On the Road: South Dakota

After driving across pretty Wind Cave National Park, we entered the Black Hills proper. Mount Rushmore was our first destination, but on the way, we secured impressive views of the immense but still incomplete statue of Crazy Horse being blasted and carved from a mountain wall. We then followed Alternative Highway 16 from where many overlooks provided opportunities to admire the scenery and undertake short walks.

On the way to the Black Hills, South Dakota

Inevitably, Mount Rushmore was heaving with visitors. However, below the carved heads were a few walks, some of which led to buildings used to realise the project. Consequently, with much to see and examine, the visitors were spread quite thinly across the site. Predictably, some visitors got no further than the wide viewing platform and open-air theatre below the carved heads. As a result, it was only in the enormous car park that the crowds felt oppressive.

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

Mount Rushmore, one of the world’s most iconic and best-known monuments, far exceeded expectation. Moreover, we had not appreciated how often it can be seen from different places in Black Hills National Park. On one occasion quite by accident, we pulled into a small car park and saw George Washington through a gap in the trees.

It was along Alternative Highway 16 that we encountered hundreds of bikers who had come out en masse to enjoy the views and drive along a road with countless bends and many bridges, tunnels and loops. We soon noticed something interesting about the bikers: almost all of them were at least middle-aged and some were seniors. Moreover, they were all unfailingly polite, well-behaved and cautious as they negotiated the road.

Alternative Highway 16, Black Hills, South Dakota

Alternative Highway 16 was an astounding road, but almost as good in a different way was Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park to the south. The loop road took us across rolling grassland and pasture with hills and mountains in the middle distance. But best of all, it provided us with our first encounters with bison, pronghorn deer and burros, the latter being the famous wild donkeys that approached humans in the hope of free edible handouts. It was in Custer State Park that we encountered the first strongly worded notices advising that humans should never feed the wildlife. If humans fed the wildlife, they disrupted the animals’ natural eating routines.

Wildlife Loop Road, Custer State Park, South Dakota

We drove to a gas station on the edge of Rapid City to fill up the tank and have a late lunch of iced water (free) and a hot dog filled with a Polish sausage ($1.62 each, the tax included). We then drove along Interstate 90 to Wall and turned south for the northern sector of the Badlands. Before following the scenically stunning Loop Road, we drove a few miles along very quiet Sage Creek Rim Road. Two overlooks provided us with the perfect introduction to landscapes reminiscent of parts of Cappadocia in Turkey. It was now late afternoon and the sinking sun extracted increasingly rich colours from the rock formations. By the time we got to Big Badlands Overlook, pinks and oranges dominated the palette. The Badlands was a truly astonishing place. I would love to explore it in a more leisurely fashion. It was also rich in wildlife, but we saw only chipmunks, buzzards and eagles.

The Badlands, South Dakota

The Badlands, South Dakota

The Badlands, South Dakota

Before the sun set, we had a walk around Murdo’s town centre. The centre was little more than Interstate Loop 90, the street parallel to the Interstate with most of the hotels, motels and restaurants, and, at right angles to it, Main Street, which was a rundown shadow of its former self with very little still open for business other than the post office. At the highest point on Main Street, a tall water tower rose above the surrounding one- and two-storey buildings. There was only one building of architectural merit, a brick structure on a corner of Main Street. Most of the side streets leading to houses were not sealed with asphalt. Murdo’s most distinguished structures were the silos and elevators just north of the water tower beside the railroad.

In his book “The Lost Continent”, Bill Bryson gives Murdo a rather grim write-up (he calls it “a nothing little town”). We found Murdo an economically disadvantaged place with little to offer the local population, but all the people we met, whether white, Native American or Hispanic, were friendly. Also, it looked quite attractive early in the morning and an hour or so before sunset, particularly in the vicinity of the silos and elevators. Moreover, two ponds within walking distance of the town attracted many species of bird.

Murdo, South Dakota

Pierre, the very small capital of South Dakota with a population of about 15,000, was still recovering from the floods caused by the exceptionally high snowfalls of the winter (we were in South Dakota in 2011). As we found during our walk around the city centre, the Missouri remained dangerously swollen. Many flooded riverside houses were still having water pumped from inside. Pumps and plastic pipes littered the asphalt along and around Pierre Street, the city’s answer to Main Street. To make it easier for people to avoid the sand bags, pumps and pipes, temporary wooden bridges connected the asphalt with the sidewalks. During our visit to the delightful State Capitol Building, we heard that Pierre was also recovering from an earthquake earlier in the week measuring 3.4 on the Richter scale.

We parked the car for free two blocks from Pierre Street, then walked up the hill to the State Capitol Building. Completed in 1910, the dome rose 161 feet. Designed to look similar to the Montana State Capitol in Helena, South Dakota’s Capitol was richly embellished with marble, carved wood, stained glass, bronze, brass and terrazzo tile flooring. We were encouraged by the governor’s secretary to enter the governor’s reception room – the governor was in Rapid City attending the funeral of a police officer killed on duty by a single bullet fired by an armed criminal – but found the House of Representatives and the Senate, both full of original features such as radiators and desks, even more impressive. A small area of the basement had been set aside as a museum, and one of the members of staff kindly took us for a tour of about 30 minutes pointing out some of the more unusual aspects of the building. We were amazed that such an important building was so accessible to the general public, especially post-9/11.

We walked around the carefully manicured grounds surrounding the building, then overlooked nearby Capitol Lake where very large fish benefitted from visitors throwing in bread and other edible scraps. Nearby were two interesting memorials, the Fighting Stallions Memorial and the World War Two Memorial.

