The following is a description of the events that occurred during Meriwether Lewis' investigation of the Marias River and Cut Bank Creek area.

Camp Disappointment:

This is the northernmost camp established by the expedition.  On July 17, 1806, Lewis and three members of the expedition (George Drewyer, Joseph Fields, and Reuben Fields) split from the main group to look for a water passage to the Pacific.  They started out following the Missouri River for about one day, and camped just above the Great Falls.  July 18th, the 4 men continued on horseback.  They crossed the Teton River and followed the Marias River to the point where the Two Medicine River and the Cut Bank Creek come together to form the Marias.

Lewis followed the Cut Bank Creek for two days (click for additional information) and finally reached a point on a bluff where he could see the river headed west toward the mountains.  He wrote, "I thought it unnecessary to proceed further and therefore encamped resolving to rest ourselves and horses a couple of days at this place and take the necessary observations."

The party spent 4 days camped in a large clump of cotton wood trees in a spacious and beautiful bottom under cold and rainy conditions.  These conditions prevented Lewis from obtaining any astronomical observations (to determine longitude of the site).  July 25, 1806 Lewis was still not able to get the readings he wanted so the men broke camp determined to return to the Missouri.

(Quotes from Lewis and Clarks journals were found by Author Ella Mae Howard)

Meriwether Lewis Fight Site:

On July 26, 1806, Capt. Meriwether Lewis with George Drewyer (Drouillard), Joseph Fields and Reuben Fields camped with a party of eight Blackfeet Indians.  At first the meeting was cordial, but the encounter turned hostile when Lewis disclosed to the Blackfeet that the United States government had plans to supply all the Plains Indians with firearms for hunting.  This was not good news for the Blackfeet, who until that point had been controlling firearms through their trade relations with the Hudson Bay Company.  The Blackfeet decided to make off with the party's horses, leaving them on foot.  At this point the only armed encounter with Indians during the entire expedition occurred here, with two of the Blackfeet being killed in a fight over horses and guns.

That encounter was historically significant for several reasons.

• It was the first meeting of official representatives of the United States and the Blackfeet Indians.
• It was the first armed conflict between official representatives of the United States and the Plains Indians.
• It was the only armed conflict between members of the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Plains Indians.
• It marked the beginning of hostilities between members of the powerful tribe of Indians and the United States.

The actual site wasn't discovered until 1964 by two Cut Bank Boy Scout leaders (Ben Epstein and Robert H. Anderson), who used the directions and descriptions contained in Lewis's journal.  The "three solitary trees" described by Lewis in his journal still stand and the site has been marked and fenced by the local Boy Scout District.

Information provided by the Cut Bank Pioneer Press.

For more information on The Lewis and Clark Trail visit these websites:

top