Montana's DAR Markers . . . Honoring Where History Was Made

HISTORY
It was on a Sunday, September 12, 1937, that Beaverhead Chapter,
NSDAR and the Beaverhead and Lemhi Mining Associations jointly
dedicated a historical memorial park in front of an audience of
hundreds of Montanans and Idahoans. The site was one mile north of
the town of Armstead (now under Clark Canyon Dam waters), just
below the confluence of the Red Rock River and Horse Prairie Creek.
DAR member Laura Tolman Scott and Dr. Grace Raymond Hebard
(the University of Wyoming) jointly gifted the land for the park; it was
to be Laura Tolman Scott’s last public appearance before her death.
That summer, the State Highway Commission had constructed a park
and roadside picnic area. The local Dillon Examiner newspaper reported
that:
A basket lunch was served at 1 o’clock, preceding the program.
Coffee, cream and suges were furnished by the Beaverhead Mining
Association.
DAR had long honored the spot, which was a Lewis and Clark
campground used first on August 17 through 24, 1805, then again in
1806 by Captain Clark on his return from the Pacific Northwest. In
1916, Laura Tolman Scott, then a member of Silver Bow Chapter
DAR, directed a pageant at the site.
Many historians say this site was the pivotal point of the Lewis and
Clark Expedition’s journey in that it could have ended there. Lewis and
Clark had for months toiled up the Missouri River, portaged around
the Great Falls, through the Gates of the Mountains and the Three
Forks of the Missouri. They then chose the Jefferson River to continue
their journey, but found their heavily laden canoes increasingly difficult
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