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Great Falls, Montana / United States

Great Falls is a city and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The 2019 census estimate put the population at 58,434. The population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County and has a population of 82,278. Great Falls was the largest city in Montana from 1950 to 1970, when Billings surpassed it. Great Falls remained the second largest city in Montana until 2000, when it was passed by Missoula. Since then Great Falls has been the third largest city in the state.Great Falls takes its name from the series of five waterfalls in close proximity along the upper Missouri River basin that the Lewis and Clark Expedition had to portage around over a ten-mile stretch; the effort required 31 days of arduous labor during the westward leg of their 1805–06 exploration of the Louisiana Purchase and to the Pacific Northwest Coast of the Oregon Country. Each falls sports a hydroelectric dam today, hence Great Falls is nicknamed "the Electric City". Currently there are two undeveloped parts of their portage route; these are included within the Great Falls Portage, a National Historic Landmark. The city is home to the C. M. Russell Museum Complex, the University of Providence, Great Falls College Montana State University, Apollos University, Giant Springs, the Roe River , the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind, the Great Falls Voyagers minor league baseball team, and is adjacent to Malmstrom Air Force Base. The local newspaper is the Great Falls Tribune.

C. M. Russell Museum Complex

Great Falls, Montana / United States

C. M. Russell Museum Complex is an art museum located in the city of Great Falls, Montana, in the United States. The museum's primary function is to display the artwork of Great Falls "cowboy artist" Charles Marion Russell, for whom the museum is named. The museum also displays illustrated letters by Russell, work materials used by him, and other items which help visitors understand the life and working habits of Russell. In addition, the museum displays original 19th, 20th, and 21st century art depicting the American Old West and the flora, fauna, and landscapes of the American West. In 2009, the Wall Street Journal called the institution "one of America's premier Western art museums." Located on the museum property is Russell's log cabin studio, as well as his two-story wood frame home. The house and log cabin studio were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. In 1976, the listing boundaries were amended to account for moving the house.Beginning in 1969, the museum co-hosted the C. M. Russell Auction of Original Western Art—an auction of 19th, 20th, and 21st century art of the American West whose proceeds benefit the museum. The auction has received media attention in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2010, the two co-hosts parted ways, and the C. M. Russell Museum inaugurated a new auction, "The Russell."