We checked out of our Billings hotel and were on the road by 9:15 am. We took I-90 west through Bozeman and got off at Three Forks, MT. Just north of Three Forks is the Missouri Headwaters State Park. This is where the Jefferson River and the Madison River join to create the Missouri River. Just a mile downstream, the Gallatin River joins them. The Gallatin River named in July 1805 by Meriwether Lewis for Albert Gallatin, the U.S. Treasury Secretary from 1801–14. Probably, Lewis owed Albert some money.
These were all three beautiful mountain streams with significant flow. There really was not much to the State Park itself, just a place to drop off your "entry" fee (honors system) and a little shelter with some maps and posters.
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| The theme used in the movie "The Naked Prey" with Cornel Wilde |
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| Birth of the Missouri River. Madison River coming in from the left, Jefferson River from above. |
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| Madison River |
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| Jefferson River |
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| Missouri River headwater, at the confluence of the Madison and Jefferson Rivers |
We left the site of the convergence and drove about a mile down to where the Gallatin River joins. Here is where Fort Rock once was located. There were no remnants of any structures. This was also the high point from which Lewis and Clark made their maps of the area.
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| Missouri heading toward the confluence with the Gallatin |
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| Gallatin River heading toward the confluence with the Missouri |
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| T standing at the high point between the Missouri and the Gallatin. Site used by Lewis and Clark |
We did not stop again until we reached Kalispell, MT. We took the "scenic" route north on State Highways through Helena instead of using I-90 through Butte. In hindsight, there is not much scenic in this part of Montana and the two lane driving really wears you down. About 40 miles south of Kalispell, we ran into some smoke from nearby forest fires. Not too bad but you could not see very far.
We checked in to our hotel around 5:30 pm. We have driven roughly 2,200 miles so far. Not half way yet. Tomorrow we will start our exploration of Glacier National Park.
