This, the first of the six markers, tells of the cultural landscape of the area. The markers are at the end of a paved walking path which leads downhill from a parking area on Deer Creek Road. Access to the road is from Highway 200 in Bonner via Speedway Avenue.
The 500 acre park extends from the Clark Fork River, just north of the confluence, up the slope to forested lands above. Much of the park is still undergoing restoration and is expected to be fully open by 2015. The viewpoint has an excellent view of the cleanup site, including the old dam site. Though the dam has been mostly removed, its footings remain under water and the old powerhouse to the north of the dam remains in place. From this viewpoint one may also see the 1921 roadway bridge in the distance as well as two of the original Great Northern railway bridges.
A CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF ANCIENT & CONTINUING IMPORTANCE
For thousands of years, the Clark Fork River watershed has been part of the vast aboriginal territories of the Salish and Pend d'Oreille people, whose sustainable way of life and respect for the natural world helped ensure an abundance of resources for future genera-tions. They lived comfortably as hunters, fishers, and gatherers, moving with the seasons, drawing from a profound knowledge of the plants and animals.
THE HELLGATE TREATY
In the 1855 Hellgate Treaty, tribal leaders ceded ownership of parts of their aboriginal territories to the United States. The chiefs reserved from cession—as sovereign tribal territory—the Flathead and Bitterroot reservations.They also reserved, on the ceded lands, the perpetual right to hunt, fish, gather plants, and pasture their animals. Today, elders continue to pass down to younger generations the vital importance of places like the Place of Big Bull Trout.
PLACE OF BIG BULL TROUT
Tribal place-names reflect the ancient and continuing meaning of this cultural landscape. Below you, the confluence of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers is known in Salish as Nayastm (In-aye-ts-ch-stm), meaning Place of Big Bull Trout, a fish whose crucial role in tribal subsistence—and whose former abundance in the Clark Fork drainage—is reflected in numerous Salish names. Upstream, on the Clark Fork's headwaters, Silver Bow Creek and the Butte area is known as Sntapqéy (Sin-tap-kay), meaning Place Where Something Is Shot in the Head, in reference to the way Salish people used bows and arrows to harvest bull trout there.
MILLTOWN SUPERFUND TIMELINE
1908
Milltown Reservoir flooded with contaminated sediments.
1980
Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), better known as the Superfund law.
1981
Arsenic discovered in Milltown drinking water; homes placed on bottled water.
1983
Milltown Reservoir listed as the first federal Superfund Site in Montana; the State of Montana sues ARCO for natural resource damages at Milltown and other upper Clark Fork River sites.
1985
New, safe drinking water well installed for Milltown residents.
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1996
Study of possible cleanup options nearly completed. Ice jam occurs.
1997
EPA and State begin multi-year effort to reevaluate and expand possible cleanup and restoration options.
2000
Dam removal and cleanup is proposed by Missoula County and the Clark Fork Coalition.
2003
Milltown Superfund Redevelopment Working Group begins community and park planning work.
2004
EPA and the State of Montana propose dam removal.
2005
The State of Montana, the United States, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, ARCO and NorthWestern Corporation reach a negotiated agreement to remove the dam and contaminated sediments and restore the river and floodplain.
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2007
Clark Fork bypass channel built; sediment removal begins.
2008
Milltown Dam powerhouse demolished; dam breached.
2009
Dam's spillway removed; sediment removal concludes.
2009-2012
Roughly 17,000 feet of river channel and 400 acres of floodplain are reconstructed in former reservoir area.
2010
Clark Fork River diverted into new channel.
2010-2012
State of Montana acquires former reservoir and surrounding lands to create Milltown State Park and begins park development.
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From the marker