Fighting Stallions Memorial, Pierre, South Dakota

North of Gettysburg, a sign pointed east to the Cathedral of the Prairie. Because we had time on our side, we agreed that a visit was worth undertaking. The perfectly straight road led across perfectly flat farmland, so it was not long before we could see two spires rising above a huddle of buildings and trees. A few minutes later, we arrived at the outskirts of Hoven, which, with an official population of only 522, was little more than a village. On the edge of the settlement were the usual silos and an elevator. From them, Main Street led past two shops, two bars where food was available in the evenings, the very small but architecturally interesting high school and, next door to a small hospital, St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church, or the Cathedral of the Prairie.

St. Anthony’s Church could seat 1,000 people and was therefore very large. It must have served, and no doubt still served, a very large catchment area. Completed in 1921, the architect was Anton Dohmen. Dohmen conceived the ornate and highly decorated church in an overtly Germanic style. Its twin spires ascended 140 feet above the ground. Oak, marble, stained glass and intricate stencilling created an opulent interior. There was an organ with 1,127 pipes and the north steeple contained three bells.

The church was restored to its former glory in the 1980s. Because contractors said that a full restoration could take seven years and cost over $500,000, most work was done by volunteers who put in 20,000 hours of work. Amazingly, the job was completed in five years. The result was astonishing.

The Cathedral of the Prairie, Hoven, South Dakota

Hoven, South Dakota

A small county road ran north from Hoven before leading to Highway 12. We turned west and descended a few hundred feet into the valley of the Missouri River. A dam just north of Pierre had transformed the river into an extremely long reservoir called Lake Oahe. With the reservoir just beyond it, we entered the small town of Mobridge. Mobridge owed its foundation to the fact that the Missouri could be crossed by bridges with relative ease in pre-reservoir days. There was yet another railroad at Mobridge, which, when it opened, must have hastened the town’s development. The railroad still used its original bridge to cross the reservoir, but a new bridge had been built for the main road to continue its westward journey.

We stopped in Mobridge because on and around Main Street were a dozen or so old structures that gave an impression of what the town must have been like before economic decline had set in. Only freight trains used the railroad now, but they trundled through quite regularly. The tracks lay at the west end of Main Street with the reservoir just beyond. Between the railroad and the reservoir was an old road which led directly into the water. We came away with the impression that Mobridge must have lost a few buildings to the risen waters.

Mobridge, South Dakota

Mobridge, South Dakota

On the Road: Nebraska

Before crossing the Colorado state border into Nebraska, we stopped at Two Mile Creek. Along the north bank of the creek, a sandy outcrop had been eroded into low cliffs with unusual rock formations. Hundreds of swifts flew through the air; the cliffs were their nesting site. Thousands of crickets jumped in the grass as we walked around. About a dozen bikers passed on their way to Sturgis in South Dakota, their Harley-Davidsons purring efficiently in the otherwise quiet surroundings.

Two Mile Creek, at the border between Colorado and Nebraska

We were going to Scotts Bluff National Monument, but, because the direct route was being up-graded, had to follow a detour. The detour took us onto a dirt and gravel road for about 5 miles. Because the road crossed gently undulating ground and had only a few bends, it presented no real challenges to Hilary or the car. We soon returned to Highway 71, the direct route to Scotts Bluff, and entered the attractive Wildcat Hills. The scenery grew even more interesting as we approached Scotts Bluff itself, a dramatic eruption of rock surrounded on two sides by hills almost as high. Scotts Bluff and its neighbouring hills were heavily eroded. They overlooked the valley of the North Platte River, which formed part of the Mormon and the Oregon trails. Below Scotts Bluff was a museum and three wooden wagons, the latter in the open air. The wagons provided an insight into how people in the 19th century made their way along the trails. One wagon was full of the clothes, bedding and household items that a family might have had as they travelled west. Pretending to pull the wagons were fibre-glass oxen. We were told that, in contrast with Hollywood’s interpretation of journeys on wagon trains, oxen pulled most of the wagons. In the movies, the wagons were usually pulled by horses.

Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska

Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska

Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska

For $5, we drove the car to the summit of Scotts Bluff, from where there were excellent views in every direction. The summit was extensive enough to have three short hikes, which allowed us to engage more intimately with the dramatic cliffs and attractive wild flowers. One of the hikes took us through a short tunnel in the cliffs, but walkers had to watch out for rattlesnakes. We chickened out. Later on the trip, such warnings did not discourage us.

Alliance was our immediate destination because of nearby Carhenge, an unusual large-scale sculpture assembled from old cars painted silvery grey. But before arriving at Carhenge, we had to contend with Alliance itself, one of the day’s larger and more important towns. Alliance was dominated by the Burlington, Northern and Santa Fe Railroad and its enormous marshalling yard from where mile-long freight trains, many of which carried coal, were sent south, east and west. We never saw what passed for Alliance’s town centre, but the railroad and landmark buildings associated with it were reward enough.

Carhenge has been assembled in such a way as to resemble Stonehenge, the far more famous ancient monument in the Wiltshire countryside in the UK. Carhenge is well worth a detour and an hour of anyone’s time. Some cars and car parts unrelated to the original sculpture have been added to the site in recent years. The additions manifest a variety of colours, rust included. They compromise the impact of the original sculpture, but can be excluded from the views at certain angles. However, some of the additions are interesting in their own right.

