Fort Benton
Fort Benton Museums & Heritage Complex
Located in the “Birthplace of Montana,” the Heritage Complex includes a multitude of museums: The Old Fort Benton, The Museum of the Upper Missouri, The State of Montana’s Museum of the Northern Great Plains, Homestead Village, The Hornaday Smithsonian Buffalo Gallery, The Upper Missouri River Breaks Interpretive Center, The Overholser Research Center, The Schwinden Library, and The Montana Agricultural Center.
Shep Memorial
Along the levee of the Missouri River rests the bronze memorial of Shep, the “forever faithful” sheep dog. When his master’s casket was loaded onto a train in 1936, Shep stayed near the tracks for five years, awaiting his master’s return. Shep was struck by a train in 1942. Days later, his funeral was attended by the majority of Fort Benton.
Big Sandy
Big Sandy Historical Depot & Museum
Located in the historical Big Sandy Train Depot, this museum features items from the area’s homesteaders and pioneers. There is also a military exhibit, as well as a comprehensive collection of photos and genealogy of area residents.
Havre
Fort Assinniboine
Established in 1879, Fort Assinniboine was the largest military post constructed in Montana. In its heyday, nearly 1,000 officers, enlisted men, and civilians called it home. Tours of the fort are conducted June through August.
Havre Beneath the Streets
In 1904, a terrible fire swept across downtown Havre. Rather than abandon the town and forfeit money coming in from the Great Northern Railway, Havre’s business owners set up shop in their basements and created a network of passages from one building to the next. Today, Havre Beneath the Streets directs tours through the historic Havre underground. This subterranean museum features recreations of multiple businesses, most of them in the same locations they would have been over a century ago.
Beaver Creek Park
Fun for visitors of all ages, Beaver Creek Park is the largest county park in the United States. Plants and wildlife are abundant. Fishermen will want
to cast a line at Beaver Creek, Bear Paw Lake, and Lower Beaver Creek Lake. The park also contains plenty of campsites for visitors who’d like to take more than a day to explore all it has to offer.
H. Earl Clack Museum
This museum offers interpretive displays correlated with archaeological findings at the nearby Wahpka Chug’n Buffalo Jump. The museum also houses an exhibit of dinosaur eggs and embryos found nearby that are 75 million years old and a Stygimoloch dinosaur, a major exhibit on the Montana Dinosaur Trail.
Wahkpa Chu’gn Buffalo Jump
Wahkpa Chu’gn is a prehistoric buffalo jump dating back to 2,000 years ago. Peoples of the Besant, Avonlea, and Old Women’s/Saddle Butte archaeological complexes are represented in the site area. These were the primary prehistoric occupants of the area and region for the last two millennia, and this site is generally recognized as the best-known site regionally documenting those cultures over that period of time.