July 23, 2010 - Fort Benton to Great
Falls |
| I checked into the Fort Motel, then got
back into the courtesy car to drive around town and find a place to
eat. I found the Interpretive Center which was still open and
checked it out. I enjoyed a short movie on the town's history and
then toured the little museum. Of course, Lewis and Clark came
through here. But the town had quite a bit of history following
that. The thing I found most interesting thing about Fort Benton was
that it was the final stop for steamboats running the Missouri all the way
from St. Louis. |
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Some of the fish that live in the Missouri: River
including the Pallid
sturgeon. |
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| Only special-purpose steamboats could
make it all the way to Fort Benton. At its peak, 50
steamboats a season pulled in. |
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After three days of flying above the Missouri, I finally
get to stick my hand in the river. The view looking north.
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| And looking south. |
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| A famous sculpture of Meriwether Lewis,
William Clark and Sacagawea. |
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A full-scale replica of a Keelboat.
"Keelboats antedated steamboats and used every kind of power - chiefly
man - except steam. Propelling them was no idle pasttime. The
usual method was to set long ash poles on the river bottom, toe the
cleated walk, and push hard, bow to stern. Crews also stumbled along
the bank at the end of a cable. Favoring breezes thankfully
indicated a sail." |
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The Fort Motel where I stayed: $48 including
tax. |
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| A convenience store across the
street. This convenience store was different though. I'd say
it was really two-thirds hardware store. It even had an aviation
aisle where I could buy some Grade 8 bolts! |
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Taking off from Fort Benton Thursday morning.
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| The town of Fort Benton.
Population 1,600 (2000 census). It's the first town I can remember
seeing that does not have a single fast-food restaurant. I liked the
town. |
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| Heading the south, still following the
Missouri. |
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Can you believe this is a junkyard? Kind of an odd
place for a junkyard amongst such beautiful scenary. |
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| The first rapids I've seen during the
entire trip. |
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The Great Falls. Apparently they were quite
impressive back in the day, when they were a series of five waterfalls
that the Lewis and Clark expedition had to portage around over a ten mile
stretch, requiring 31 days of arduous labor. |
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| South of the falls is the city of Great
Falls. I had to get a transition through Great Falls International
Airport Class C airspace to follow the river. |
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One thing that surprised me about flying the Missouri River was the
big, white Pelicans that I saw. Even more surprising was seeing them
around Great Falls thermalling in a fairly tight formation. I've
seen hawks thermal together but not close like this. And Pelicans in
Montana? Who would have thought?
South of the town the river really wound back and forth. And in
the near distance, the mountains awaited .... |
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