On June 13, 1805, Captain Meriwether Lewis confirmed the existence of the Great Falls of the Missouri River, which had been only a legend to many. Earlier that day, Lewis, who had suspected the falls were nearby from what the Minnetaree Indians had told him the previous winter, heard the “agreeable sound of a fall of water” and saw “the spray (arise) above the plain like a column of smoke.” From a vantage point overlooking the falls, he spent hours trying unsuccessfully to sketch what he called the “grandest sight I ever beheld.” Others followed Lewis and Clark, and the Great Falls soon drew explorers and sightseers. In 1879, Ed Kelly became the first to hire guides and carry visitors in wagons to the falls. Visitors were awestruck by the natural wonder, and historical accounts of the falls were numerous, including road-builder John Mullan’s observation that the Great Falls “constituted a picture worthy (of) the pencil of the artist and the toil of the tourist.” Since 1890, development of hydroelectric dams on the falls has significantly changed the appearance of the “majestically grand scenery.”