28 August 2006

I woke up this morning and went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls. It is right on the river and it was excellent. Lewis and Clark thought they would portage the five falls in a day. They were here for five and a half weeks. It makes me feel good about my own progress. Unfortunately it had a lot of information that I now know. It even had some quotes from the journals that I had read the night before. It had an excellent display on how to calculate longitude and latitude (see earlier post) and an excellent diorama depicting what it must have been like making the portage (see photo). They constructed wheels for the carts for the dugout canoes from cross sections of cottonwood trees. There is a bike trail that goes to the center and it continues on down the river so you can visit all the falls. They are now all dammed to generate electricity (more on dams and economics later).

My favorite quote from the entire exhibit follows:

“We were happy when he [the white man] first came. We first thought he came from the light; but he comes…not like the dawn of morning. He comes like a day that has passed, and night enters our future with him” Charlot, Selíš (Salish) Chief

After the interpretive center, I attempted to find an internet spot. The public libraries in a town of any size are filled with people without internet service trying to find jobs, etc. I feel a little guilty taking up a spot just to blog. I tried another place (The Worx) that advertised on a billboard but it does not open until 2:00 PM. I had picked up a brochure about Fort Benton and while I ate lunch, I noticed that it had the number for the public library. I phoned and learned that they were open until 8:00. Forty miles should only take about 4 hours so I hopped on the bike and headed out after a nice meatball sub at Montana Subs on 0th Street.

I headed up to the Charles Russell Museum on my way out of town. Russell came to Montana to become a cowboy in the 1880s and ended up becoming one but, more famously, the artist of the Western experience of the late 19th Century. He was famous for his watercolor paintings, bronzes and sketches of cowboys, Native Americans and situations connected to these two groups. After overdosing on Western art, I headed for Fort Benton. I got there at about 4:30 PM and set up camp at the Chouteau County Fairgrounds. Excellent bathrooms and showers. I am the only tent camper with two RVs. I then went to the library and blogged like mad. Very time consuming. I left my address with the librarian.