Proof that "Travellers Rest" was a Corps of Discovery campsite? A unique research project in 2001 and 2002 validated the campsite location.  Since this was a military expedition, the camps were set up in keeping with a military manual of the time. Employing this layout aided the search for physical evidence of Lewis and Clark’s use of the site. The explorer's central fire—used for cooking, the making of ammunition, and gunsmithing—was identified along the banks of a former channel of Lolo Creek. Cracked rocks show an intense fire had burned in this spot at one time; high heat would have been needed to prepare the lead. A spent lead ball, circa 200 years old, was found nearby, and melted lead was uncovered inside the pit.  Through a process of lead isotope analysis, the lead was determined to have likely come from the Olive Hill region of Kentucky, where lead was being mined in the late 18^th century.  Passages from Lewis’s journal show that gunsmithing took place at Travelers’ Rest during the stop in 1806.  Also, charcoal from the fires was subjected to Carbon 14 analysis, and was found to come from the Lewis and Clark era. It is almost certain that the Corps had to manufacture more ammunition, especially in 1806, as they were about to split up. Clark to get back to Three Forks and follow the Yellowstone and Lewis to eventually retrace their route on the Missouri. They were to meet again at the Missouri-Yellowstone confluence.