Great Plains of Montana
The Milk River is channelized now where it enters the much clearer Missouri River near Glasgow in eastern Montana. Lewis named it the Milk because it looked like tea with milk.

A hull of a sunken steamboat rides high this spring, because the Missouri is low in North Dakota due to a prolonged drought.

The Bearpaw Mountains look like crumpled velvet from the air. A small creek glistens like a silver thread in the early morning light.

The Missouri Breaks is a beautiful region where the wild river passes through narrow canyons. It's far from any sizeable towns even today.

It's a thrill to fly for hours along the graceful river bends and ever-changing shapes of the cliffs.
Lewis wrote, "With the help of a little immagination the cliffs represent eligant ranges of lofty, freestone buildings, having their parapets well stocked with statuary."

"The hills and river Clifts which we passed today exhibit a most romantic appearance. The bluffs of the river rise to the hight of from 2 to 300 feet, and in most places nearly perpendicular; they are formed of remarkable white sandstone." -- Meriwether Lewis

At the Marias River (originally named Maria's for a cousin of Lewis), the Corps had its most difficult choice about which stream was the Missouri. The Captains chose the left branch, correctly. Today the Marias, entering from upper right, is clearly the smaller stream.
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