Today Mary is getting a cold. It's probably the same cold I've
already had for several days. Fortunately I'm starting to feel
better, so I can do the driving. I want to visit Great Falls
because it is the Great Falls of the Missouri River, where Lewis
and Clark took almost a month to portage 18 miles around five
waterfalls. We've been getting a lot of Lewis and Clark on our
trip, starting with the Expansion Memorial (arch) in St. Louis,
and continuing through the museums in Washington and elsewhere.
We heard about these Great Falls before and I wanted to see them.
In the city of Great Falls, we found the
Lewis & Clark National Interpretive Center,
yet another museum devoted to their trip. Mary braved it for most
of the day despite not feeling well, just because it is so well
done. The volunteers there were very helpful, and they drew us
maps to the actual falls, and also to the path L&C took over
the Bitterroot range.
The largest falls are about ten miles out of town, and I found them
a little disappointing. First of all, there is a dam, built either
in 1913 or 1930 ... I didn't quite understand. Also, they are
apparently much more impressive earlier in the Spring, with the
as the snow melts. But there is a nice island there in the middle
of the river downstream from the falls, and Mary took a few photos.
We drove up to Shelby, Montana, about 70 miles from the east
entrance to Glacier National Park.
