Drove many miles to the Marias and Missouri rivers confluence. This was called Decision Point because the expedition had to decide which of the two rivers coming together led from the high mountains, and so, would take them close to the Columbia's headwaters. Lewis and Clark sent out people to scout out each river for a few miles and report back. They disagreed on which would go up the mountains, but decided on the Missouri. Its waters were more clear, so they figured it was more likely to come directly from the mountains.
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on the road, Montana
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Decision Point, confluence of the Marias and Missouri rivers, Montana:
Dear Journal,
Today we drove to the Confluence of the Marias and the Missouri. I think they decided by a coin toss which river to take. Then we drove to Ft. Benton, checked into our hotel, and had dinner. After that, we went to a meeting at our guide, Jim's, house, where we received 2 waterproof bags-One that we would only have access to at camp, the other which we would take in our large canoe with us. Then I ate an enormous banana split and we all retired to our beds.
Aron
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Decision Point, confluence of the Marias and Missouri rivers, Montana: Aron Cowen and Arthur Luehrmann
Drove a bit more to Fort Benton, Montana, where we are spending the night. We walked around the town, which was mostly constructed from 1866-1890. Then the river ceased to be used for shipping, and the gold was panned out, so the town was left alone and barely changed. It has a grand old hotel, built in around 1880, and the waterfront has a colorful history of drunken brawls, thievery, and prostitutes.
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Ft. Benton, MT: grasses and the Missouri river
 IMG_3256 Ft. Benton, MT: replica of the keelboat "Mandan" |
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Ft. Benton, MT: river walk
Had an early dinner. At 7p met with our leader for a three-day canoe trip, Jim Cummings, and with two of his assistants, Whitney Norville and Nate _. They told us what to expect, what to take, gave us our overnight dry bags and our day bags to stuff tonight, and told us to meet there at 9am the next morning packed and ready to go. We did a laundry and I drove Aron back to our restaurant for a banana split. I can't believe he ate the whole thing!
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Lewis and Clark Canoe Expeditions, Ft. Benton, MT: Aron Cowen confers with Nate about his dry bags