Today I took only one picture so I decided to include three pictures from two days ago. Picture 1 – Bridge over Lake Koocanusa about 30 miles north of the Libby Dam. Picture 2 – The gorge and river in Glacier Park where kids were jumping into the river. Picture 3 – A close up of the pool they jumped into. Picture 4 – An old steamboat that was used on the Missouri River near Wolf Point, MT.
Last night I stayed in Glasgow, MT and I rode to Minot, ND to end my day; a distance of about 280 miles. Rain threatened all day but I never got any rain until I secured my motel room in Minot. Then we had about 5 minutes of drizzle. In Williston, ND, which was about half way on today’s ride, I stopped for lunch and checked out the weather channel weather map on my computer. There was a huge band of thunder storms about 60 miles south of my position that stretched almost the entire width of the state. This would have put it smack dab on top of I-94 which made me glad that I was riding US-2 rather than the interstate.
Having left Montana, let me summarize my thoughts about this state. First of all, Montana is one wide state. Riding on US-2 from the Idaho border to the North Dakota border is about 680 miles. That is the equivalent of the distance between Lansing, MI and New York, NY. On the western end of Montana the terrain in mountainous and heavily forested and I might add; it is quite beautiful. Riding through Glacier National Park was some of the best scenery that I have seen anywhere. Once I left Glacier Park, I entered the town of Browning which was probably one of the dumpiest towns I have come across on my trip. Later I found out that it is a town on an Indian Reservation that has an extremely high crime rate and murder rate. Four people had been murdered there in just the last two months with the most recent being just one day before I passed through the town.
From Browning all the way to North Dakota, the terrain changed from mountains to flat dry farm and grazing land. The roads changed from twisty to fast and straight. Riding on US-2 was nice for a change but the scenery got to be a little boring. All along US-2 there were little towns dotting the way about every 20 miles or so, with absolutely nothing in between. The towns were obviously populated by Native Americans because I have never seen so many casinos in my life. Every town had at least one casino and in some towns there were dozens. There were casinos everywhere. They were in gas stations, liquor stores, restaurants, and casinos all by themselves. In my mind, I imagined that Montana to be all mountains and lakes. Boy was I wrong. It is like that only on the western third of the state. Otherwise, it was flat prairie land.
On today’s ride I stopped at three historic sites. The first told about how, in 1837, the Little Girl Band of Assiniboine Indians were exposed to smallpox by the European trappers. The exposure wiped out 94% of the entire tribe. Numerous other tribes were exposed to the disease as well with almost as devastating results as the Assiniboines had. The second was at Wolf Point, MT which told about the Lewis and Clark Expedition which passed through that area in 1805. I might add that I have crossed over the Lewis and Clark trail several times in the last few days. Wolf Point got its name because in 1879 trappers killed several hundred wolves and piled them up along the Missouri River for the steamboats to see as they passed by. The final site was tribute to the steamboats that used to run up and down the Missouri River bringing supplies to the settlers and forts that were populating the area. I have included a picture of one of the steamboats above.
Last night I stayed in Glasgow, MT and I rode to Minot, ND to end my day; a distance of about 280 miles. Rain threatened all day but I never got any rain until I secured my motel room in Minot. Then we had about 5 minutes of drizzle. In Williston, ND, which was about half way on today’s ride, I stopped for lunch and checked out the weather channel weather map on my computer. There was a huge band of thunder storms about 60 miles south of my position that stretched almost the entire width of the state. This would have put it smack dab on top of I-94 which made me glad that I was riding US-2 rather than the interstate.
Having left Montana, let me summarize my thoughts about this state. First of all, Montana is one wide state. Riding on US-2 from the Idaho border to the North Dakota border is about 680 miles. That is the equivalent of the distance between Lansing, MI and New York, NY. On the western end of Montana the terrain in mountainous and heavily forested and I might add; it is quite beautiful. Riding through Glacier National Park was some of the best scenery that I have seen anywhere. Once I left Glacier Park, I entered the town of Browning which was probably one of the dumpiest towns I have come across on my trip. Later I found out that it is a town on an Indian Reservation that has an extremely high crime rate and murder rate. Four people had been murdered there in just the last two months with the most recent being just one day before I passed through the town.
From Browning all the way to North Dakota, the terrain changed from mountains to flat dry farm and grazing land. The roads changed from twisty to fast and straight. Riding on US-2 was nice for a change but the scenery got to be a little boring. All along US-2 there were little towns dotting the way about every 20 miles or so, with absolutely nothing in between. The towns were obviously populated by Native Americans because I have never seen so many casinos in my life. Every town had at least one casino and in some towns there were dozens. There were casinos everywhere. They were in gas stations, liquor stores, restaurants, and casinos all by themselves. In my mind, I imagined that Montana to be all mountains and lakes. Boy was I wrong. It is like that only on the western third of the state. Otherwise, it was flat prairie land.
On today’s ride I stopped at three historic sites. The first told about how, in 1837, the Little Girl Band of Assiniboine Indians were exposed to smallpox by the European trappers. The exposure wiped out 94% of the entire tribe. Numerous other tribes were exposed to the disease as well with almost as devastating results as the Assiniboines had. The second was at Wolf Point, MT which told about the Lewis and Clark Expedition which passed through that area in 1805. I might add that I have crossed over the Lewis and Clark trail several times in the last few days. Wolf Point got its name because in 1879 trappers killed several hundred wolves and piled them up along the Missouri River for the steamboats to see as they passed by. The final site was tribute to the steamboats that used to run up and down the Missouri River bringing supplies to the settlers and forts that were populating the area. I have included a picture of one of the steamboats above.
2 comments:
Jerry,
We are enjoying your 'adventure' every day. Hope you publish your 'Blog' in book or pamphlet form some day.
Safe trip home.
Marie & Jerry Herr
Hi Jerry !! your account of the many casinos along the way reminds me of a classic picture ( pre digital ) I took a feww years ago while traveling to Mount Rushmore. The photo ( in Rapid City, South Dakota ) shows two(2) store-front casinos with a pawnshop wedged between them. No caption is necessary. The picture tells the story.
Keep on keeping on, Gabe
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