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Fort Benton, MT
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| At the head of navigation on the Missouri river, Fort Benton is one of Montana's oldest communities and was the link between east and west. thousands of immigrants and miners marked this landing as the beginning of the way west along the Mullan Road or north along WhoopUp Trail. Fort Benton, also, was their chief means of supply, as all goods were brought by steamboat from St. Louis. In 1868, 39 steamboats unloaded 8,000 tons of freight and 10,000 passengers; one steamboat returned to St. Louis with $1.5 million in gold.
The Lewis and Clark Memorial overlooks the Missouri River from the levee not far from the old fort; the memorial stands as a reminder of the explorers' stay in the area and the role they and Fort Benton played in opening the West. |
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