Camp Disappointment, Montana

In the middle of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation is the site of Lewis and Clark’s Camp Disappointment. This was the northernmost point on their 1804-1806 expedition to map and explore the lands just acquired through the Louisiana Purchase. Meriweather Lewis split off from the group camped at the Missouri River, and came here in the hopes that the headwaters of the Marais River would be found to be north of the 49th parallel, thus greatly expanding the territory gained by the Louisiana Purchase. He discovered that this was not the case, however, and, disappointed, camped here. A monument near Cape Disappointment was erected on a nearby hill by the great Northern Railway Company in 1925. Today, there are around 16,500 tribal members in the reservation, and 69% unemployment.

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CLUI photo