Lewis' Overlook to be dedicated Thursday

A facility called Lewis' Overlook, commemorating Captain Meriwether Lewis' trip up the Marias River 200 years ago, will be dedicated Thursday at Lake Elwell.

The project is a joint effort by the Marias Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, the North-Central Bicentennial Commission, the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, Liberty County, the Bureau of Reclamation, Chester High School Industrial Arts Shop, area 4-H groups and the Boy Scouts of America.

The event starts at 11 a.m. and will run through lunch. The site is accessible from U.S. Highway 2 by taking the Tiber Road, about five miles west of Chester, for about 14 miles to Tiber Dam.

Lewis' Overlook is located very near the route of Lewis' side trip in July 1806, during the Corps of Discovery's return trip from the Pacific Ocean, when he and several others again explored the river he had named Maria's River, now called the Marias River. The river was called Bear River by the Blackfeet.