The Sun River (also called the Medicine River) is a tributary of the Missouri River in the Great Plains, approximately 130 mi (209 km) long, in

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

in the

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. It rises in the

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in two forks, the North Fork and South Fork, which join in the

Flathead National Forest The Flathead National Forest is a national forest in the western part of the U.S. state of Montana. The forest lies primarily in Flathead County, south of Glacier National Park. The forest covers of which about is designated wilderness. It is ...

above Gibson Reservoir along the county line between Teton and

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

counties. It flows E, SE, and E away from the mountains, past

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, Sun River, and Vaughn and joins the Missouri at Great Falls. The water of the river is used extensively for irrigation, through the Sun River Project of the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

. The irrigation area covers approximately 92,000 acres (372 km²). The North Fork of the Sun River begins high up in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and flows generally Southward for about until it meets up with the South Fork of the Sun River. Almost immediately the two forks flow into Gibson Reservoir, impounded by Gibson Dam. From when the water leaves the reservoir until it meets the Missouri River in Great Falls, the flowage is known as the Sun River. The Sun is a Class I river from Gibson Dam to its confluence with the Missouri River for public access for recreational purposes.Stream Access in Montana

History

A sign located 3 miles south of Great Falls gives information on the history of the Sun River.

This river was called "The Medicine" by the Indians. On the return trip from the coast Capt. Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Expedition struck this river approximately 50 miles west of here. He followed it down to the Missouri passing near this point July 11, 1806. In his journal under that date he said: ''"when I arrived in sight of the white-bear Islands the missouri bottoms on both sides of the river were crowded with buffaloe I sincerely believe that there were not less than 10 thousand buffaloe within a circle of 2 miles around that place"'' The City of Great Falls covers a portion of the plain across which the Expedition made their difficult 18 mile portage around the falls of the Missouri in June 1805

Notes

External links

EPA: Sun River Watershed
{{authority control Rivers of Montana Tributaries of the Missouri River Bodies of water of Teton County, Montana Rivers of Cascade County, Montana Rivers of Lewis and Clark County, Montana

History

See also

Notes

External links