Sign up for the free Great Falls This Week newsletter and stay in the loop on Great Falls city government, public school meetings, business news and upcoming entertainment and events. Sign up 9/14/2026 Good Monday morning. This is Matt, your local reporter in Great Falls. This week, read about a new film that memorializes the resurrection of Fort Benton. It felt to me like the town’s historical significance was always present, but it took the hard work of volunteers to bring the fort itself back into existence.  But first… heads up, Great Falls NorthWestern Energy has announced that a planned power outage will take place Sept. 16 from midnight to 5 a.m. Customers between 10th Avenue South and Third Avenue South, from 16th Street to Third Street, will be affected. The outage allows crews to replace old substation equipment. A look at the Old Fort’s new life The restoration of the Old Fort Benton site, a project that began in the ’80s and continues today, has been memorialized in a documentary that debuted this past weekend. Much like the restoration project featured in the film, the documentary itself was the result of philanthropy. Two years ago, Bonnie Cook got a call from a Great Falls resident who had recently toured the Old Fort Benton site. The caller was impressed by the tour guides’ knowledge and suggested that a documentary could preserve that legacy. Cook, who is on the Fort Benton museum complex staff, loved the idea of a documentary but wasn’t sure funds were available to pursue something like that. But later, Cook brought up the idea while speaking with her friends Glenn and Donna Boutilier, Ohio-based philanthropists who have supported Fort Benton’s museums. “And she said the check will be in the mail,” Cook recalled Donna Boutilier saying. Cook hired Erin Merchant, who also produced a historical documentary about Black Eagle, to work on the Fort Benton film. Titled “Rebuilding the Birthplace,” it premiered Sunday in Fort Benton and features interviews with Larry Cook (Bonnie Cook’s husband), Dave Parchen and Sharalee Smith, who have spearheaded the restoration project that began about 40 years ago. The original Fort Benton saw its heyday in the middle of the 19th century as steamboat traffic brought goods to and from northcentral Montana. It was an important post for white settlers and for the Indigenous Blackfeet Tribe. The fort was abandoned in 1881, but locals knew about the site’s significance as a frontier trading post on the Missouri River. Little more than some stone walls remained.  The Cooks, along with Parchen and Smith, led an effort to restore the fort as a museum after “BS-ing about it” for years, as Cook told Montana Free Press recently. The main Old Fort Benton building was dedicated in 1996, Cook said. Every artifact in the museum has been donated, and some construction phases have been done after immersive archeological work. Plans for additional sites continue today, but the work gets more expensive each year. “That building at the time that it was built was like $67,000,” Cook said of the Old Fort. “Last year, we had footings poured for the Engages’ Quarters, and that was about $60,000. So a huge difference.” Engage’s Quarters refers to rooms near the main fort where workers slept. Cook said that the three restoration leaders are now in their 70s. There are two buildings left to resurrect from the historical site, Cook said. The leaders dream of finishing the job after decades of detailed coordination and fundraising. “It was a tremendous amount of work,” Cook said. “And for them to have left this legacy, this history, for Montana and Fort Benton, is something very special.” That legacy — at least so far — is preserved in the documentary. While the premier has passed, Cook said stakeholders are working to find other ways to show the film. Groups interested in showings can contact the Fort Benton museum complex. Photo Op 📸 Credit: Matt Hudson/MTFP Area first responders and emergency services personnel bowed in prayer during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City. The ceremony in Great Falls took place on the steps of the Civic Center to honor the roughly 3,000 people who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The event included a ringing of the bell, a tradition among fire crews to recognize first responders who answer the call to duty. “An alarm sounds. We answer,” said Mike McIntosh, assistant chief for Great Falls Fire Rescue. “We do our job, and hopefully when that job is finished, we go home.” On Friday, the ringing of the bell was for the New York responders who died in the attack’s aftermath. More than 400 police officers and firefighters died on Sept. 11, 2001. Public notice 🧐 The Great Falls City Commission will consider a memorandum of understanding between the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the city to coordinate environmental assessments for the Little Shell Tribe’s planned 136-acre resort, casino and hotel complex. City documents note that the city, tribe and BIA have been in communication for months about the project, which is not proposed within city limits but will have a significant impact on the infrastructure and utility services of Great Falls. This development is separate from the recently approved Good Medicine housing project. The city commission meets Tuesday, 6 p.m. at the Civic Center. The full agenda is here. Great Falls in Brief ⏱️ The C.M. Russell Museum is hosting John MacLean, son of “A River Runs Through It” author John Maclean, for an event Sept. 21. The younger Maclean will share stories of his father’s life and work — including some fishing tales. The event is free, and info is here. A popular section of the River’s Edge Trail will be closed starting today from the caboose to Giant Springs Road so crews can replace the Kings Bridge deck. A reopening date isn’t certain and will depend on construction progress. A household hazardous waste collection event is Sept. 19 on the corner of First Street and Third Avenue South. This free event allows residents to dispose of products like antifreeze, paint thinner, shellac, fertilizer and others. More information is here. The post Film memorializes resurrection of Old Fort Benton appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less