The Judith Landing

Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark arrived at the mouth of the Judith River on May 29, 1805 and named it for Clark’s sweetheart, Julia Hancock. Lewis described it as a “handsome river” and noted the recent evidence of Indian encampments there. The fur traders who followed on the heels of the Corps of Discovery were well acquainted with this area. Beginning in the 1860s, Missouri River steamboats en route to Fort Benton often tied up here to buy fuel from “woodhawks” who cut timber on the surrounding bluffs. In 1865, the U.S. Army established a fort called Camp Cook on the west bank of the Judith. It was one of the most remote military posts in Montana with access to it so difficult that even the “Indians moved away and left it alone.” The army abandoned the post in 1869. In 1872, Fort Benton entrepreneur Thomas C. Power erected Fort Clagett near the mouth of the river. By 1885, it was the site of a bustling community that included a stone warehouse, saloon, hotel, stable, blacksmith shop, and store.