Great Falls, Montana

Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County, with a 2020 census population of 60,442. It lies in the central part of the state just east of the Rocky Mountains and is bisected by the Missouri River. The city takes its name from a series of five waterfalls on the river north and east of town, which the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1805 and 1806 had to portage around over thirty-one days. Three of those falls, Black Eagle, Rainbow and the Great Falls itself, host hydroelectric dams that earned the city the nickname The Electric City. Great Falls was incorporated on 28 November 1888, grew around the copper smelting and flour milling industries, and today is a cultural, commercial and financial centre with a symphony orchestra founded in 1959. It is also the birthplace of the artist Edward McKnight Kauffer.