A Great Day in Great Falls


Thursday, July 25, 2019

A day spent in Great Falls Montana to most people probably seems a little bit strange.  We were unsure ourselves.  It turned out to be a ‘great day in Great Falls’.

We spent almost 4 hours at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Centre.  Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were sent on an expedition by President Thomas Jefferson to find a route to the Pacific.  They set out from St. Louis in 1804 and arrived on the Oregon Coast in 1805.  They returned east in 1806.  They were the first to chart the river systems east of the Missouri River and first to figure out that there was no water route to the Pacific. They spent over a month in the Great Falls area trying to get their dug-out canoes and all their supplies past the 5 sets of rapids/falls that they encountered on the Missouri River.  It must have been a quite a feat to drag them the 18 miles overland…it became known as the ‘Great Portage’.  The Interpretive Centre brings their struggles to life as they traveled 8000 miles to the coast and then back again.

One of goals for this trip was to find some small town that had a minor league baseball team and take in a game.  Great Falls gave us that opportunity.  We saw the Great Falls Voyageurs play against the Idaho Falls Checkers.  They play in the short season ‘Rookie League’.  These are young men just starting into their professional careers.  Great Falls is affiliated with the Boston Red Sox and Idaho is affiliated with the Kansas City Royals.  It was ‘Ladies Night’ so Sue got in for free.  We had to pay a ’whopping’ $12.00 to see a double header…a nice cheap date!  It was a great way to spend a nice warm evening in Central Montana…much more enjoyable than sitting listening to the ‘live’ country/gospel music in the KOA campground like we did last evening.

Distance Traveled = 43 km.  Wildlife Sightings = Black-capped Chickadee, Mourning Dove, Osprey, Robin, White Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Magpie.


Lewis and Clark Statues overlooking the river


Missouri River flowing out of Great Falls


What is left of the Great Falls... amazing what a dam can do


View from our $12 seats

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