Last Day in Helena

It's really sad, but today was our last day in Helena.  We have had a great time these past three days only because Al and Fran really know all about the fun stuff and the natural beauty of their new home town.  And they have shown as much of it as they could in our short time here.

I mentioned yesterday that everyone here was tired out from all the sight seeing, and this morning it finally caught up to them.  They took their time eating breakfast and didn't leave me alone until after lunch.

Al wanted Kathe and Jim to see the beautiful Indian artifacts at the Montana Historical Society Museum.  There were more than 200 artifacts, photographs, and documents at the museum that trace the history of Montana.  Kathe and Jim especially liked the beaded leather clothing and moccasins displayed.  They also enjoyed the exhibit for children, a collection of toys and household items used in the early 1900's.

This Museum has a large collection of the paintings and drawings of Charles M. Russell, Montana's most well known artist.  His grasp of the light and color of the Montana sky in the beautiful landscapes he painted brought to life the history of the early days of the state and the people who settled here.  Unfortunately, Jim was not allowed to take any photos of the paintings.

Jim was however, able to sneak a picture at closing time of the Museum's claim to fame, "Whitey" the buffalo.  Although he was not a true albino for his eyes were slightly pigmented and he had tan hooves and a top knot of dark brown hair, he was still considered "big medicine" by the Flathead Indians.  He lived for more than 26 years and was given to the historical society upon his death.

This evening they drove about 40 miles north to a restaurant near Wolf Creek called Issac's for a very delicious farewell dinner with Al and Fran.

We enjoyed our stay here in Helena so much, we hope to come back again soon.

The Gates of the Mountains

I let Kathe write the blog yesterday because the two of them were so tired when they got home last night that they were just plain boring.  No body wanted to play ball or anything.  Jim was on the couch pretending to read  with his eyes closed and Kathe was on the computer, so I went to sleep and let her write the darn blog herself.  I fixed her this morning! I woke her up at 5:49 and started crying until she had to get dressed and take me outside.  I really didn't need to go out, I just wanted to remind her who's the boss around here.

This morning Al and Fran came over and took Kathe and Jim on an excursion to a place called,

"Gates of the Mountain."  It was a two hour boat trip on the Missouri River through majestic canyon walls.  In 1805 the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition named these 1200 foot limestone walls that push through the mountains the "gates of the mountains."  As you float down the river you could see places where it appeared that it was a dead end with a canyon wall right in front of the boat, but then as you got closer, the wall opened up and the river flowed on.  The captain of the boat pointed out the various formations and told of the historical significance of the areas.

The Cathedral of St. Helena is a Victorian Gothic structure which is modeled after the Votive Church of the Sacred Heart in Vienna, Austria.  A Montana millionaire who lost his wife and only child donated his fortune to build it in their memory.  The marble interior structures and the beautiful stained glass windows were magnificent.

Then it was on to the office of Fish and Game, which Al called the Fish Museum.  There was an exhibit of the incredible variety of fish in the Montana lakes, rivers, and streams.  Al and Jim are talking about catching some of them tomorrow.  The "museum" was a taxidermists dream.

My paws are getting tired of typing.  They did so much today that I'm glad I stayed home to rest.

It was two minutes to closing when they reached the State Capitol which was dedicated on July 4th 1902.  Because of the state's rich mining history, the capitol dome is made of Montana copper.  The building houses many historical sculptures and paintings including a 12x25 foot painting, "Lewis and Clark Meeting the Indians" by Charles M. Russell.

I'm out of space, I told you it was a busy day!

Queen City of the Rockies

We arrived at the Lincoln Road RV Park in Helena late this morning after a quick stop at Tim's Diesel Repair in Three Forks.  Luckily, our front wheel seal turned out not to be a problem and after a minor repair we were on our way to Helena.  We stopped at the Wheat Montana Bakery and bought cinnamon buns to celebrate! They had a sign in the front of the store that said, "We grow it, we sow it, and we dough it."  We looked across the street and saw the wheat growing in the field, they weren't kidding!


Helena, Montana is known as the "Queen City of the Rockies" and we have been treated like royalty here today.  As soon as we arrived we were invited to lunch by Jim's cousin Al and his wife Fran. We hadn't seen them in oh-so-long, and what a great time we had catching up.  We ate a delicious lunch while looking into their backyard garden. They have planted so many beautiful trees and flowers that it looked like a watercolor painting.

Fran had a list of things that she thought we might like to see and do while we are here in Helena and surprisingly, Kathe had made a similar list herself.  I  hope we get to do everything on that list in three days, but if we don't I guess we will just have to come back again.

The first thing on the list was the "Last Chance Tour Train" which we managed to accomplish this afternoon.  Helena was once named, Last Chance Gulch, because some tired old prospectors stumbled into a gulch and found gold in 1864, just before they were about to give up and return to home to Georgia.  It name was changed to Helena, but the Main Street where the gold was found is still called the "gulch."

The Last Chance Tour Train took us on an hour long trip through Helena's present and past.  We passed the Capitol Building, the Cathedral of St. Helena, and the Historical Society Museum, all places we hope to visit while we are here.  Our "Conductor" told us about the many millionaires who lived here in the early days and showed us the many beautiful Victorian mansions that still exist today.  We have a really good understanding of the history of Helena, I know we will have a great time here.

Missouri Headwaters

Today we arrived in Three Forks, Montana in time for a late lunch.  We drove over 240 miles on the I-90, passing cattle ranches and corn fields and a lot of wide open space.  Our home for the night is the Three Forks Camp, another beautiful campground in the middle of nowhere.  There are lots of shade trees here and large grassy picnic areas between the sites.  There are some chickens and a rooster nearby, I heard the cock-a-doodle-doo this afternoon.