Carhenge, Alliance, Nebraska

Carhenge, Alliance, Nebraska

We drove north and then west from Carhenge to Highway 385, which took us to Pine Ridge and the attractive Nebraska National Forest. We descended from the ridge into Chadron where we hoped to stay overnight. The Super 8 Hotel wanted $129 for the night, which we thought was ridiculous. The more central Economy 9, which was organised as a motel rather than a hotel, offered us a room for $56, taxes included. The Economy 9 provided only tea and coffee to kick-start the day, but, at the price, who could complain? Fellow guests included a few bikers on their way to Sturgis. One biker travelled alone, but with his pet chihuahua. When in transit, the chihuahua had a bed in the trailer attached to the bike. On the back of the trailer was a “God and Guns” sticker. The biker was probably a Republican. More specifically, he may have been a supporter of the Tea Party.

According to signs as we entered Chadron, the town had a population of just over 6,000. But Chadron was home to Chadron State College, which must almost double the town’s population during term time. Because the academic year in most US colleges and universities began earlier than in colleges and universities in the UK, some of the students were on the campus and in the town centre. Some of the early arrivals were members of the football and soccer teams. They engaged in training before classes began.

We had assumed that Chadron would be little more than a place in which to sleep and grab some food before bed, but this was not the case. A considerable number of notable brick and stone structures were on Main Street and 2nd Avenue. Some such buildings were originally hotels, but they now contained bars, coffee shops, restaurants and other business premises, as did their neighbours. The oldest structures seemed to date from the 1880s. At the north end of Main Street was a railroad where sidings, freight wagons, silos, elevators and other storage facilities added an extra dimension to the town’s character and appeal.

Chadron, Nebraska

Chadron, Nebraska

Chadron, Nebraska

Chadron, Nebraska

Chadron, Nebraska

Chadron, Nebraska

Vernal and Price, Utah

Although both ends of Vernal’s Main Street are blighted with shopping precincts and unattractive modern kipple, Main Street in downtown is instantly appealing. Mature trees grow along the sidewalks and overlooking the sidewalks are many landmark buildings, most of which have been built with brick and stone.

Vernal, Utah

After eating, we went for a walk to help digest the food. It was 13th June, so the sun was not setting for another two hours. We confined our walk to Main Street where we examined the landmark buildings (e.g. the one-time Bank of Vernal, Utah Field House of Natural History and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church) and the statues and pictures of dinosaurs. We liked the mature trees and colourful flowers, the latter in large tubs or hanging baskets. Most downtown business premises were occupied and seemed to be doing quite well. Vernal seemed content with itself and the world more generally.

Vernal, Utah

I went in search of landmark buildings. This being Utah, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), to give the Mormons their official title, had a big presence locally, so I first went to find some notable LDS buildings. Such buildings in Utah were often off Main Street in leafy residential areas a few blocks from the middle of downtown, as was the case in Vernal. Vernal’s very attractive temple occupied a pre-existing LDS building completed in 1907. It was adapted to meet contemporary LDS needs in the 1990s. Nearby was an old LDS seminary and the Western Heritage Museum. Among other things, the museum celebrated the lives of early Mormon pioneers.

Vernal, Utah

In the centre of the town on one of the main crossroads was what used to be the Bank of Vernal, and to the east of the bank was a shop selling high quality Navajo jewellery, beadwork, rugs and household items. Outside the shop was a large wooden statue of a Navajo male. Statues of dinosaurs made with what looked like fibre-glass came in various sizes, but the best was the largest. It stood upright on its hind legs. It looked like an extra in a cartoon such as “The Flintstones”. Downtown had its share of attractive old signs attached to the walls of buildings so they hung over the sidewalk to advertise businesses long gone or still operating and, a block south of Main Street, the tiny office of the Greyhound bus company was next to a laundrette. As I passed the Greyhound office, a bus for Reno pulled away with only seven passengers aboard.

Vernal, Utah

Vernal, Utah

Vernal, Utah

Vernal, Utah

We drove to Price where we took a room in the excellent Legacy Inn, which was beside the railroad and only a ten minute walk from downtown.

It was Fathers’ Day and some of the restaurants in Price were offering special deals to attract extra customers. We opted for a Mexican meal in a restaurant just to the east of downtown. This necessitated a drive, but we were not unduly worried because we knew the restaurant did not serve alcohol. Hilary had iced tea and I had a large glass of horchata. After eating, I went for a walk around downtown where landmark buildings (e.g. a delightful corner structure now operating as Farlaino’s Cafe, an art moderne bank and two cinemas), ghosts signs and painted adverts were sufficient in number to justify an amble lasting over an hour. Some very poor people walked aimlessly around and two asked for money for food or drink, but there was no danger or risk.

Price, Utah

Price, Utah

Price, Utah

Price, Utah

Price, Utah

Kemmerer and Diamondville, Wyoming

We arrived in Kemmerer, an old mining and railroad town famous for the remarkable fossils found in the surrounding area. The town’s first two motels looked barely open or as if they rented only to people on a long-term basis, and the third asked too much for what was a grubby room. But we struck lucky with the fourth motel, one called the Antler. Its elaborate metal sign overlooking the main road suggested we had been transported to the 1950s or 1960s.

Kemmerer, Wyoming

Kemmerer, Wyoming

Kemmerer turned out to be the perfect place to stay for our last night on the road. It was an economically disadvantaged settlement, despite being on the Union Pacific Railroad and having gas and oil installations in the area, but there were enough landmark buildings in downtown to provide some stimulation. Moreover, even better things existed just a few miles west of the town at Fossil Butte National Monument, which we visited the following morning.

