Editing Three Forks, Montana (section)

==History==
[[File:Sacajawea Park, Three Forks, Montana.JPG|thumb|Sacajawea Park, a memorial to Sacajawea, in Three Forks]]

The three rivers, west to east, were named by [[Meriwether Lewis]] in late July 1805 for [[President of the United States|President]] [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[James Madison]], and [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Treasury Secretary]] [[Albert Gallatin]] which was in the times the genesis of a mild controversy and eventually spawned a modern-day geographical controversy{{
mdash
}}in both cases regarding length comparisons between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Today the two confluences are incorporated inside Missouri Headwaters State Park, which is also a [[U.S. National Historic Landmark]].

The Lewis and Clark expedition visited the site on July 28, 1805.  [[Meriwether Lewis]] in his journal entry wrote:

:''"Both Capt. C. and myself {{sic|hide=y|corris|ponded}} in opinion with {{sic|hide=y|risp|ect}} to the impropriety of calling either of these ''[three]'' streams the Missouri and accordingly agreed to name them after the [[President of the United States]] and the Secretaries of the [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Treasury]] and [[United States Secretary of State|state]]..."''<ref>[https://lewisandclarkjournals.unl.edu/item/lc.jrn.1805-07-28#lc.jrn.1805-07-28.01 Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition] 28 July 1805. Retrieved 7 January 2020.</ref>

One consequence of their decision to designate, map and name the Jefferson{{mdash}}the largest{{mdash}} as a separate tributary river, is that today the Mississippi River can arguably be called longer than the Missouri River because extensive re-channelization of the streambed for hydroelectric power projects has shortened the river while the Mississippi Delta has grown, lengthening the rival river.

Honored in Three Forks, the Indian woman [[Sacagawea]] is best known as the interpreter and guide for the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]]. In 1800, she was captured by the Mennetaree tribe near the present site of Three Forks. She later returned to this area with Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. A statue of Sacagawea now sits in a park off Main Street.

The present-day city of Three Forks was founded September 17, 1908 by [[John Quincy Adams (railroad official)|John Q. Adams]], agent for the [[Milwaukee Land Company]], a subsidiary of the [[Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway]].<ref>https://www.headwatersheritagemuseum.org/three-forks</ref><ref>https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=192664</ref><ref>[http://www.tfhistory.org/pdfs/Founding%20TF%20Resource.pdf Three Forks Area Historical Society (pdf)]</ref><ref name="mhs">{{cite web |title=Three Forks|url=http://mtplacenames.org/ |website=Montana Place Names Companion |publisher=Montana Historical Society |access-date=9 April 2021}}</ref> The Milwaukee Land Co., platted the town and held a lot sale that day. Some buildings were moved to the present city from "Old Town Three Forks", a mile to the northeast. The city became a division point on the Milwaukee Road's Rocky Mountain Division and was an important hub for the railroad during the existence of the Milwaukee in Montana (1908-1980).

Two banks for the town were chartered in 1909 and 1910;  John Q. Adams financed construction of the latter one, the [[Three Valleys State Bank]], whose building survives, is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], and serves as a local history museum.  The town's early growth prospects foundered from the effects of economic depression, crop failures, and an earthquake that hit the town on June 27, 1925, damaging all of its brick buildings.<ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=05000256}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Three Valleys State Bank / American National Bank; First Security Bank; Headwaters Historical Society; Headwaters Heritage Museum |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=Marcia Fairhurst |author2=Kate Hampton |date=January 2005 |access-date=September 1, 2019}} With {{NRHP url|id=05000256|photos=y|title=accompanying five photos from 2004}}</ref>  The town's population never reached the 10,000 level that some once hoped for, and dropped to about 1,000.  Some prosperity returned during and after [[World War II]], and population has grown modestly since.<ref name=nrhpdoc/>