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

ought to Dillon from the mountains by Birch Creek. The local
newspaper proudly noted that the bronze marker was “constructed by
Montana workmen from Montana-mined metals…”
The ceremony, watched by hundreds, began with a bugle call,
followed by all of the audience singing “America” and “The Star
Spangled Banner.” History professor R.E. Albright of Montana State
Normal College (now University of Montana Western) “gave an
interesting and detailed outline of the passage of the Lewis & Clark
Expedition through Beaverhead County, particularly the Beaverhead
Valley.” The professor:
…called attention to the fact that the description of the valley as
given in the journals of the expedition still holds good in many
respects. Bearings taken by Clark from Lover’s Leap (a bluff just
north of Dillon) were remarkably exact.
Mrs. Laura Tolman Scott, state chair of the Historic Spots
Committee of Montana DAR, dedicated the monument and presented
it to the city and its schools. The pathfinder quote on the marker is
hers.
While passenger trains ran through Dillon, the memorial was
visible to passengers from its spot on the rail depot lawn. Although
passenger trains no longer run through Dillon, the marker remains in
its original spot, which is now in front of the Beaverhead County
Museum where it continues to be seen by passersby yet today.
The marker was rededicated on August 9, 1945, in a 7:30 p.m.
celebration of the 140 th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The ceremony, led by the Dillon chapter of the American Pioneer
Trails Association, included principal speaker Professor Rush Jordan of
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