Kemmerer was established in 1897 and incorporated in 1899. It prides itself on its coal mining heritage. A mine remains open about 6 miles from the town. Mining in and around Kemmerer began underground, but today’s one is said to be the largest open-pit coal mine in the world. The Union Pacific Coal Company opened the first underground mine in 1881 after construction of the Oregon Short Line Railroad from Granger to Oregon via Idaho.

Downtown, the notable buildings include Lincoln County Courthouse, the Town Hall, an eye-catching brick-built post office, a terrace of commercial buildings on South Main Street, the J. C. Penney Mother Store and the J. C. Penney Homestead, the latter a delightful but surprisingly modest house not far from the railroad.

Kemmerer, Wyoming

J. C. Penney Mother Store, Kemmerer, Wyoming

J. C. Penney Home, Kemmerer, Wyoming

A little-known fact about Kemmerer is that  J. C. (James Cash) Penney founded what was to become his chain of stores after moving to Kemmerer in 1902. Penney came to Kemmerer to open a dry goods store for the booming mining town. The original store still operates in Kemmerer, although it gives the impression that business is slack.

Kemmerer’s downtown has some ghost signs, painted adverts and murals, and it would be foolish not to admire the appearance of at least two of the motels (e.g. Chateau Motel). Note also that some buildings have art moderne embellishments of a modest kind, as befits a town that has never been very large.

Kemmerer, Wyoming

Just for the fun of it, we drove the mile or two to the neighbouring settlement of Diamondville (in reality, there is no gap between the two settlements today) and were delighted that we did. Diamondville Avenue is the only street worth visiting, but a number of interesting buildings survive from the past. The buildings are largely constructed with brick, wood and corrugated iron. There are a garage, a blacksmith’s shop, a few other old structures and a one-time saloon. The one-time saloon now functions as a store selling antiques and bric-a-brac. Today, Diamondville Avenue shows very few signs of life, commercial or otherwise, but it has an enviable collection of landmark buildings worthy of preservation.

Diamondville, Wyoming

Diamondville, Wyoming

Diamondville Wyoming

Diamondville, Wyoming

Diamondville, Wyoming

Diamondville, Wyoming

I went for a last walk around Kemmerer as the sun began to sink below the horizon. I took photos of two carved wooden figures outside Bob’s Rock Shop near the motel. The figures have stood there since about 2003. The owner of the shop purchased the elderly male figure in Shoshone, Wyoming and shortly thereafter bought the statue of the elderly female figure from someone living near Kemmerer. Although the figures derive from different sources, they look quite similar and therefore suggest that they might be husband and wife.

Kemmerer, Wyoming

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

2011. Our next destination was Antelope Flats Road so we could see Mormon Row. Some of the most famous and picturesque wooden cabins and farm buildings lay north of Antelope Flats Road, but Mormon Row proper, which lay to the south, also had structures of architectural note. All the best structures lay west of the road on the floor of the flat Snake River Valley. When we looked at them from the road, the Tetons were in the middle distance, thereby providing the perfect backdrop. In the valley itself, the Mormons had dug irrigation ditches about a century ago to carry water from the Snake River tributaries to the crops in their fields. The ditches still carried water.

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Visibility was outstanding. Puffs of white cloud progressed slowly across the blue sky. Wild flowers and butterflies were almost everywhere.

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Because Mormon Row was strung along a dirt and gravel road, it was quite easy to imagine what Snake River Valley looked like when pioneers, Mormon or otherwise, settled in the area in the 19th century. The road beside Mormon Row led to an asphalt road to the south, and the asphalt road led to the small settlement of Kelly. We drove north from Kelly and, after a few miles, rejoined Antelope Flats Road. Our circuit took us across gently undulating prairie where the grass fed elk, pronghorn deer and bison. One herd of bison comprised of about 50 bulls, females and calves. In all, we saw three herds of pronghorn deer. One herd of pronghorns had about 40 adults and fawns. A smaller herd of about 20 jumped a fence and, between passing cars, crossed the road in small groups.

2014. We next drove to Mormon Row. Mormon Row comprised of old buildings, most of which were wooden. They lay just to the west of a dirt and gravel road. When we stood on the road and faced west with the buildings in the foreground, the Tetons looked their very best. Thus positioned, we secured the views that were the most popular ones with people passing through the area.

We had visited Mormon Row three years earlier, but, because of the early morning light and experimenting with angles, a lot of new views opened up, although it was impossible to resist taking photos of the large old wooden barn that must feature in every collection of shots of the Tetons from Mormon Row.

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mormon Row was on Antelope Flats. When the Mormons first settled to farm the land, they dug irrigation ditches to carry water from the nearby creeks to their fields. Some of the irrigation ditches survived, one being in the vicinity of the buildings themselves.

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

We could not resist driving east and then south, thereby making our way back to the main highway through the national park via Kelly and the very pretty Gros Ventre River. It was while we were in the vicinity of Kelly that we saw a large herd of bison.

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Mormon Row, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Bozeman and Livingston, Montana

We walked to Main Street and turned toward Bozeman’s city centre. There were many people walking around, very few vacant lots, only a handful of empty business premises and plenty of tempting bars, cafes and restaurants. Inevitably, some of the most impressive structures were old banks, a theatre and some large one-time hotels, most of the latter now apartment blocks, but we decided to examine them another time. We were hungry.

Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman, Montana

We got to the part of Main Street where the east end of downtown ran out and saw the Montana Ale Works, a large bar and restaurant occupying what had once been a Northern Pacific Railroad freight house (just behind the ale house was a railroad track that had made it easy for goods to be brought directly to the freight house doors. Another track led beside some very photogenic silos and elevators). We went inside and were warned that we had about 30 minutes to wait until a table was free. We were not in the least worried. The menu looked very good; there were about 30 beers and lagers from which to chose (the beers and lagers had been made in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho); the place was very popular; some pool tables were busy with competitive individuals digesting their food after a good meal; and I suddenly had the spare time to take photos of the nearby silos and elevators in excellent early evening visibility (the sun had declined low enough to ensure that no shadows marred the photos, but there was enough light to shoot without a flash).

Bozeman, Montana

It was about 9.15pm when we left Montana Ale Works, but downtown Bozeman was still very busy. Although quite a lot of people were drinking, the atmosphere was very relaxed. We popped into the lobby of an old hotel, now mostly converted into apartments, because it led to a bar and restaurant popular with some of Bozeman’s wealthiest citizens. Although smaller than Billings, Missoula and Great Falls (Bozeman had an official population of about 40,000), we already knew that Bozeman had more up-market shops and businesses than any of the larger Montana cities just listed. We were great fans of Bozeman by the end of our stay, so much so that we could imagine that life there would be an awful lot better than in many other places around the world. Partly because it was home to Montana State University,  Bozeman was a civilised sort of place, but big enough to be socio-economically diverse. However, in common with most other settlements in Montana, the city was overwhelmingly white. Almost 94% of the population defined themselves as white. About 20% of the population lived below the poverty line.

Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman, Montana

I had a walk around downtown. Among the delightful buildings that caught my eye were Gallatin County Courthouse, Blackmore Apartments, Carnegie Library, Emerson Centre, First Baptist Church, Willson School, Hamill Apartments, Holy Rosary Church Rectory, Baxter Hotel and Bozeman Hotel. Main Street had very few structures that were not attractive or interesting, and many had ghosts signs, painted adverts and metal signs overhanging the sidewalks. Some downtown buildings had art moderne characteristics, and new structures had been conceived on a scale in sympathy with their neighbours. Quite correctly, some of the older buildings were on the National Register of Historic Places. Bozeman looked even better that morning than the night before.

Willson School, Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman, Montana

Gallatin County Courthouse, Bozeman, Montana

It was about 5.00pm when we arrived at the southern edge of Livingston, so we drove to downtown to look around. I am glad we did so because we encountered a few blocks of remarkably interesting buildings (the best buildings included old hotels, the Empire Theatre with its stunning 1950s or 1960s façade, an old department store, other shops of more modest scale, and a silo and elevator beside the railroad), lots of ghost signs and painted adverts, and perhaps the best railroad station of the trip, a stunning stone and brick structure dating from 1902 with columns and a covered walkway to the now-unused platform. Moreover, in a siding not far from the station, an immaculately clean Montana Rail Link (MRL) diesel had pulled up with six stainless steel carriages behind it. Two of the six carriages had seats arranged on raised floors beneath raised roofs pierced with many panes of glass. After making their way to the seats via stairs leading from the compartments below, passengers could enjoy panoramic views while the carriages were in motion.

A security guard came out of his motor vehicle when we stopped to take photos of the train. I had assumed that the train was a special that might run only at weekends to take rail enthusiasts along a portion of the railroad that now no longer had passenger services. After being told that we were not allowed to get close to the train, the security guard said that it belonged to the man who owned MRL. Apparently, the owner spent most of his time living aboard the train.

Livingston, Montana

Livingston, Montana

Empire Theatre, Livingston, Montana

Livingston, Montana

Railroad station, Livingston, Montana

Montana Rail Link owner’s train, Livingston, Montana

Billings, Montana

We arrived at the northern outskirts of Billings. Because of the amount of traffic on the roads, it felt like a big city. However, it was not as large as Salt Lake City, which had about double the population of Montana’s largest settlement.

Billings, Montana

We stayed two nights in the Western Inn, which had a few advantages other than being clean and run by very friendly people. Historic downtown, centred on Montana Avenue, was less than a mile away, a walk of five minutes led to two micro-breweries, the railroad and a large marshalling yard were two blocks to the south and the delightful residential streets of Yellowstone, Wyoming and Clark were about three blocks to the west. Less than a two minutes walk from the motel was Moss Mansion Museum housed in one of Billings most elegant old houses.

Billings, Montana

Billings, Montana

Billings, Montana

Billings, Montana

For my first walk around downtown but with the temperature just exceeding 100 degrees fahrenheit, I concentrated on the Montana Avenue area near the city’s old railroad depot and its related structures, and crossed the railroad tracks to look around the slightly more edgy and rundown area around 27th Street, Minnesota Avenue and 2nd Avenue South. South of the railroad, a few landmark structures mingled with old commercial and industrial buildings, a very large thrift store and a rescue mission.

Billings, Montana

Billings, Montana

Among the landmark buildings north of the railroad were Western Heritage Centre, housed in what used to be Parmly Billings Library; Billings Depot and its one-time lunchroom, mail building and office building; an art moderne bus station almost exactly the same as the one in Great Falls; and Northern Hotel. The original Northern Hotel was destroyed by fire in 1940, but it was rebuilt and re-opened the following year. The hotel shut in 2006, but was sold at auction in 2009. Since then, it has been given a remarkable makeover. Many people think it is now the best hotel in Montana.

