Gates of the Mountain and First People's Buffalo Jump

Yes we are amazed for another day. We met at the Big Flag, a welcome center park downtown. I had a few minutes so a looked for a geocache which I found in a very clever hide. Off in a 15-person van. I sat in the back and could not hear a thing - poor me. We stopped at Tower rock on the way to the Gates of the Mountains. It was an huge formation jutting right out of the ground. I just wish I could spend hour here hiking it, but, no we are on the move. We come to the ranches around the lake where we will start our river cruise down straight up limestone cliffs down the wilderness area. It was a great trip with interesting birding and a great guide. We saw Bald Eagles, osprey, and a black bear. Plenty of lunch, of course. Liek everything else it was amazing. This is such beautiful country I see why people would live up here in the cold North. They even love their winters.

We made several stops and took the winding roads back to the city. The last stop was the Buffalo Jump. This is a state park where various tribes would meet peacefully to kill a small herd (75 head) of buffalo. They would run them off of a cliff. This was before horses or guns where they had no way of killing these big animals. It was unbelievable how they did this. It would take three months all together and would provide all they needed for the rest of the year. They would lure the herd up the cliff by a small boy wearing a buffalo headgear and skin acting like an injured buffalo cub. He would cry out  and the lead buffalo would come to his rescue. they he would hide when the lead would come to him. Behind the herd small boys in wolf skins would be tailing them acting as threats. The herd would move up to the lead. they would repeat this over and over again until they got the whole herd up the ridge. then when they got them on top, they would direct them to a funnel of rocks behind where other men would hide. At one point they would all throw off their skins and rush the herd to the cliff where they would fall over and break necks and bones. The rest of the tribe would be down below killing the animals with arrows. The oral tradition said that all of the herd must be killed or else, the escapee would tell al of the other herds to avoid this area. I got to demonstrate the wearing of the wolf skin. It was the greatest honor to be the lead boy (seven or eight years old) leading the herd in the skin.

We went to a wine and cheese party directly from there and then off to a stake house where the smallest steaks were 14 ounces. Most were 22 ounces - they are called Montana sized steaks. How does one eat such big portions. I must be getting old.

Camp Decision and the Portage

Today we are on a big beautiful bus going about 70 miles away to Camp Decision where the party had to decide which river to follow. The men and the best river guide said to go up the Marias and L&C said they should go to the left river. They split up and explored for six days. We were guided on this day by Don Peterson, the expert on all things Lewis and Clark. The countryside is amazing. I really expected flat plains, but here the river is so beautiful and 250 feet below the plains. The vastness of this country is wonderful. We discussed the daily activities of the troop, the geology, the plant life, prehistoric history - all from the tops of these wind-blown bluffs. You can see 125 miles off in the distance to various mountain ridges. The wind is blowing 20 miles an hour on an average and sometimes bows up to 90 miles and hour. These folks are used to constant wind.

We lunched at Ft Benton which at one time was the biggest port in the west where the rail terminated. That put the steamboats out of business, and as the rail expanded Ft Benton's brief success was over. Great Falls was now the economic center with the Copper mining and Electrical generating pants from the dams. We ate at the American Legion hall that looked like a small hole in the wall but ended up being the center of activity for this small town.

Back to Great Falls where we traced the portage around the falls. The Manan tribes had described the falls to the explorers during the wintering, but L&C expected one falls not five. The rise in elevation was 500 feet from beginning to end, so they had to portage around the series. They expected one day, but it ended up being 30 days which almost killed the whole expedition. A further delay would have made them have to winter in before the Rockies and they had no food or shelter. They would have had to turn around.

They buried the provisions needed to return the next year and abandon the big boats before the falls. They made wagons from the ony sizable cottonwood tree around and portaged the canoes weighting 2500 lbs up 500 feet and over 18 miles. The prickly pear cactus went through their moccosins and they were pelted by eggs sized hail with no tree to hide under. But they did it. They had to portage eight times to get al the gear and canoes above the falls. Amazing. Everything they did was amazing and I could not imagine doing any leg of what they did.

It was a great day, and, of course, it is time to eat again - Fried Chicken in the park and a patriotic orchestra performance at the civic center. Home to fall asleep and get going early in the morning.

