Tag Archives: Montana

National Bison Range, Montana

October 13, 2020 Tom Dills 2 Comments

On our drive from Missoula, Montana to eastern Washington we took a small detour to the National Bison Range, near Charlo, Montana. Thanks to Don Brown for making us aware of this place!

Theodore Roosevelt established the National Bison Range in 1908 to provide “…for a permanent national bison range for the herd of bison….” The refuge is also home for a host of other mammals, birds, plants and many living creatures. The diverse habitats found here provide for the specific needs of many different animals. Today the Bison range is home to 300-400 bison. In addition to herds of bison, it supports populations of Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep as well as coyotes, mountain lions, bears, bobcat and over 200 species of birds.

The Red Sleep Mountain Drive is a 19-mile, one-way loop road through the range. The road gains 2,000 feet and there are many switchbacks and 10% grades along the drive. We enjoyed our drive along the route, spotting a number of bison, osprey, antelope and other critters.

Antelope at the National Bison Range near Charlo, Montana

Osprey at the National Bison Range near Charlo, Montana

This is another example of the off-the-beaten-path places that we visited. It is was an excellent and scenic way to spend a relaxing morning before moving on west.

PHOTO GALLERY UPDATE:

For those looking to see even more photos from our trip, I just added a gallery to my Adobe Portfolio page. Click here for 2020 Pacific Northwest Road Trip Part 1. I hope you enjoy the photos!

Photo Project: 50 States

Grant-Kohrs Ranch, Montana

October 12, 2020 Tom Dills 2 Comments

Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site near Deer Lodge, Montana

I got waylaid in my processing with a few projects around the house, but I’m back in the photo processing groove again and re-living our visit to Montana. 🙂

On our drive from Billings to Missoula we stopped by Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, near the town of Deer Lodge. That’s not as remote as it sounds, as Deer Lodge lies within sight of I-90, not too far from Helena.

Grant-Kohrs Ranch has an interesting history, dating to the 1860s when the open-range cattle industry had its heyday. Many of the herds were built through trade with westward-bound emigrants, who gladly swapped two or more trail-worn cows for a single well-fed one.

Ranger talks about living and cooking on the range

From the NPS website:

“By 1885, cattle raising was the biggest industry on the High Plains, and foreign investors and eastern speculators rushed to get in on the bonanza. As ranches multiplied and the northern herds grew, there came a predictable consequence: overgrazing. This and the fierce winter of 1886-87 caused enormous losses, estimated at one-third to one-half of all the cattle on the northern plains. Many cattlemen never recovered.

If the snows of ’86-87 foreshadowed the end of open range ranching, the homesteaders, with their barbed wire and fenced-in 160 acre claims, finished it off.

The open-range cattle industry lasted only three decades. Few of its pioneering men and women made their fortunes or are remembered today. But from their beginnings has evolved the more scientific ranching of today, with its own risks and uncertainties. That is the legacy of the Grants and the Kohrs, whose pioneer ranch, complete with original furnishings, is a reminder of an important chapter in the history of the West.”

Blacksmith shop with a sample of t he G-K brand

Walking around the ranch, I felt like I was experiencing the plains of Montana much like the early settlers saw it. Miles and miles of open range, perforated now by barbed-wire fences but the long range views remain.

This was another one of those places we visited where we were able to steer well clear of crowds. The few people we saw there seemed to have been mostly attracted by the proximity to the interstate and the availability of restrooms. 😉 For us it was another piece of western history to add to our knowledge of this country.

Photo Project: 50 States

Yellowtail Dam – Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

October 8, 2020 Tom Dills 2 Comments

Yellowtail Dam in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in southern Montana near Fort Smith

Even though Kathy & I had considered Wyoming and Montana to be “visited” in terms of our 50 state quest, we knew that we had short-changed both states on our previous visit. Since we needed to traverse both of those states on our way to the west coast, we decided to rectify that shortfall with a few more stops. Bighorn Canyon National Recreation fit that bill, as it straddles the border between both states.

Yellowtail Dam area in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in southern Montana near Fort Smith

The southern end of the park lies in northern Wyoming, and was the subject of my previous post. There are more places that we didn’t get to due to time constraints, and we spent the better part of a day on the northern end of the park, in southern Montana.

The upper side of Yellowtail Dam and reservoir.

Yellowtail Dam is another one of those places that you can’t really appreciate until you have seen it. I’ve not been to Hoover Dam or Glen Canyon Dam, but this is certainly the biggest dam I’ve ever seen! An exchange I had on Instagram with Paul Maxim describes the relative size of some of the “famous” dams in the US:

Yellowtail is 525 ft. tall and 1480 ft. wide. Glen Canyon is 710 ft. tall and 1560 ft. wide. So Glen Canyon is bigger (185 ft. taller). But the only dam in the U. S. bigger than Glen Canyon is Hoover Dam, which is 726 ft. tall. All of them, of course, are big. We’ve got nothing in the east that comes close!

The park is surrounded by Crow Indian land, and there are several references to Crow history throughout the park, including the remains of a medicine wheel that we didn’t get to.

Exhibit describing the role of the medicine wheel in Crow Indian culture and history.

It is rugged and scenic territory, and with all the red rock and lack of trees, far different from what we see in the east, or even in other parts of Wyoming and Montana. Another example of how unique but also how uniquely beautiful the different parts of our country can be.

Postcards

Postcard From The National Bison Range in Montana

September 10, 2020 Tom Dills 2 Comments

Postcards

Postcard From Yellowtail Dam, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

September 9, 2020 Tom Dills 1 Comment

Yellowtail Dam area in Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Montana

I’m not sure how it compares to Glen Canyon size-wise, but it was among the tallest I’ve seen. There is a truck parked in front of the red building that will give some scale. You have to go there on purpose – the dam itself is about 50 miles off of I-90 and the lake extends into northern Wyoming. You can’t (easily) get to the southern end from the northern except via boat.

Photo Project: 50 States

A Quick Visit to Montana

November 1, 2019 Tom Dills 2 Comments

Custer National Cemetery at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana

I’ll be the first to admit that we didn’t come anywhere close to doing Montana justice. We basically cut enough of the corner between Wyoming and North Dakota to count it as a “visit” (even still, it was 300 miles!) but purposely decided ahead of time that it was a state we would revisit later to explore in more detail.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana

Our visit was essentially limited to a stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. It was a cold, wet day with the precipitation fluctuating between rain and snow, and my photos reflect that. While I’m sure that sunny weather like we saw for most of our trip would have made it more beautiful, the gloomy weather made for appropriate conditions at a place that has such a dark role in American history.