What I liked the most about the Northern Hotel were the bar, the diner and the lobby on the ground floor, all of which have many design features evoking the 1940s and 1950s. There was also a stunning two-leaf stainless steel doorway framed by the square blocks of glass that many people have in their bathrooms, often as partitions or to enclose the shower. The doors had steel stalks of corn welded to the handles.

Northern Hotel, Billings, Montana

Billings had many interesting bars, most of which had elaborate metal signs and bright lights hanging over the sidewalk, and there were dozens of interesting ghosts signs and painted adverts. The city also had plenty of interesting places in which to eat and drink.

Billings, Montana

Billings, Montana

I went for a walk toward the railroad. I passed a hotel sub-divided into three parts where some of the guests were engaged in discussions outside their rooms. Every so often, someone disappeared into a nearby casino before re-emerging a few minutes later to drop off small packages to the guests who still loitered in the fresh air. It was obvious that drug deals were taking place. Nearby, two massage parlours, one of which offered “oriental massage”, had signs that said they operated 24 hours a day, which suggested that both were fronts for brothels. Also not far away were two blocks of “apartments” that were really no more than motel rooms spread over two floors. The “apartments” were rented by people, families included, for whom the American dream had so far proved illusory, perhaps above all because of disadvantage and discrimination. Despite trying to keep their hopes alive and expending vast amounts of energy and effort, such people were living on the poverty line. In reality, they were never going to realise the American dream. Nor were the vast majority of their fellow citizens.

It was interesting to note that the majority of the people who rented the “apartments” or the rooms in the rundown motels near the Western Inn were white Americans, the very people for whom the American dream was meant to be easiest to attain. Also, although a few first people, African Americans and Hispanics were among the homeless and therefore dependent on the shelters and refuges that we had seen in almost every population centre exceeding 20,000 people, a majority were white Americans. When first people and Hispanics encountered hard times, they could usually rely on support from within their own community. Such support for white Americans and African Americans more often derived from religious groups or charities.

Billings, Montana

Billings, Montana

Billings, Montana

Billings, Montana

Red Lodge, Montana and the Beartooth All American Road, Montana and Wyoming

Despite being a staging post for visitors making their way to natural wonders such as the Beartooth Mountains, Gallatin National Forest, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, Red Lodge is the acceptable face of tourism because the tourist facilities do not obscure that Red Lodge is also a routine Montana settlement. Moreover, the tourist facilities present themselves in a manner characterised by restraint and good taste, for the most part at least. Broadway is the main thoroughfare and it has dozens of carefully preserved landmark buildings including hotels, shops, bakeries, cafes, bars and restaurants. There are lots of ghost signs, painted adverts and metal signs overhanging the sidewalks, and the Montana state flag is at least as popular as the stars and stripes. There is also a small elevator and silo beside what was once a railroad almost certainly connecting with the one from Laurel to Wyoming.

Red Lodge, Montana

Red Lodge, Montana

Red Lodge, Montana

Red Lodge, Montana

Red Lodge, Montana

Red Lodge, Montana

Work began on the Beartooth Highway, or what is now the Beartooth All American Road, in 1931 and was completed in 1936. The road begins to ascend almost as soon as it leaves Red Lodge, about 5,500 feet above sea level, and the remarkable views persist until it ends at the entrance to Yellowstone National Park about 70 miles away.

Beartooth All American Road

At first, the mountains into which we drove were clad with coniferous forest, but the highest peaks were snow-smudged rock faces devoid of vegetation. Rock Creek, which we had followed since Rockvale, poured downhill over boulders glistening in the water. We passed beside a large patch of fire-damaged forest. The fire must have been quite recently because there were very few signs of rejuvenation. Switchbacks and a steadily ascending road meant that we were soon very high. We overlooked valleys shaped by glacial activity.

We arrived at Rock Creek Vista Overlook, 9,190 feet above sea level, and could not resist taking photos from the trail that led about 800 feet from the car park. The trail terminated at a narrow ridge of rock with very steep drops on both sides, but, with no trees to obscure the views, it provided the perfect opportunity to admire the Beartooth Mountains, the highest in Montana (the highest mountain in Montana is Granite Peak at 12,799 feet).

Beartooth All American Road

Beartooth All American Road

We returned to the car and continued to ascend. All trees were soon behind or below us. Patches of snow and ice, permanent features at this altitude, increased in number and some were large. A few people skied across the largest patches, but many preferred to walk instead. We stopped the car a number of times, sometimes to engage with the snow and ice, but more often to admire the beautiful wild flowers that thrived in the mountains during the short summer season. Many of the flowers were alpines.

We chatted with someone who said that the road closed every winter. It had reopened only five weeks prior to our visit on 12th June. However, about a fortnight before our visit, the road had been forced to close again because of a very late snowfall. When we arrived at what was almost the highest point on the road, a heavy duty motor vehicle with an elongated scoop had been parked beside the road. It had recently been used to keep the traffic flowing.

Beartooth All American Road

Beartooth All American Road

Beartooth All American Road

We crossed the border into Wyoming and, a few miles further along, arrived at the highest point on the road, 10,947 feet above sea level. The views over the meadows, glaciers, snowfields and mountains were exceptional.

