Crossing the Great Divide - Montana Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Text of Sign.

High Point of the Journey
“thus far I had accomplished one of those great objects on which my mind has been unalterably fixed for many years,” wrote Meriwether Lewis, 456 days after setting out from St. Louis.
Lewis, George Drouillard, Hugh McNeal, and John Shields crossed the Continental Divide here on August 12, 1805, in advance of the main expedition. They left the headwaters of the Missouri and entered the upper Columbia River Basin.
At 7,373 ft. (2,247 m.), Lemhi Pass is the highest elevation on the westward route of Lewis and Clark

“Portage Hill”
Lewis and Clark hoped to find a practical land route - a portage - between the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. Optimistically, they called this place “Portage Hill.” Later, after five weeks of arduous travel through the rugged Rocky Mountains, they learned this was not the Northwest Passage they sought.
“The road was still plain, I therefore did not dispair of shortly finding a passage over the mountains and of taisting the waters of the great Columbia this evening.

At The Edge Of An Empire
The Louisiana Purchase
Today you stand at the border of two states. In 1805, it was a boundary between nations.
Purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 strengthened the United States’ drive to span the North American continent.
British and U.S. interests were racing to occupy the Pacific Northwest, wanting control of the valuable trade routes and commerce in the region. Both countries failed to fully acknowledge the sovereignty of resident Indian nations.

Describe the area and history: The Lemhi Pass is where the Lewis & Clark Expedition left the Missouri River drainage and entered the Columbia River drainage.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/07/2010 Volcanoguy visited it