When the Corps of Discovery passed through the site of present-day Great Falls in June 1805 and again in July 1806, grizzly bears, or “white bears” as they were also called, frequented areas along the Missouri River here in the city.

The expedition’s first close encounter with the white bear was on April 29, 1805, as the Corps traversed Roosevelt County in eastern Montana. Captain Meriwether Lewis and one other man wounded two bears, one of which chased Lewis for about 80 yards before he finally killed it. Lewis wrote: “the Indians may well fear this anamal equiped as they generally are with their bows and arrows or indifferent fuzees, but in the hands of skillfull riflemen they are by no means as formidable or dangerous as they have been represented.”

Several days later, Private Bratton had a near death experience of his own, when after shooting a grizzly, it “immediately turned on him and pursued him a considerable distance.” Two shots through the skull finally killed it. For the next several weeks, the Corps continued to encounter grizzly bears. Captain Lewis confessed “that I do not like the gentlemen . . . ; there is no other chance to conquer them by a single shot but by shooting them through the brains.”

During the Corps’ month-long stay in the Great Falls area, grizzlies had become quite troublesome to the expedition. Lewis was chased into the river by a white bear not far upriver from this spot. Equipped with his rifle and espontoon (or spear), he successfully fended off potential attack. John Colter also used the river for protection from attack, when he too was chased by a grizzly. On the return trip through this area in July 1806, Hugh McNeal climbed a tree to avoid his certain demise.

Having evaded many close calls, Lewis acknowledged that “these bear are a most tremenduous animal; it seems that the hand of providence has been most wonderfully in our favor with rispect to them, or some of us would long since have fallen a sacrifice to their farosity.”

The Explorers at the Portage statue shows Lewis pointing out to Clark and York the area where a grizzly had chased him into the river. Surrounding the base of the statue are slate plaques listing the names of each expedition member.

Credits and Sources:

Information derived from: The Definitive Journals of Lewis and Clark: From Fort Mandan to Three Forks, edited by Gary E. Moulton; The Definitive Journals of Lewis and Clark: Over the Rockies to St. Louis, edited by Gary E. Moulton. Photos provided by the Portage Route Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Missouri Historical Society, and the Library of Congress.