Wender·Vista
Missouri Headwaters Three Forks confluence
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileMontana
where three rivers fold into the Missouri, west of Bozeman

Missouri Headwaters Three Forks confluence

— — the river that becomes itself here.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The confluence where the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers meet to form the Missouri. Meriwether Lewis named the three branches on July 27, 1805. Sacagawea had been taken from the Shoshone near this spot five years earlier as a child. Cottonwood, willow, and the slow current taking everything east. — from the studio

from the studio
Missouri Headwaters Three Forks confluence
— bring it home

Missouri Headwaters Three Forks confluence, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Missouri Headwaters Three Forks confluence

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Missouri Headwaters State Park lies four miles northeast of Three Forks, Montana, at the confluence where the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers join to form the Missouri River. The park covers roughly 530 acres at an elevation of 4,045 feet, in Gallatin County about thirty miles west of Bozeman. The site was named a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and is administered by Montana State Parks. The Missouri runs from this point 2,341 miles to its own confluence with the Mississippi at St. Louis.

— the water

All three forks rise in the mountains south and west of the Yellowstone plateau. The Jefferson drains the Big Hole and Beaverhead country; the Madison flows out of Yellowstone National Park through the Madison Valley; the Gallatin descends from the Gallatin Range through the canyon north of West Yellowstone. They join within a half mile of one another on the floor of the Gallatin Valley. Combined mean discharge at the confluence runs around 5,000 cubic feet per second in average summer flow.

— informed by USGS Three Forks gage
— the year

The site holds two centuries of human record. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark camped here on July 27, 1805, and Lewis named the three rivers for President Jefferson, Secretary of State Madison, and Treasury Secretary Gallatin. Sacagawea, the Shoshone interpreter with the expedition, had been captured here by a Hidatsa raiding party around 1800 as a child of roughly twelve. John Colter passed through in 1807 on his solo winter walk; the town of Three Forks platted near the confluence in 1908 with the arrival of the Milwaukee Road.

— informed by Wikipedia
— where
United States · Gallatin County, Montana
— within
Missouri Headwaters State Park
— elevation
1,233 m · 4,045 ft
— position
45.9233° N · 111.5008° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
6 km SW
Three Forks
railroad town
48 km E
Bozeman
mountain town
22 km S
Madison Buffalo Jump
archaeological site
N
Missouri Headwaters Three Forks confluence
Three Forks
Bozeman
Madison Buffalo Jump
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Missouri Headwaters Three Forks confluence — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

At Missouri Headwaters State Park, four miles northeast of Three Forks, Montana, in Gallatin County. The confluence sits at 4,045 feet, about thirty miles west of Bozeman off Interstate 90.

Meriwether Lewis named them on July 27, 1805, during the Corps of Discovery's westbound journey. He chose President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin.

From this confluence the Missouri runs 2,341 miles east to its junction with the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, making it the longest river in North America by mainstem length.

Sacagawea was taken from her Shoshone band near this confluence around 1800 by a Hidatsa raiding party when she was about twelve. She returned with Lewis and Clark in July 1805, recognizing the country.

Yes. The day-use area, trails, and interpretive signs are open year-round. The campground operates from mid-May through September with vault toilets, potable water, and primitive sites.

Yes. All three forks and the upper Missouri hold brown and rainbow trout. The Madison is the most famous of the three; fishing is by Montana resident or non-resident license under standard state regulations.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The piece travels well to anyone who knows Three Forks, Bozeman, or the Madison Valley. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note suits a fly-fishing den or a kitchen wall.

The piece sits well in mountain-modern, river-lodge, and warm-neutral interiors. The Voynich blues and cottonwood greens hold against pine, leather, and unbleached linen without competing.

Yes. Current river-lodge direction leans away from rustic clutter toward fewer, larger pieces of saturated colour. The Headwaters tile slots into that palette without falling into trout-print cliché.

A single Large reads from across the room; a 4-tile Mural covers a standard sofa wall; a 9-tile Mural anchors a great-room or guide-lodge wall above a leather sectional.

Yes. Order Dura Satin or Matte for vertical installs where moisture is a factor. Both are scratch-resistant and clean with microfiber and water.

Microfiber and water. No solvents or abrasives. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface and will not lift with normal household cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is curated and finished in our Knoxville studio. We do not license the visual language; the same eye runs every place in the atlas.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.