WHITEHALL — After a year of hard work, a mural depicting Lewis and Clark’s journey in Whitehall is finally getting replaced.
"It’s just a small unnoticed thing in that whole big long story, but when you ask about the relevancy for this town I think it’s a pretty unique event," said Kit Mather.
Ten murals are scattered around Whitehall, depicting scenes from journal entries kept during the Corps of Discovery journey in the area.
John Kreis, a Whitehall Chamber of Commerce board of directors member, says the murals are an important part of Whitehall’s community.
"It’s something very unique to Whitehall and with time and the effects of weather, there are several of these that have fallen on hard times and some of us in the community decided it would be important to renew them," said Kreis.
Kit Mather, the original artist of the murals, returned to redo the mural on the wall of Jefferson Fresh Foods. This mural has 12 panels depicting 50 horses being led by seven men preparing for Clark’s journey to Yellowstone.
Mather was reluctant to revisit the mural since she had grown fond of the ghost paintings in Butte, but ultimately decided to paint the mural one last time.
"Fast forward 22 years later and—I don’t know. Let’s just see how long this one lasts. I’m not going to do it again," said Mather.
