"two miles below McNeal had exultingly stood with a foot of each side of this little rivulet and thanked his god that he had lived to bestride the mighty & heretofore deemed endless Missouri." - Meriwether Lewis, August 12, 1805

Hugh McNeal stood over Trail Creek, about two and a half miles downstream from here. This little stream is just one of hundreds of small tributaries that flow into the Missouri River.

After many months of laboring to pole, paddle, and drag the heavy boats of the Lewis and Clark Expedition upstream against strong currents of the Missouri, McNeal was finally able to straddle that great river near here.

Have you traveled a long way to reach the beginnings of the Missouri River."

You are invited to "bestride" the Mighty Missouri.

PLEASE STAY ON THE ROCKS!

Protect the plants along the streambanks.

Erected by Beaverhead-Deerlodge & Salmon-Chaillis National Forest.