Lower Yellowstone L&C Bicentennial Commission
Meeting Minutes
Glendive Chamber Office, 1:00 p.m.
September 15, 2003

Minutes - approved with correction to the savings account, should be $20,035.28 instead of $2,035.28.

Training Academy - not much interest in these classes.

Cherie reported that PPL just gave the Lewis & Clark Commission $100,000. She would like to see some of that money come back to Eastern MT. Cherie will contact someone in Colstrip.

Discussion about signage and we will try and find out where this is at? These are the signs that the Highway Dept have talked about.

State Maps - we all need to contact the Highway Dept to try and get the frontage roads back on the maps. They will be printing new ones again and hopefully we can get this changed. Travel to Lewistown - Linda and Linda will car pool.

Cherie reported on the banners - The signature was moved to the bottom as we had requested. She said it looks really nice and really shows off the river. At the Feb meeting packets will be distributed to Chambers. Brackets will be made in Laurel. Have a time line of April to have this done by May. Marcie reported that none of our links can be reached through the state web site. Marcie will do some more checking on this.

Linda K. - spoke to the advertising design company about posters. It is possible and we should have money for each community to have a set only on a smaller scale than the kiosk.

This is the time-line for our kiosk - Clark's Footprints To Eastern Montana

11,500 years ago - Paleo Indians arrived in the Eastern MT region, early remains have been found in the Lindsay area.

Mid -1700's - Fur traders came onto the scene due to the popularity of beaver hats.

1803 - Louisiana Purchase which brought the area soon to be known as Montana into land owned by the United States

1803 - First known encounter of local tribes by French fur traders

1803 - July - Project first visited by Federal Government officials for irrigation potential

1803 - Aug - Area surveys began from Terry to the confluence

1803 - Aug - Public lands withdrawn for irrigation development

1804 -April - Board of consultants instructed to have the canal location surveyed

1804 - May - Congress authorized construction of the Lower Yellowstone Project

1805 - Mar - Designs for the first 34 miles of canal were completed in Denver

1805 - Apr - Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery enter Montana

1805 - June - Contract awarded for first 34 miles of canal

1805 - Oct - Notice of an appropriate of water right filed

1806 - Lewis & Clark pass through Montana on their return trip

1806 - Sept - Contract awarded for Diversion Dam with Pacific Coast Construction Co.

1808 - Dec - Farm unit plats were completed and approved

1810 - Feb - Diversion Dam completed

1819 - Steamboat traffic was introduced on the Missouri River

1828 - Fort Union was built

1862 - First Wagon Trail established connecting upper Midwest to Fort Benton

1864 - Montana becomes a territory

1876 - Battle of the Little Big Horn

1881 - First train stops in Glendive, MT

1889 - Montana becomes a state

1897 First river gage installed at Glendive

1909 - Apr - Headgates opened for 1st time, water delivered to 67 farms

1910 - Feb - Diversion Dam completed

1910 - Homesteading boom is in full swing and agriculture replaces mining as Montana's top industry

1910 - Northern Pacific railroad constructed through the Project

1951 - Oil boom begins in Williston Basin, producing from the highly productive fields of western North Dakota, southern Saskatchewan and eastern Montana.

1969 - Three major railroads, the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Burlington, merge as Burlington Northern

2003-2006 - 200 year anniversary of the Lewis & Clark Expedition

Marcy passed out a copy of MT L & C projects get $861,500 in Federal Grants. If you would like a copy let me know and I will get you one.

Web sites: You can now access the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition edited by Gary E Moulton online.

The Montana Historical Society has a traveling exhibit available, "Documenting the Corps of Discovery."

This site includes an interactive map, an abundance of specimens from National Museum of Natural History collections, along with field images of the plants and animals that the explorers encountered during their expedition, journal entries describing the various species, links to some of the actual specimens at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, and a number of lesson activities spanning grades 3 - 12. We hope that you will consider adding a link to this site from your resources page.

The State Commission received the following message regarding Monticello. See what we are offering. But be aware that it is a work in progress and do check back in for future exciting developments.

Marcy printed out the Corps of Discovery II Schedule (Tentative) from Carol McBryant's web site. This is for all the stops from 2003 - 2006. If you would like a copy let me know and I will get you one.

Linda mentioned that Kathy Doeden is resigning her seat on the State L & C Bicentennial Commission and was wondering if anyone else would be interested. There was some discussion and Marcy is interested and the committee would be happy to give her a letter of recommendation as she has served on our Lower Yellowstone Commission for the past few years and is very helpful and would be a great addition to the commission. Linda sent an e-mail to Kathy to contact Marcy and let her know what this all entales.

Last meeting we had asked with the red marks were on our kiosk design, they are the Lewis & Clark campsites and it will be on our key on the kiosk.

Confluence - Open House - Aug 26th. Kim and Linda W attended the Missouri Country meeting and checked out the new building and displays. It is very nice, a round building with a meeting room, a gift shop, bathrooms and museum. Beautiful view of the MO & Yellowstone Rivers.

Meeting times were discussed and it was decided that we would try and meet on the 2nd Tues of the month from 10 - 12. If we have a meeting in Oct will be determined at the State L & C meeting in Lewistown on Oct 1 - 3. If we meet I will send an e-mail asap.

Cherie - Nature trails: Is it worth pursuing? Possibly working through grants to fund this. Cherie will check on this and see what is available.

Frontage Roads - While at Lewistown check and see who to contact to place the frontage roads back on the state road maps.

State Grant funds: TIIP (Infrastructure), SEGP (Special Event Grant Program), CTAP (Community Tourism Assessment Program).

Souvenirs - check this out and see what is available.

Local Grants - send Allen, Nefsy, and Anderson foundation application to Marcie.

Meeting adjourned 2:30 PM