Meeting Captain Clark and the Dams

after a good night's sleep we had a good breakfast and back on the road with the Exchange Director, Robin. We're off to the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center where we had good film on the adventure, Then we met Captain Clark who walked us through the museum explaining how they did the adventure. He was dress perfectly and explained everything as if he were the real Captain Clark. It was great. This adventure was truly coming alive in my mind. Every small aspect of this amazing trip is unbelievable. For example a modern moving van will haul 10 tons, this group hauled 25 tons of stuff for this trip up stream using only human power. They took 45 people on this uncharted trip for two and a half years through Indian territory for eight thousand miles and only one person died - of ruptured appendix (he would have died of that in NYC in 1804). I was so impressed with everything. Then we had a presentation of the medicine of the day - incredible. So then we were off to the falls. Of which there were five, not one as L&C expected.
It took them 30 days to portage around them, not the afternoon they had thought. We had a great picnic lunch and the bird watching was really nice. We were seeing birds we would not see down south.  The lunch was very good; make your own sandwiches with great variety and fruit salad. After lunch we went thrift store shopping for a while and really didn't find much of interest.

Next it was dinner with their club and the visitors in the park and Jim and Phylis Reed gave us wonderful stories of details that made the adventure so interesting like when the Grizzly bear ran down Capt. Lewis right where we were sitting. Or when Private Colter came back to trap beaver and was captured by the Blackfeet, stripped, and was chased down as game (presumably to kill him). He killed one Indian and then had to go back to St Louis with only his hands and naked body - 1200 miles. These people were supermen. We had Pasties - a giant empanada with beef and vegetables in a crust, covered with gravy. This is what the copper miners used to eat in the mines. So another fine day. We ended up tired and fell asleep at 10:20. we're sleeping good here in Montana. Just a note that the local club members are just as excited about the event as us because many have never gotten involved with Lewis and Clark frenzies before - like most locals, not knowing whats in their back yard.

Day one - Great Falls

 We woke up to an empty house but plenty of food laid out - all healthy. Our hostess is a massage therapist and a food naturalist. Nuts, berries and granola, along with homemade muffins and bread. The house id cheerful and bright, and it sits on five acres on the outskirts of the city. Around us are nice homes, rural stuff like barns and tractors, a small hidden junk yard down the road. The trees are mainly cottonwoods and Russian olive; they were brought here to the plains because they grow fast and tall to produce shade and windbreaks. We spend the morning taking it easy and adjusting to our new environment. My biggest challenge was to figure out a coffee grinder that had a timer on it. It must have taken me 15 minutes to unlock the secrets of the four switches. Terri arrives from her business a little after noon and we are off to the country to get her month's supply of raw milk. We are going 50 miles away to a small farm of a friends who produces raw milk, eggs, beef, pigs, and chickens. Julie is proud of her small farm and we explore her operation. Her daughter, Ivy, had just saddled up teh horses for a afternoon ride, but she was happy for teh company as there are few neighbors around and many of them don't really share their naturalist views. She has been planting tree to attract the birds and you can see why. There are not many trees in these parts. This is the reason we see these"Big Skies" - there is nothing to obscure the view.

And what views there are driving through the countryside. The rolling hills and ridges make everything look vast. Off in the distance you can see the Rockies with the peaks still covered with snow on the first day of summer. This is what Lewis and Clark must have seen as they finally portaged around the falls. Fifty miles off the challenge of crossing the uncharted mountains still snow covered. The land was cut by glaciers 10,000 years ago and actually diverted the great Missouri river that once flowed into the Hudson bay, not the Mississippi. We are getting a feel for the great plains and the mountain to the west of us. We hit three isolated rain storms on the trip. You could see them coming from miles away. This is truly " Big Sky Country."

As soon as we got home we turned around and went to the welcoming dinner where we met the 10 other ambassadors and the 16 or so local Friendship Force club members. It was at Pizza/Pasta restaurant/Casino. The food was quite good and as usual, our meal was covered but the local club members had to buy their own. We had an introduction to the weeks activities, the mayor (who is not too popular I was told) gave a good welcome and passed out pins to the visitors. We had introductions all around and went home - to sleep. We were all tired from the late arrival the night before. Did I say casino? Yes, here in Montana there is a casino on every block - gas/casino, restaurant/casino, car wash/casino. You play the slots for nickles, dimes, and quarters, or you can play poker. If you want roulette or blackjack, you need to go to the reservations.