Despite encountering three or four lakes on the way to Beartooth Pass, the drive from Red Lodge had been dominated by extensive views over mountains, deep valleys and large forests. However, a landscape more intimate lay ahead because the patches of forest were smaller, rocky outcrops lay among lakes, meandering creeks made their way past meadows full of wild flowers and marshes had formed where the ground was level. High mountains, Pilot Peak included, dominated every view to the west and south. We stopped the car so Hilary could have a rest and, as she did so, I walked the short distance to a tall waterfall descending a mountainside at roughly 45 degrees from the perpendicular. Both near the waterfall and a little earlier when we had followed Clark’s Fork Creek, the road meandered into and out of Montana while spending most time in Wyoming. Deciduous and coniferous trees thrived side by side, thereby adding even more interest to the scenery.

Beartooth All American Road

Beartooth All American Road

Philipsburg, Anaconda and Butte, Montana

Three of Montana’s most interesting settlements, Philipsburg, Anaconda and Butte, are found in the same small region of the state with a mere 50 or so miles separating Philipsburg, the most westerly of the three, from Butte, the most easterly.

Philipsburg is the county seat for Granite County and therefore has a courthouse, which we entered to admire the unpretentious interior. The town’s population is officially over 800 and therefore quite substantial by the standards of the region. Philipsburg owes its existence to mining (a few ghost towns, Granite included, lie nearby) and is named after Philip Deidesheimer, who designed and supervised the construction of the ore smelter around which the town originally grew. Almost 97% of the population defines itself as white.

Granite County Courthouse, Philipsburg, Montana

Philipsburg, Montana

Philipsburg was founded in 1867 and grew very rapidly. By the end of the year, it had a population of about 1,500. The surrounding hills still display the scars that facilitated the production of large amounts of silver, manganese, sapphire and, to a lesser extent, gold.

Philipsburg has taken great care to preserve its past, so much so that it is a popular destination for people passing through or staying a few nights. It has a very attractive main street called Broadway. This means that some aspects of the town are designed primarily to appeal to tourists and visitors, but Philipsburg is just big enough to have a more routine and everyday existence, one most apparent among the houses along the paved and unpaved residential streets overlooking Broadway. In this residential area is the Sanctuary, perhaps the most remarkable lodgings we saw during the five weeks of our trip.

Philipsburg, Montana

In 1891, Reverend Samuel Wishard established a permanent Presbyterian congregation in Philipsburg. Members of the congregation held services and Sunday school in the schoolhouse until the summer of 1893 when the town’s Presbyterian church was completed. Services in the church continued until 1990 when the building was sold to a private owner. The current owner, Dave Chappell, has restored the outside, converted the interior into two bedrooms with en suite facilities and built two cabins in the garden. The former church is now the Sanctuary. The bedrooms and cabins can be hired by the night. Overnight guests have access to a beautiful veranda, garden and lounge. Chappell has richly embellished the interior with delightful pieces of furniture, ornaments and works of art.

The Sanctuary, Philipsburg, Montana

Externally, the most notable feature of the one-time church is its unusual hexagonal copper dome and intricate scrollwork, which easily make the steeple the most distinctive in the town. Gothic windows with tracery, lancet openings and a round window embellish the simple frame façade. Known locally as the White Church, the building lies along Church Row north of Broadway.

The Sanctuary, Philipsburg, Montana

This remarkable building aside, there is plenty to admire along or just off Broadway. Look out for a micro-brewery, a museum, an opera house that still functions as a theatre (we met an actor getting ready to perform a play in late July. He had worked in London for the National Theatre. He worked for the National Theatre primarily because he could convincingly reproduce a large number of American accents), many stone and brick buildings with carefully carved wooden embellishments, ghost signs, painted adverts, a candy store said to have the largest stock of sweet things in the region, and a very good diner and soda fountain.

The diner and soda fountain had recently been taken over by a very friendly couple from Texas. We chatted with the couple as we sat at the counter consuming excellent root beer floats. We also had a good chat with staff in the courthouse who directed us to the nearby jail. The jail has a tower and in the window of the tower is a hangman’s noose.

Philipsburg, Montana

Today, Anaconda is most famous for the very tall smoke stack surviving from the time when the town was, in common with so many other settlements in the region, an important mining centre. Built in 1919, the smoke stack is 585 feet tall. At the time of its construction, it was the tallest masonry chimney and brickwork structure of any kind in the world. It remains the world’s tallest and possibly largest free-standing such structure anywhere. The inside diameter of the stack is 75 feet at the bottom and 60 feet at the top. The wall thickness tapers from 6 feet at the bottom to 2 feet at the top. Built by a company with offices in New York, the stack was designed to discharge exhaust gases from the different roasting and smelting furnaces at the town’s smelter. It is situated on the top of a hill. The smelter had a large network of flues from the furnaces that all fed a single main flue. The main flue carried the exhaust gases half a mile up the hill to the stack. The smelter at Anaconda was demolished after its closure in 1981, but the stack was retained.

Smoke stack, Anaconda, Montana

As would be expected, the land around the smoke stack was thoroughly cleaned following the demolition of the smelter. Today, a golf course called Old Works occupies part of the smelter’s site.

Anaconda has an official population of about 9,000 people, thereby making it the ninth or tenth largest settlement in Montana, which emphasises how small the state’s total population is. Main Street is a delight because it has dozens of landmark buildings. Such buildings include Deer Lodge County Courthouse; Hearst Free Library; Club Moderne (as its name implies, Club Moderne was designed in art moderne style); Washoe Theatre (among other things, note the brick patterns on the exterior); City Hall (this is now a museum and art centre); a large old hotel (although currently empty, the hotel will eventually be restored to its former glory); many commercial buildings, some with ghost signs and painted adverts; and two motels with plenty of character. The railroad also has a presence. It links the town with nearby Butte, but we do not know how often it is used, if it is used at all.

