The Missouri and Yellowstone Route Scenic Drive

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Categories:

Lewis and Clark Expedition,  Watchable Wildlife,  Wilderness Areas,  Scenic Drives

Keywords:

• The Missouri and Yellowstone Route Scenic Drive, 
• Montana Scenic Drives

General info

Twenty miles to the northeast of present-day Sidney on April 27, 1805, Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery first entered Montana. A couple of days earlier, they camped at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers just across what is now the border. Their journals tell the story of the abundant wildlife in the area:

“we saw great quantities of game today; consisting of the common and mule deer, Elk, Buffaloe, and Antelopes; also 4 brown bear, one of which was fired on and wounded by one of the party, but we did not get it; the beaver have out great quantities of timber; saw a tree nearly 3 feet in diameter that had been felled by them.” The next day, they encountered their first grizzly bear… “I walked on shore with one man about 8 A.M. we fell in with two brown or yellow bear.”

Almost a year and a half later on August 16, 1806, they met each other on their return trip. Previously, the two captains had agreed to split up on the western side of Montana. Lewis took the northern route retracing their steps west, and Clark took a southern route primarily following the Yellowstone River.

Sidney is your hub for several short tours. Before leaving Sidney,