Montana’s plans for Lewis & Clark Bicentennial commemorations are well underway, with communities hosting dozens of events ranging from reenactments and historical encampments to picnics and whitewater float trips. Visitors will be pampered by small-town hospitality at local farmer's markets and parades as well as treated to more “cultured” events including theatre, literature and music.

A small sampling of what Montana towns and cities are doing to lure Lewis and Clark travelers:

Bitterroot River (Click for a larger image)

In Whitehall, the townspeople have commissioned a series of murals depicting the journey of Lewis and Clark through Montana.

Outside Townsend, the popular Deepdale fishing access area on the Missouri has been renamed the York’s Island fishing access site after the small islands in the river, which Clark named after his servant, York, the only black man on the expedition.

Montana’s premier planetarium, located at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, will present the western sky and give visitors a chance to try their hand at navigating by the stars, much like Lewis and Clark did on their journey.

In that same area, visitors to the Missouri River Headwaters State Park (just outside Three Forks) can hit the Lewis & Clark Walking Trail recently constructed there and imagine themselves explorers in terrain largely unchanged over the past 200 years.

Fort Peck will have a new historical interpretive center, and so will Pompeys Pillar near Billings. The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center in Great Falls will be expanding, as museums across the state are being updated to accommodate Corps of Discovery followers.

At the Voice of Nations, We Speak and Sing Encampment, held annually starting in 2004 on the banks of the Missouri River outside Helena, visitors can become acquainted with the traditions of some of the Montana Indian tribes that Lewis and Clark encountered on their journey.

Of course, Montana is also home to plenty of Lewis and Clark-themed events:

The Corps of Discovery II: 200 Years to the Future
This traveling U.S. interpretive park is possibly one of the most innovative and unique observances of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. Corps II will travel nearly the same route as Lewis and Clark traveled, visiting communities along the historical trail with mobile museum exhibits, interpretive activities, multi-media presentations and cultural demonstrations, all housed in a gigantic tent capable of seating 150 people.

Corps II was launched from Charlottesville, Virginia, in January 2003 and will make its way into Montana in 2005 and again in the summer of 2006. Most communities in the state that will be hosting the Corps II will have their own commemorations in conjunction with the traveling park.

Pompeys Pillar Interpretive Center
Plans are underway to substantially upgrade the interpretive center on the Yellowstone River near Pompeys Pillar, making it a first-class historical interpretive center. This is the site where Captain William Clark carved his name and the date—July 25, 1806—into the soft limestone butte. The historic site is located about 30 miles east of Billings on Interstate 94.

The expanded center will highlight the history of Pompeys Pillar, which Clark named after Sacagawea’s infant son, Jean Baptiste, whom he affectionately nicknamed Pompey.

The expanded interpretive center will include dozens of educational opportunities that focus on the Corps of Discovery and the Native Americans who called the area home before Lewis and Clark arrived. It will be the site of a national Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Signature Event— Clark on the Yellowstone—which will be held in July 2006.

Visitors should know that while the updated interpretive center is not yet complete, Pompeys Pillar is home to an annual festival called Clark Days, held at the end of July to celebrate Clark’s exploration of the Yellowstone River. Pompeys Pillar is one of Montana’s most popular tourist destinations.

Travelers' Rest Campground Project
Montana visitors intent on following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark will want to be sure and stop at Travelers' Rest, where the Corps of Discovery camped in their trek through the Bitterroot Mountains and over the Continental Divide. Lewis and Clark camped at Travelers' Rest on September 9-11, 1805, and again on June 30-July 3, 1806, on their return trip.

Located adjacent to the small town of Lolo, seven miles southwest of Missoula, Travelers' Rest has been a site of intense interest for archeologists, who confirmed that the area was one of 286 Montana campsites used by the Corps of Discovery. But before the expedition arrived, the location was a campsite frequently used by Indians. Visitors can take a walking tour of the 35-acre site and experience the area much in the same way members of the Corps did almost 200 years ago.

Improvements are underway to enlarge and enhance the Travelers' Rest Historical Landmark and provide year-round educational and interpretive opportunities.

The project is expected to be completed in 2004.