Whitehall Lewis & Clark Murals
WhitehallLedger.com
The Whitehall Lewis & Clark Murals have been southwestern Montana's historical and artistic landmarks since 2002. The murals, bright and colorful works of art that depict actual historical events, have been recognized by the Montana Lewis & Clark Commission for their accuracy, quality and historic value.
The 12th and final Lewis & Clark mural in Whitehall was placed on the Rocky Mountain Bank building in late September 2002, and a "History of Whitehall" mural was completed in December 2002 on the new library addition. The spectacular Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Murals series, which has attracted national recognition, portrayed a dozen events that occurred during the expedition up until 2009 when two of the murals were sacrificed in the demolition of one of Whitehall's fire-ravaged buildings from the March 6 fire.
The first mural painted depicts Corps of Discovery members pulling a boat upstream on the Jefferson River as the expedition traveled west in 1805, and the final mural completed depicts the Corps floating east back home in 1806. So the remaining 10 murals depict Lewis & Clark's experiences in the Jefferson Valley venturing west to the Pacific Ocean and returning home to the east.
The murals are artistic and historic gems painted on buildings in Whitehall, and they tell the local story of one of America's greatest expeditions. The murals, a project sponsored by the Whitehall Chamber of Commerce, were started in 1999. Whitehall muralist Kit Mather has researched the journals of Captains Lewis and Clark or other members of the expedition. Mather has taken the words from the journals and essentially transformed them into paintings, and the paintings tell the story of Lewis & Clark's journey through the Jefferson Valley.
The murals have become one of the "must see" attractions along the Lewis & Clark Trail and have been featured in national and regional publications. The murals draw visitors from across the country (and internationally), and with the convenient location of the murals in Whitehall, it only takes a short tour and a short amount of time to visit all 10 of them.
The 12th and final Lewis & Clark mural in Whitehall was placed on the Rocky Mountain Bank building in late September 2002, and a "History of Whitehall" mural was completed in December 2002 on the new library addition. The spectacular Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Murals series, which has attracted national recognition, portrayed a dozen events that occurred during the expedition up until 2009 when two of the murals were sacrificed in the demolition of one of Whitehall's fire-ravaged buildings from the March 6 fire.
The first mural painted depicts Corps of Discovery members pulling a boat upstream on the Jefferson River as the expedition traveled west in 1805, and the final mural completed depicts the Corps floating east back home in 1806. So the remaining 10 murals depict Lewis & Clark's experiences in the Jefferson Valley venturing west to the Pacific Ocean and returning home to the east.
The murals are artistic and historic gems painted on buildings in Whitehall, and they tell the local story of one of America's greatest expeditions. The murals, a project sponsored by the Whitehall Chamber of Commerce, were started in 1999. Whitehall muralist Kit Mather has researched the journals of Captains Lewis and Clark or other members of the expedition. Mather has taken the words from the journals and essentially transformed them into paintings, and the paintings tell the story of Lewis & Clark's journey through the Jefferson Valley.
The murals have become one of the "must see" attractions along the Lewis & Clark Trail and have been featured in national and regional publications. The murals draw visitors from across the country (and internationally), and with the convenient location of the murals in Whitehall, it only takes a short tour and a short amount of time to visit all 10 of them.