Judith River
Judith River, Missouri
On May 29, 1805 Lewis and Clark wanders across a particularly clear and pretty
stream. At first Lewis called it the Big Horn River, from the great numbers of
bighorn sheep he saw. Clark cleared that thought away and came up with a new
idea. He named it for his young cousin, Julia ("Judith") Hancock, whom he had
met several years before the expedition, and married 16 months after he
returned. Its name also identifies one of the most important dinosaur fossil
beds on the High Plains, the late Cretaceous Judith River Group. The Judith
River rises in the Little Belt Mountains about 60 miles southwest of Lewistown,
Montana. It flows for 130 miles northward to join the Missouri.
stream. At first Lewis called it the Big Horn River, from the great numbers of
bighorn sheep he saw. Clark cleared that thought away and came up with a new
idea. He named it for his young cousin, Julia ("Judith") Hancock, whom he had
met several years before the expedition, and married 16 months after he
returned. Its name also identifies one of the most important dinosaur fossil
beds on the High Plains, the late Cretaceous Judith River Group. The Judith
River rises in the Little Belt Mountains about 60 miles southwest of Lewistown,
Montana. It flows for 130 miles northward to join the Missouri.