Annual Lewis & Clark Festival Opens June 29

For 23 years the community of Great Falls has welcomed its annual Lewis & Clark Festival.

Great Falls has long had keen interest in the Lewis & Clark Expedition’s travels that occurred over 200 years ago across what was then-termed the Louisiana Purchase. It was, by all accounts, a military expedition led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

The expedition was made up of sergeants, privates, a Frenchman and a Shoshone woman. And, don’t forget Lewis’ dog, a Newfoundland breed named Seaman, and a baby borne by the Shoshone woman Sacagawea. Quite a diverse traveling group!

A local group called the Lewis & Clark Honor Guard presented the colors to open this year’s annual festival.

Their blackpowder shoot is fun to watch and…a photographer’s tip…there is enough smoke produced by those rifles to get several decent photos with the smoke clouds.

The Honor Guard stood near the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center’s amphitheater overlooking the Missouri River. The weather looks perfect for their outdoor living history encampment, an outdoor concert, a presentation on snakes and the Two Medicine Native American dancers. Most events are free and all are family oriented so, pack up the kids and go to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center this weekend.