During the last ice age about 18,000 years ago, an enormous glacier pushed down from British Columbia and blocked the Clark Fork River in northern Idaho. The glacier functioned as an ice dam creating the largest glacial lake known to have existed, Glacial Lake Missoula. The lake's waters backed up into the river's drainage in western Montana, creating a body of water comparable to today's Lake Ontario. As the lake filled and water at the ice dam deepened, it caused the lighter glacial ice to float and eventually break up, triggering floods of epic proportions. The torrent scarred the landscape of eastern Washington, creating scablands that still define the landscape. The geologic record indicates that Glacial Lake Missoula filled and emptied on a cyclical basis over a period of about two thousand years. Indeed, many road cuts on Interstate 90 preserve the record of at least 36 separate fillings of the lake. Other evidence of the glacial floods include ancient ice age shorelines on the mountains around Missoula. The stone monument in this parking area marks the eastern extent of Glacial Lake Missoula.

Geo-facts:

• Glacial Lake Missoula was first created about 18,000 years ago when an enormous glacier created a dam across the Clark Fork near present day Sandpoint Idaho.

• The lake was comparable in size to Lake Erie or Lake Ontario and covered much of western Montana.

First Discovery of Gold in Montana

Montana's oldest mining camp was located here on Gold Creek. In 1852, Francois "Benetsee" Finlay, a Hudson Bay Company fur trapper, found gold in the creek. The company put a tight lid on the news fearing that it would cause a stampede to the area and ruin its business. Despite the company's best efforts, word got out about the find and prospectors occasionally panned the creek's gravels in search of the yellow metal.

Rumors of gold brought brothers James and Granville Stuart to Gold Creek in 1858. Using kitchen pans, a mallet, and a broken shovel, the men found enough gold to pique their interest. Staking claims on what they called American Fork, the brothers eventually built a log store near the mouth of the creek and made a good living selling supplies to travelers on the nearby Mullan Road. By the summer of 1862, the mining camp, now called Gold Creek included fifteen log cabins, two stores, two saloons and two blacksmith shops. Around 45 people lived in the area. One visitor dubbed the camp "a hard looking place."

It was difficult keeping people in the camp. While gold was widespread, it was scanty; nobody ever got rich from the Gold Creek diggings. Other gold strikes in southwestern Montana emptied Gold Creek. But the camp held on. By the early twentieth century, only "the old log buildings hide behind false fronts; an abandoned 1890s gold dredge decays on the bank of the creek, and travelers rush past oblivious to the fact that a little town (marked) the cradle of Montana's great mining industry."

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.