Beaverhead Gateway Ranch, Dillon MT
N 45° 22.473 W 112° 27.707
12T E 385542 N 5025598
There are four signs placed by the State of Montana at this overlook.
Waymark Code: WM9ZVN
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 10/23/2010
Views: 4
The text on this sign reads:
"Welcome to Beaverhead Gateway Ranch
Ancient Grazing Lands Today
Many of the rangelands in this valley still look largely as they did even before the Lewis and Clark Expedition walked here. Yet people and animals have traveled through and used the lands around you since prehistoric times. Montana Highwy 41, and several other roads here, began as aboriginal trails thate converged near the landmark now called Beaverhead Rock. It was the sight of this natural limestone outcrop that brought long-sought relief to the Corps of Discovery in 1805. Barely 60 years later, the pathway here had become part of the well-traveled Montana-Utah Road. Originally used by ranchers, it was later a primary shipping route after gold was discovered in nearby Grasshopper and Alder Gulches in the early 1860s. For a 22-year period in the mid 1800s, the present-day ranchlands also contained a hotel, saloon, post office and stage coach stop. For most of the last 200 years, these landscapes have continued to sustain livestock and wildlife, both coexisting much as prehistoric animals did when grazing together here millions of years ago. Today, the Beaverhead Gateway Ranch borders federal land and Beaverhead State Park. The ranch features a 118-acre wetland, teeming with birds and wildlife year-round, developed by the Montana Department of Transportation in 1997. With the help of a program called Undaunted Stewarders the private ranch property is managed so that livestock grazing will sustain historic vegetative patterns and henhance wildlife and waterfowl habitat. Welcome to a glimpse of this area's ghosts, its life and its future-enjoy your visit."
Describe the area and history:
This area a viewing area for the famous Beaverhead lanmark (limestone outcrop) and wildlife viewing. The Lewis and Clark "Corps of Discovery" Expedition traveled through here in 1805.
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Visit Instructions:
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