Native American tribes followed the buffalo through this area and camped at Giant Springs, where the spring water remains a constant 54 degrees year-round and made it a good site for winter camps. Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery first documented the springs on June 18, 1805, and the area was one of many where the expedition reported plentiful beaver. During the Fur Trade Era, many trappers and fur traders traveled through this area along the Missouri River in the 1800's. Nearly eighty-five years after Clark’s discovery, completion of the Montana Smelter in 1888 just south of present day Giant Springs Road gave Great Falls its first major industry, and the Tice smelter overlooked Giant Springs until it ceased operating in 1902. The Giant Springs Fish Hatchery was completed in 1922 and became an added attraction for visitors to Giant Springs Park, then operated by the City of Great Falls. The park prospered during the Great Depression of the 1930’s through major reconstruction projects, as the Works Project Administration and other local agencies built concrete bridges, a viewing platform, stone steps, and early roads, while also rehabilitating rock walls and planting many of the large trees seen there today. In 1970, Giant Springs Park was transferred from the City of Great Falls to the State of Montana and became Giant Springs State Park.