Recommended Reads
There is a slew of literature on Lewis and Clark and the Upper Missouri. Most likely, you have already read a book or two and this was the fuel for your fire to come on a trip. Here is a general list of Upper Missouri history literature, Undaunted Courage being the most famous.
Undaunted Courage by Steven Ambrose;
In the Footsteps of Lewis and Clark by Gerald Snyder of the National Geographic Society Staff;
The Way to the Western Sea, Lewis and Clark Across the Continent by David Lavender
The Journals of Lewis and Clark edited by Bernard De Voto
Lewis and Clark: Across the Divide, Carolyn Gilman
The Rivermen, by Paul O’Neil; The Fur Trade on the Upper Missouri 1840-1865 by John Sunder
Forty Years a Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri, The Personal Narrative of Charles Larpenter, 1833-1872
The Fur Trade of the American West 1807-1840 by David Wishart
Floating the Missouri, by James Willard Schultz
My Life as an Indian, by James Willard Schultz
Life and Death of Kid Curry: Tiger of the Wild Bunch, by Gary Wilson
Blood on the Marias: The Baker Massacre, by Paul R. Wylie
Red Cloud: Life and Times of the Steamboat, by Annalies Corbin
Magnificent Journey: A Geologic River Trip with Lewis and Clark through the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, by Otto Schumacher and Lee Woodward.
Trilogy of the West: Across the Wide Missouri; The Year of Decision 1846; The Course of Empire by Brenard DeVoto
Lewis and Clark among the Grizzlies: Legend and Legacy in the American West by Paul Schullery
The Food Journal of Lewis & Clark: Recipes for an Expedition by Mary Gunderson & Dennis Dahlin
Feasting and Fasting with Lewis & Clark: A Food and Social History of the Early 1800s, by Leandra Zim Holland
They Ate Dogs For Dinner: Feast, Famine, and the Foods that Fueled the Lewis and Clark Expedition, by S.E. Evans
The Mullan Road: Carving a Passage through the Frontier Northwest, 1859 to 1862., McDermott, Paul D., Ed. Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing, 2015
Lewis and Clark: Historical Places Associated with Their Transcontinental Exploration 1804-1806, Appleman, Roy E., 1975
Retracing Kipp Trails, Arthur, Jim, Central Montana Publishing, 1997. This text focuses on the James Kipp Family.
A History of Winifred, Montana, Arthur, Jim, Central Montana Publishing Company, 1988.
Forts of the Upper Missouri, Athearn, Robert G., 1967
A Gathering of Memories: A History of the Big Sandy Community Chouteau County, Montana, Big Sandy Historical Society, 1990
Indian Life on the Upper Missouri, Ewers, John C., 1958
Missouri River Manors: An Overview of Homesteads and Historic Structures along the Upper Missouri Wild and Scenic River, Fullbright, Zane L.
Montana’s Agony: Years of War and Hysteria, 1917-1921, Gutfeld, Arnon, 1979
Birthplace of Montana: A History or Fort Benton, Lepley, John, G, 1999
Packets to Paradise: Steamboating to Fort Benton, Lepley, John G., 2001
Films:
Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery, Ken Burns
The University of Montana offers an amazing resource, Montana Memory Project. This project endeavors to record the history of our great state. We haven’t had a chance to survey all the texts, but here are a few of our favorites:
Making a Living in the Missouri River Breaks of Montana. Click here to follow the link. This 300 page text offers rare interviews from family members of those who homesteaded on the banks of the Missouri River in what is now dubbed the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.
Dog Creek Chronicles. Click here to follow the link. This is a story of the Winifred Community and surrounding area. It encompasses a region from the Missouri River in the North nearly to Hilger and from the Judith River to Knox Ridge. Dog Creek runs through the center from the Moccasin Mountains.
Told in the plain words of a real cowboy. Click here to follow the link. Sonny Gist offers a collection of his stories as a resident and real cowboy of Central Montana. One of the most famous and favored campsites in the Breaks is Gist Bottom, a magnificent area his family homesteaded and farmed until 1980.