Lewis & Clark State Historic Site

Very cool historic site with lots of information about Lewis & Clark and local history. The staff at the site is very courteous and helpful; they seem pleased to meet inquiring minds and to share what they know, which is more than you can say about your average museum employee elsewhere. Even just in the gift shop, the cashier will talk your ear off, almost to a fault. I basically got my own private tour of the fort outside, which was fun, and spent a lot of time tracing the Lewis & Clark story inside. It wasn’t a busy day, and I practically had the place to myself.
The gift shop has a lot of neat books and knick-​knacks. Given the small town it’s in, and the limited resources I imagine the state gives them given budget cutbacks, this is really a gem of an attraction in the Riverbend that should get more attention than it does.

The view is awsome. If you haven’t been to see it yet I reccomending it to you. The Lewis and Clark park is very interesting. The cut away of the boat is very educational. The fishing is also good at the spill way at certain times of the year.

Very interesting part of history at the very site it took place! Informative and attractive displays. To scale replica of the keelboat used at the start of Lewis and Clark’s journey. Short film very well done and informative, but parents or teachers with children with sensory difficulties beware, because several portions of the film have a strobe type presentation. I see why it was used to give the audience the effect of what was on the minds of the explorers as they headed out though. I would suggest that they charge at least a small fee to enter to cover the cost of keeping the restrooms cleaner, but great visit just the same!

FREE, but would have been worth an entrance fee. Very cool stop. Can be quick or not, you decide. Short film is well worth watching, Music and cinematography are great. The exhibits are interesting and very informative. We found the staff to be friendly and nice to talk with. With all due respect to Lewis and Clark and the importance of their expedition, throughout our visit scenes from the Chris Farley, Matthew Perry movie «Almost Heroes» kept playing in my mind. I even made my husband stand at the keel boat exhibit and say «it’s a squirrel!» just for my amusement. Not on display: straw women.

Wow, this is a pretty impressive museum. I honestly didn’t know it existed until the day we visited. After seeing the Missouri/​Mississippi confluence from the nearby Confluence Towers, we headed about a half mile south to this site, which commemorates the winter camp of the Lewis and Clark expedition. They stayed here for 150 days before setting out on their trip up the Missouri River and on to the Pacific.
The museum has lots of displays about the trip, focusing mostly on what items were brought along and how it was all transported. With our 5-​yr-​old in tow, we weren’t afforded the luxury of reading all the historical information that was available. She did allow us to watch the film that is shown every half hour. Besides the movie, which is pretty well done, the highlight of the museum is a replica of the keelboat that was brought on the trip. It’s actually cut in two so you can see how they made use of every square inch of the boat to store their gear, gifts for the Indians, food, etc. It’s a great way to bring the journey to life.
Outside, there is a replica of the camp itself, rebuilt from a diagram Clark added to his journal. This was also very cool. Another great aspect of this museum was the extremely knowledgeable volunteers that were on hand to answer questions and tell a couple of stories.
I’m giving 5 stars for this museum because the Lewis and Clark expedition was hugely important to the history of our country and this muesum does an excellent job here of telling the story.
The suggested donation was $ 4 for adults, $ 2 for kids. Well worth it, especially if you have time to take it all in. Allow yourself an hour and a half at least.