Vaughn is twelve miles west of Great Falls and named for Robert Vaughn, the author of
Forty Years on the Frontier. Vaughn came to Montana in 1860. (from Cheney's
Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company)
Visit Ulm Pishkun State Park and Visitor Center to see what is believed to be one of the largest buffalo kill sites in the United States. Though not actually part of the Lewis and Clark route, Lewis described in great detail these buffalo kills, and Ulm Pishkun gives visitors a way to see what Lewis described in his journal. There are many public fishing access areas along Frontage Road, and it is a popular place for river floaters to start their floats.
Vaughn is also not far from Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge covers 12,383 acres on the western edge of the Great Plains. The lake is actually a 5,000-acre shallow marsh in a closed basin created by the last continental glacier to occupy the area. The refuge lands support a great variety of water birds with both nesting and migration habitat.
