Today I had a meeting at Great Falls’ History Museum. It was a great opportunity to tour the museum and check out some of their updated displays. The History Museum building was originally built as an implement dealership. The back of the building has an old freight elevator and some pretty impressive loading docks. To honor their beginning, an old tractor is displayed next to the freight elevator. The street where The History Museum is … Read more
The other day I visited the Ursuline Centre located at 2300 Central Avenue in Great Falls. The area is primarily residential with a school on the other end of the block. It was a cold December day so I didn’t shoot any outside photos (maybe next summer!). The outside of the building is very impressive though. Gargoyles peer down from near the top of the building, a point frequently missed by many. Our tour started on the second … Read more
I recently had an opportunity to visit Fort Benton and to tour the reconstructed fort. I’ve been there quite a few times but each time I go more work has been done to re-create life as it was when this fort was a bustling trading post. Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, I’ve heard docents refer to this fort as the Walmart of the 1800’s. It’s a great way to explain things to visitors though. It was chilly outside and … Read more
Hungry again? Yup, and we stopped in at Wolfer’s Diner in downtown Havre to take care of that. It was just a bit after noon and we needed to be at the Amtrak depot in about an hour to catch the eastbound train that leaves Havre at 1:32pm. I told our waiter our schedule and he said it wouldn’t be a problem. We were just a block and half away from the depot but sometimes a lunch crowd can … Read more
Today we are cruising east on US Hwy 2 from Havre to Chinook. Our first stop is the Blaine County Museum. There are several notable themes at the musem – area homestead history, Chief Joseph and the Battle of the Bear Paw, and the Montana Dinosaur Trail. The Blaine County Museum serves as interim visitor center for the historic Bear Paw Battlefield 16 miles south of Chinook. Park ranger Stephanie Martin was on hand to … Read more
In an effort to squeeze in as much as possible for my friends who arrived recently on Amtrak, I scheduled an 8:15 am tour at Wahkpa Chu’gn bison kill site in Havre. Our first challenge was the weather -it had turned pretty chilly. Probably not out of line for the end of October but I wasn’t ready for it. The second challenge was a delay with Amtrak so I was rescheduling a couple of things. … Read more
Our tour of Havre’s underground, named Havre Beneath the Streets, was a whirlwind due to some scheduling challenges. But, we all came away with some fun photos. This picture shows just how photo-happy we were! Everyone was snapping photos in the Sporting Eagle Saloon. The saloon is fairly large for a business underground. Havre Beneath the Streets organizers found several items when doing restoration work on the underground. One was a mirror, now hanging behind the bar. … Read more
The journalist from the United Kingdom I recently hosted was eager to visit Great Falls’ Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. I wondered if he was familiar with US history or just wanted to learn about the area. It didn’t take long to answer my question when we got inside the Lewis & Clark center. Jeff LaRock from the center’s management team met us at the Compass Rose area in the lobby for an overview of the expedition. The beautifully … Read more
It seems like most of my travels involve food and my recent visit to the Circle Bar Guest Ranch near Utica was no different. Debi turned out a fine meal topped off with blueberry cobbler. If I had known the cobbler was coming I may have gone a little easier on the entree! Oh dear, I should have scheduled a hike, or a work-out! The ranch is in the foothills of the Little Belt Mountains … Read more
Russell Country, named after western artist Charlie Russell, has an amazing way to discover the landscapes that captivated Charlie. The Russell Auto Tour booklet uses reproductions of Russell paintings to show landscapes that you can still see today. The route is primarily from Great Falls to Lewistown on US Hwy 87 and the state legislature has dubbed this the Charlie Russell Memorial Trail. There is also another part of the route called Memorial Loop through Utica and beyond. … Read more