Tower Rock, a state park accessible from Exit 247 at Hardy Creek, Montana, located on I-15 south, was an important landmark to Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean, Tower Rock marked the beginning of a new phase for the Corps of Discovery. Though exploring territory never before seen by Americans, access to information based on maps and interaction with local fur trappers and Indians facilitated their journey.

On July 16, 1805, Lewis and three men, who left the main party to scout ahead, saw what Lewis called “the tower,” a 400-foot high rock protruding onto the plains. The following morning, Clark and the main party reunited with Lewis and, later that afternoon, Clark ascended the rock to view the landscape.

Before Tower Rock was referenced in Lewis and Clark’s journals, many Indian tribes used the rock as a landmark when they were entering and leaving the rich buffalo grounds of today’s north central Montana. Lewis noted that “an Indian road enters the mountain at the same place with the river on the Stard side and continues along it’s border under the steep clifts.”

In his journals, Lewis referred to the rocks surrounding the river as “a dark black grannite,” which is a misnomer as the rocks located at Tower Rock are in fact volcanic in nature. Tower Rock is part of the Adel Mountain Volcanics, a unique portion of the Rocky Mountains that are composed of the eroded remains of a 75-million-year-old volcanic eruption.

Researched, written, and narrated by University of West Florida Public History Student James Steele