PPL Montana joins national program about Great Falls of the Missouri

Rodney Caldwell, who grew up 30 miles from the Great Falls of the Missouri River in Montana, can’t remember a time when he didn’t know about the power of the falls and the five dams that harness that natural energy.

Caldwell, PPL Montana’s maintenance man for the company’s Cochrane, Ryan, Morony, Black Eagle and Rainbow dams on the Missouri River at Great Falls, gave a public talk in late June as part of “Explore Big Sky,” a national Lewis and Clark Signature Series event held to mark the bicentennial of the journey to the Pacific Coast. The events of the past few weeks have focused on the expedition’s discovery of the Great Falls in June 1805.

“It was another solid opportunity for PPL Montana to be part of these important milestones during the Lewis and Clark bicentennial that highlight the history of our state and the communities where we have operations,” Caldwell said.

His presentation, coordinated with the National Park Service, covered the history, construction and mechanics of the five dams and PPL Montana’s stewardship of the river and its role producing reliable, environmentally conscious energy.

Caldwell’s talk was held in Great Falls under the “Tent of Many Voices,” a traveling exhibit that allows Montanans to share their impressions of the cultural and natural history before, during and after the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

“Rodney was very well received — he took us through a lot of detailed information about how the dams were constructed, their dimensions and how much energy they produce,” said Jeff Olson, public information officer for the National Historical Trail Corps of Discovery II Project.

Earlier in the day, Olson and other National Park Service representatives were given a tour of Ryan Dam by PPL Montana’s Ron Wombold.

“Ryan Dam is right below the Great Falls, an area that (Meriwether) Lewis wrote about in great detail,” Olson said. “In his journal, Lewis went on and on — for two days — about his experience seeing the Great Falls. I’m a 'dam junky,' so for me it was an especially good day.”

Asked what Lewis and the other members of the “Corps of Discovery” might say if they could see the Great Falls and the dams today, Olson said, “They’d be amazed.”