Off to Montana for the Lewis and Clark Friendship Force

Our Neighbor, Trish, drove us to the airport and it seems that we left the house in good order. We did have some concerns about coming in to Great Falls at 11:45 in the evening, but our host, Terri, assured us it was OK. The flight to Denver was on a small, very small, jet that sat three across and the flight was somewhat uneventful until we approached Denver. The pilot announced that there were thunderstorms ahead and then banked swiftly to the right, then to the left. We descended quickly and you got the feeling this was a small jet. Then the shakes and rumbling began, then more shakes and bounces. OK, now we approaching the airport and the plane is all over the place. There is lots of lightning to the right - less than two miles away.  Another plane is
descending next to us and I assume it for a parallel runway. All of the sudden the jet engines kick in and we are heading up fast, banking to the left. I guess the pilot felt the wind sheers and decided rather than crash he would go around the thunderhead and try for another pass. There was lightning everywhere now. My hand permanently attached to the window and Zosia leg to stabilize me. I have never been good with heights or roller coasters and here I was getting both with a passion.

Ah, but all is well and the plane is on the ground. Now we are sitting on the tarmac with about fifty there small jets - waiting. Come to find out the ground crews are all inside until the lightning, and I guess the threat of tornadoes pass. I would want to working with buckets of rain pouring on me either. Finally we approach the gate, but with these small crafts, of which this whole wing of terminal B is devoted to, deplane in the old fashion way -  down the stairs down to the tarmac. There one waits for the carry ons that could not possibly fit in the overhead compartments. This is why I still carry my backpack that will fit there, and always under my feet if necessary. Standing in the rain waiting for Zosia's carry on was a sight. The workers totally soaked, laughing at the hopeless situation. It is going to be a long night for them.

On entering the terminal it was the scene of a riot in the works. Everyone running to and from, with what appears to be three times as many people as the terminal should be allowed. It was pure chaos with people lying on the floor, lining the pathways, sleeping on the chairs. We had to hustle to get to our plane in Terminal A. So off we go as fast as we could. This was one of the longest terminals I have encountered in a long time. There were three sets of moving walkways, thank goodness, but keep moving even when on them unless one wants to be run over. Just before were were to jump on the rail system to get us to Terminal A, we double check to board to make sure we are going to the right gate. Oh, no, we misread the sign and we were heading to the wrong airlines going to Great Falls. Our gate was all the way back where we came from and then some. So now we are rushing back as fast as our little feet can carry us. Zosia is about to give up. But we persist and finally get to our gate. We settle in for the 45 minute delay. We call our host and left a message that we are running late. She calls back and assures us that all is OK. What - everyone is getting up and heading out - we have a gate change, back to the other way. So we pick and and we're on the run again. As we settle down in B54, we see the times flipping - now it is 90 minutes late and the rain is still pouring and the lightning is flashing. We see some action at the gate - and an announcement that the San Diego plane is going out of our gate before us. Shortly after we are told we have another gate change and it is back the other direction. We keep passing these poor people, at least 100 in line, waiting to rebook flights that they have missed. I see the hopelessness in their faces. I am not feeling so bad about our circumstances at this point. Se we wait down at Gate B60 for a long while, lightening flashing - no plane appears. Where the heck is this plane coming from that would make it two and half hours late?

Alas, three hours after the takeoff time the plane appears and those poor people who landed now have to stand in that long line of despair to make a connection that surely would be tomorrow. OK, boarding time finally, except the computers are down. But at this point, TSA who cares, we all pile on the plane and tear a corner off of our boarding pass so they can log us in later. And off we go at 1:00 am. It only took five minutes in our mind to get here as we fell asleep right away.

Now here was a small airport, perhaps four gates and a short way to our bags. We walked past the vestiges of Great Falls past - a giant stuffed Grizzly bear and massive horns from the elk and caribou that once roamed the plains of the Missouri river. As sweet as she was, there was Terri was at 3:00 am to greet her visitors. A quick drive to her house and to bed. We slept until 10:30 the next day.