Because we arrived so late and are only planning to stay one night, we couldn't do too much sight seeing today.  We drove out to the Three Forks State Park to see the place where the Missouri River begins.  This is the confluence of the Gallatin, Jefferson, and the Madison Rivers.  All three rivers combine and the great Missouri begins it's journey to the Gulf of Mexico. The first written account of the formation of the Headwaters came from the journals of Meriwether Lewis in 1805 when Lewis and Clark were exploring the area trying to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean.

Today, being a warm Sunday afternoon, there were lots of people and dogs floating down all three rivers in rafts and inner tubes.  Wish we had more time here, it looked like a lot of fun.

We discovered a mechanical issue tonight with the motor home.  A seal on the front passenger wheel was leaking fluid.  We don't know yet if this is just a loose cap, or if the brake pads have been damaged.  We have an appointment tomorrow at 8 AM with the local diesel mechanic who seemed very helpful on the phone.  Keep your fingers crossed that we can move on tomorrow morning to Helena.

I don't think it looks like rain, but Jim is out washing the motor home again!

Happy Birthday Jim

Today was Jim's birthday so we just took it easy and relaxed.  Okay, so we were lazy bums today. We stayed in bed until 10 AM and then we ate cinnamon buns that Kathe made for breakfast. Jim received many telephone birthday wishes and wants me to thank everyone for
remembering him.

We didn't get going today until after lunch time, so there isn't too much to report about our day. We are still in Garryowen and the weather has been very,very warm.  I was happy to stay to stay home in the air conditioning and play with my zebra while Kathe and Jim went to the Custer Battlefield Museum.  They saw many of the artifacts that were discovered in the area when the National Park Service was building the Monument and Visitor Center.  Lots of interesting things were found like buckles, rifles, gun shell, and uniform buttons.  Some weird stuff too, like a chuck of George Armstrong Custer's hair that some one carried around in a leather case before giving it to the museum.  There were also some really great photographs of well known American Indians like Sitting Bull and other tribal leaders which were taken in the late 1800's.

After visiting the museum it was time for lunch in the Trading Post.  Jim had a buffalo burger and Kathe had chicken noodle soup with Indian fry bread and honey.

We have been on the Crow Reservation so long that we have taken Indian names.  They call me, "One who seeks shade" because every time they take me out to pee all I want to do is find a spot in the shade and sit down.  Kathe is called, "She who sweats," for obvious reasons.  Jim's name is "Eats Anything" because he has eaten Elk, Buffalo, and Kathe's cooking without complaint.


Here is a picture of the campground from the ridge above us.  You can see our coach with our Escape in front and the bikes on the roof.  It really was a beautiful place to camp.

Little Bighorn

After a 108 mile drive today we arrived in Garryowen, Montana.  We eventually found our destination for the next two nights, the 7th Ranch RV Camp.  It is named for Custer's 7th Cavalry. We are camped only 4 miles from the Little Bighorn Memorial.  It wasn't an easy place to find.  We had to drive past it, circle back on the frontage road for 3 miles, then drive about a mile on a dirt road, then turn at the fork in the road, and drive uphill before we found the Ranch.  It really was worth the effort, this is a beautiful place.

After lunch while I was napping, Kathe and Jim drove to the Little Bighorn Monument.  It was a very emotional day as they listened to a Ranger who talked about the historical events that took place here. Kathe and Jim came home with a better understanding of the motives of the Native Americans and the European Americans and how this clash of cultures came about.

Kathe and Jim first watched a film at the visitors center that helped identify where the various battles and retreats took place, as the battlefield looks today exactly as it did in 1876.

After watching the film they walked to the actual Monument which has the names of all of the men of the 7th who died engraved upon it.  There are also headstones marking the actual places where soldiers fell as well as recently placed markers of the Native Americans who also died in the battle.

They were able to drive a 5 mile loop around the valley and using their cell phones to key into the various points of interest and listen to a ranger describe the movements of the three columns of troops and the positions of the Indian camps.

Below the summit of last stand hill is a circular monument to the Native Americans who fought at the Little Bighorn.  As you walk through this memorial you realize the force faced by the 7th Cavalry. Not only were Sioux present in all their various tribes, they were joined by the members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho as well.  It is estimated that there were over 7000 Native Americans at the battle including 1,500 to 2,000 warriors in the encampment.

Turkey Day

All day long today we were visited by turkeys.
I did my best to chase them away, but they kept coming back.  Jim was chasing them with his camera and finally caught a couple of them on the grass.

There were a dozen or so and they walked through our campground, then over to the farm behind us, then back through the campground again.  They made this trip three or four times today.  One of the our neighbors was roasting a turkey for lunch.  I wonder?

Jim spent the morning washing the motor home, then he took our tow car to the car wash thus insuring that it will rain today.  Like magic, it started thundering, then lightening, then the great downpour started just as he returned.

They toured the interior of the Occidental Hotel and the adjoining Saloon and Virginian Restaurant today, and learned quite a bit about it's history.  The hotel was first built in 1879 and it was the only first class hotel in Wyoming at the time.  Famous visitors included Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jame, Teddy Roosevelt and Butch Cassey and the Sundance Kid.  Owen Wister, the author of The Virginian, stayed here frequently and wrote about the hotel in his novels.  The hotel was restored in 1997 and it is now on the National Geographic Traveler Magazine's,"Must Stay List."

Kathe and Jim had a very nice dinner tonight in the Virginian.  Jim had a delicious Elk tenderloin, while Kathe stuck to the house special, beef steak. It felt to them that they were in an old western movie set, complete with the bullet holes in the doorway.

Tomorrow it is off to Garryowen, Montana and the Battle of Little Big Horn.