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Colter Falls

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Colter Falls
Map
LocationMontana, U.S.
Coordinates47°32′15″N 111°12′53″W / 47.53750°N 111.21472°W / 47.53750; -111.21472
Total height14 feet (4.3 m)[citation needed]
Total width0.5 miles (0.80 km)[citation needed]
WatercourseMissouri River
Average
flow rate
156,000,000 US gallons (590,000,000 L; 130,000,000 imp gal) per day[1]

Colter Falls, also called Coulter Falls, is a waterfall on the Missouri River in north-central Montana, and part of the Great Falls of the Missouri. Downstream of Colter Falls lies Rainbow Falls, and upstream is Black Eagle Falls. The falls is now flooded in the impoundment behind Rainbow Dam. As Rainbow Dam's reservoir is a run-of-the-river reservoir, it rarely is emptied, so the falls are rarely seen even in extreme drought.[2]: 156 

Discovery

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The Lewis and Clark Expedition visited the falls, first describing the Westslope cutthroat trout at their base, but did not name them. They were named by Paris Gibson, founder of the city of Great Falls, Montana.[2]: 157-158 

References

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  1. ^ "MSP_Brochure_2014Web.pdf". Montana State Parks. 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-11-29. Retrieved 28 November 2017. Giant Springs flows at 156 million gallons a day.
  2. ^ a b Paul Russell Cutright (2003). Lewis and Clark: Pioneering Naturalists. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 156–158. ISBN 0-8032-6434-8.