Louis to explore the Missouri River and find a water connection to the Pacific Ocean. Little did they know that the drainages from the massive Rocky Mountains formed the headwaters of the Missouri in Montana, some 1,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

On our way back to Bozeman from Anaconda, we stopped at the Missouri Headwaters State Park in Three Forks, some 20 miles west of Bozeman. It was here that Lewis & Clark found the confluence of 3 rivers that formed the headwaters of the Missouri River. They named the rivers the Jefferson, the Madison, and the Gallatin for Thomas Jefferson who commissioned their journey, James Madison who was Secretary of State and Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury.

Big Sky, where we spend our summers, is on the Gallatin River. So, I guess that means I could put a bottle in the River here and someone in New Orleans might find it a few years from now!

We enjoyed our picnic lunch with Bobby and Elaine on the banks of the Missouri. As we were looking up at one of the cliffs over the river, we caught sight of a golden eagle on one of the points. An osprey decided that the eagle had encroached on his territory and started diving and swooping on the eagle. The eagle finally decided to give up the point, and the osprey continued to pursue him for as far as we could see. An amazing sight!