The Place:
While two sections of the hotel, the northeast apartment wing and the southeast wing with private dining room and main kitchen, were built in 1882 as the Madison House, the main section was built in 1910 as the
Sacajawea Hotel. The Madison House was initially in "Old Town" Three Forks, a mile downstream on the Missouri River. John Q. Adams, purchasing agent for the Milwaukee Railroad, purchased it and had it moved to its present site. After splitting it into two sections Adams built the hotel around it.
The design of the main hotel was by an architect with a name very familiar to Montana historians, Fred Fielding Wilsson, the most prolific Bozeman based architect of the twentieth century. His vision was of a somewhat Revival, somewhat Colonial exterior with a bungalow arts and crafts interior. The result is a somewhat formal exterior as viewed at the entrance, with a less formal, more inviting, interior. Though the hotel remains open today, it nearly succumbed to the economic ups and downs endured by Three Forks, being shuttered in 2001 and remaining closed until being bought by a third generation Montana family in 2009. The building then underwent its most major renovation to date and was reopened in time for its 100th anniversary.
With 29 luxury rooms, the hotel has won acclaim for both its accommodations and its food, as found in
Pompey’s Grill, named for the son of Sacajawea.
HISTORY
The Three Forks area marks one of the most significant points along the Lewis and Clark Trail. Here at the headwaters of the Missouri River, Sacajawea was reunited with her brother and brokered safe passage for the explorers. Following on the heels of this epic American tale, the Sacajawea Hotel was constructed in 1910.
Mr. John Q. Adams, a purchasing agent for the Milwaukee Railroad, built the hotel as a rest stop for passengers and train crews. The heart of the hotel is the Madison House, a private residence which was built in the old quarter of Three Forks in 1882. Mr. Adams hired a contractor to move the house to the new hotel site. Halfway through the relocation, the contractor — a bit of a gambler — lost his horse team in a poker game. After sitting in a bog for a season, Madison House was finally delivered to its current location. Bozeman architect Fred Wilsson designed the remainder of the building, which today stands in stately white-clapboard elegance.
Through the 20th and into the 21st century the Hotel weathered many hardships. In 2001, the Sacajawea was boarded up. However, in 2009, the Folkvords, a third-generation Montana farming family, purchased the Hotel. The family held the goal of restoring the structure to its original grandeur. Over eight months, they accomplished just that.
Today, the Sacajawea Hotel boasts 29 luxury guest rooms, two full-service bars, meeting space, wedding venues and Montana’s finest steakhouse, Pompey’s Grill. The Hotel has quickly garnered the reputation of “one of the finest historic hotels in the West.” Nominated as the only Montana property to join as a member of Historic Hotels of America and receiving the 2011 Historic Preservation Award of Excellence, the Sacajawea Hotel is open year-round to Montanans and visitors from afar who wish to experience its rich ambience and friendly staff.
From the Sacajawea Hotel
The Person:
A Shoshone woman born in 1788, Sacajawea (sometimes spelled Sacagawea) gained immortality as the woman who travelled to the west coast with the Lewis & Clark Expedition, becoming indispensable as an interpreter and wilderness survival skills mentor. A bit of her story follows.
Sacajawea - Explorer(c. 1788–c. 1812)
Sacagawea was a Shoshone interpreter best known for being the only woman on the Lewis and Clark expedition into the American West.
Sacagawea, the daughter of a Shoshone chief, was born circa 1788 in Lemhi County, Idaho. At around age 12, she was captured by an enemy tribe and sold to a French-Canadian trapper [Toussaint Charbonneau] who made her his wife. In November 1804, she was invited to join the Lewis and Clark expedition as a Shoshone interpreter. After leaving the expedition, she died at Fort Manuel in what is now Kenel, South Dakota, circa 1812.
Sacagawea and her husband lived among the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians in the upper Missouri River area (present-day North Dakota). In November 1804, an expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark entered the area. Often called the Corps of Discovery, the expedition planned to explore newly acquired western lands and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. The group built Fort Mandan, and elected to stay there for the winter. Lewis and Clark met Charbonneau and quickly hired him to serve as interpreter on their expedition. Even though she was pregnant with her first child, Sacagawea was chosen to accompany them on their mission. Lewis and Clark believed that her knowledge of the Shoshone language would help them later in their journey.
Lewis and Clark Expedition
In February 1805, Sacagawea gave birth to a son named Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. Despite traveling with a newborn child during the trek, Sacagawea proved to be helpful in many ways. She was skilled at finding edible plants. When a boat she was riding on capsized, she was able to save some of its cargo, including important documents and supplies. She also served as a symbol of peace - a group traveling with a woman and a child were treated with less suspicion than a group of men alone.
Sacagawea also made a miraculous discovery of her own during the trip west. When the corps encountered a group of Shoshone Indians, she soon realized that its leader was actually her brother Cameahwait. It was through her that the expedition was able to buy horses from the Shoshone to cross the Rocky Mountains. Despite this joyous family reunion, Sacagawea remained with the explorers for the trip west.
Over the years, tributes to Sacagawea and her contribution to the Corps of Discovery have come in many forms, such as statues, place-names, and she was even featured on a dollar coin issued in 2000 by the U.S. Mint.
From Biography Dot Com