2 Fairgrounds Loop, Twin Bridges, MT 59754
Phone: 406-684-5824
The Madison County Lewis and Clark Interpretive Park is located at the entrance to the county fairgrounds in Twin Bridges. In August 1805, the Corps of Discovery under Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark traveled up the Jefferson River to the confluences of four rivers, the Jefferson, Beaverhead (Philosophy), Big Hole (Wisdom) and Ruby (Philanthropy) near present day Twin Bridges. The park offers the public insight into the five days the Corps spent in this area.
The focal point of the park is a 6-foot bronze statue of Sacajawea, her son Pomp, and Lewis' Newfoundland dog, Seaman. The importance of the Indian girl is pronounced during this portion of the journey. Just south of Twin Bridges Sacajawea recognized this area as her Shoshone homeland and the fortunate meeting with her tribe and brother gave Lewis and Clark the necessary horses to assure the successful crossing of the continental divide before winter.
The park has received the status of being an 'officially certified site' on the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail by the National Park Service and includes interpretive signs expounding on the importance of the decisions the Corps had to make at this juncture and the difficulties they encountered as well as a partially constructed dugout canoe, a symbolic teepee in honor of the Native American contribution to the expedition, and an animal tracks hands-on display.