Hearst Free Library, Anaconda, Montana

Washoe Theatre, Anaconda, Montana

Anaconda, Montana

Anaconda, Montana

The architecturally significant part of Butte was so large that I could not possibly do as I really wanted to do, which was walk around every block in the historic district, but I saw as many blocks as I could, both to the west and east of Montana Street. Although familiar with many of the landmark buildings because of a prior visit, I came across some different ones. Walking along the back alleys, there were ghost signs, painted adverts and unusual views of tall or bulky structures. For the afternoon and evening, I concentrated on the blocks east of Montana Street, but the following morning, I spent most time west of Montana where some of Butte’s most elegant houses had survived from the past. It was great to be back. One aspect of the town we liked the best was a visit to Quarry Brewing. Since our last visit, the brewery had moved to better premises.

Butte, Montana

Butte, Montana

Finlen Hotel, Butte Montana

Butte, Montana

Butte, Montana

If you have enjoyed this post and wish to see a few more photos of Butte, visit the blog entitled “In Search of Unusual Destinations” where you will find a post called “Shelby, Kalispell and Butte, Montana, USA”.

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, and Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado and Utah

Mesa Verde National Park gave us the opportunity to engage with some delightfully verdant scenery and highly distinctive first people ruins, thereby providing a contrast with what had dominated the last few days, remarkably arid canyon and mountain scenery in which traces of human existence were relatively few in number. We called at the national park visitor and research centre, then ascended the scenically rewarding few miles to Mancos Valley Overlook. A tunnel took the road through a mountain and we stopped at Montezuma Valley Overlook. We also stopped at Park Point Overlook, Geologic Overlook, Far View Area, Far View Sites, Cedar Tree Tower, Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum, Spruce Tree House, Mesa Top Loop Cliff Palace and Balcony House.

Some of the remarkable ruins of the ancestral Pueblo people had to be viewed from afar, but most we could examine close up, not least along the Mesa Top Loop where we encountered 600 years of Puebloan architectural development (the Pueblo people moved to Mesa Verde about the year 550). First came the pit houses. Houses were built above ground using poles and mud, or adobe, from about 750. A few pit houses were retained and developed into kivas, which seem to have been used for different religious, social and utilitarian purposes. By 1000, construction skills had advanced so much that houses were built with stone. Walls of thick double-coursed stone often rose two or three storeys and were joined as units of 50 or more rooms. For a reason or reasons not yet understood, about the year 1225, people began to build their stone villages in the cliff alcoves that probably sheltered their ancestors when they first arrived in Mesa Verde about the year 550. It was the cliff dwellings that made the national park most famous. Most were built from the late 1190s to the 1270s. However, Mesa Verde was deserted by about 1300. Whether because of drought, soils drained of their nutrients or the lack of wild animals to hunt, the Pueblo people left for New Mexico and Arizona where the Hopi Indians and the people of Zuni, Laguna, Acoma and the pueblos along the Rio Grande trace their ancestry to the Pueblo people of Mesa Verde.

In the museum and the visitor and research centre, we acquired an insight into the flora and fauna of the area, and into the tools, weapons, basketry and pottery for which the Pueblo people were rightly famous. We also learned that trade took place with people far to the west and south (seashells have been found in the area that originate from the Pacific Ocean).

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Mesa Verde, Colorado

It was mid-afternoon and an ideal time to visit Hovenweep National Monument. We drove from Bluff along the very pretty valley of the San Juan River to Montezuma Creek where we took a wrong turn, thereby adding about 15 miles to our journey (nonetheless, the scenery was very attractive).

The canyon and mesa country north of the San Juan River possessed many archaeological sites where ancestors of today’s Pueblo people once lived. Round, square and D-shaped towers grouped at canyon heads confirmed the existence of once-thriving communities. No one had lived in the communities for over 700 years, but their construction and location still inspired awe.

Many dwellings stood on the canyon rim and some were built on isolated or irregular boulders, which were not the best sites for safety or quick and convenient access. Most dwellings were associated with springs and seeps near canyon heads. Such locations suggest that the ancestral Pueblo people were protecting something, if not themselves, then perhaps the water itself, an extremely valuable resource for desert-dwelling agriculturalists. By 1200, the population had grown considerably and pollen studies reveal that most of the tree cover had been removed. Perhaps drought and depleted resources explain why the ancestral Pueblo people suddenly departed from the area in the late 1200s.

Someone called W. D. Huntington first reported these structures after leading an 1854 Mormon expedition into south-east Utah. In 1874, the photographer W. H. Jackson first used the name “Hovenweep” to describe the area, which is Ute and Paiute for “deserted valley”. It was in 1923 that the area, straddling the border between Utah and Colorado, became a national monument. Today, quiet and primitive trails led past tall towers, outlines of multi-room pueblos, piles of stone blocks, small cliff dwellings, pottery shards and rock art. We were left in no doubt that this ruggedly beautiful high desert setting was home to a substantial population and that the stonemasons had developed enviable skills as builders. We noted the finely hewn stone blocks, the clearly defined corners and the smooth curves of Hovenweep’s architecture. The stonemasons’ skills were almost as good as the skills of the stonemasons responsible for the ruins in Mesa Verde.

Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument