![]() A short way beyond the town of Twin Bridges it meets the Big Hole River. From this point north to the Three Forks, the explorers called the entire stream “Jefferson’s river.” Today, where the creek and river convene somewhere under the reservoir, the Beaverhead River is born and flows forth, switching in and out of narrow canyons and wide valleys before partnering with the Ruby River. ![]() In the Corps of Discovery’s time, Red Rock River and Horse Prairie Creek coupled in an area the captains christened “Shoshone Cove near their Camp Fortunate (now buried by the waters of Clark Canyon Reservoir). On August 12, 1805, Meriwether Lewis penned in his journals, In Southwest Montana, from the three forks to just beyond Craig, the river covers 120 miles. ![]() The Missouri’s Southwest Montana Journey Begins And on the way to the nation’s heartland, it collects Montana’s memories and history. By the time it gives up its flow to the Mississippi, it will have coursed 2,341 miles. Today, faint pictographs, the only physical evidence of the passing of indigenous cultures at the forks, are found in a small cave.įrom here this celebrated and powerful water way begins its journey towards the sunrise. Long before whites trespassed, the place was the natural crossroad, camping spot, hunting area, meeting place and battleground for native people, including the Hidatsa, Blackfeet, Shoshone, Crow, Nez Perce, Kootenai and Salish. Interpretive signs and displays where the rivers unite, document a dynamic past and the chronology of Montana. History is vivid at this site, now Missouri Headwaters State Park. ![]() As a route of western expansion, it had few equals. For Montana it was a lifeline and had the starring role in the creation of a state. When these powerful flows mix their waters the great Missouri River begins an odyssey. ![]()
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