Montana - Day 10 - to Great Falls via Shelby

Great Falls KOA, Great Falls

Wednesday, 10 August 2022

When Dexter and I were walking around the area this morning, I spotted a flock of Goldfinches - such bright, beautiful birds.

Before we left the campground, I took this photo of the mountains we'd left behind.  You can see how flat this land is on this side of the Rockies and understand that we were truly in the plains.

Because I was only going as far as Great Falls today, which you can see on the map isn't a great distance from Browning, I decided to take a longer route than Google wanted.  This one would take me through the town of Shelby, where I'd heard they have a carousel.  Online I was told it would be operating after 10:00.

today's route

On the way, I passed a historical marker titled "The Blackfeet Nation."  This was the kind of information I'd hoped to find at that museum yesterday.   https://www.hmdb.org/The-Blackfeet-Nation  Each of these tribes had its own customs and traditions, and maybe someday I'll have the chance to learn more about them.

I saw a Montana license plate that said "BBQ."

At the town of Cut Bank (named for the cut bank made by the Cut Bank Creek), I saw a car dealer with the sign: "To Buy or Not to Buy."  The town has a lot of murals and enlarged historic photos posted.  A nice little town with nice little parks.  It was the hometown for 2 women who won the Miss Montana contest, one in 2012 and her sister in 2015.  One of those was the first contestant in the Miss America pageant who was known to be autistic.  All right here in this town of 3,000.

Canada is 30 miles away.

I saw a large wind farm, large fields of wheat, cows and horses.

At Shelby I stopped at the carousel, the parking lot of which is also an official highway rest area.  Of course, as you'd figure, the carousel was not open and didn't look like it was going to be open any time soon.  We stayed there until almost noon, but we weren't entirely idle.

Dexter and I walked around the little park the town had here where there were a slew of informational signs - a few about the town but mostly about a prize fight they had here.  Here are the ones about the town.

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And one more:

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The son of that man above with the first car came up with an idea to bring more folks to Shelby, to really put it on the map.  He thought the town should sponsor a prize fight with the great Jack Dempsey competing.

I've tried to put these signs in either chronical or logical order, though I'm not sure I succeeded.  Anyway, here's what they say.

The Set Up
(this sounds like something from The Sting)
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this is the man with the first car

The Money
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The Arena
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The Fighters
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The Main Event
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The Con
(definitely something out of The Sting)
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Ringside Shelby

And finally, this tribute to local support:

a park bench near the exhibits
see inscription below

Who knew so much drama lurked beneath the surface of history in a small town.

At Shelby, we picked up I-15 again, and I was surprised to realize after a while that there was very little traffic on either side of the road.  Today being a Wednesday, I'd've thought plenty of people would be out, but I guess not many of them are aiming for Canada, which is what's past Shelby.

I saw vast fields of grain, mostly.  And occasional nonworking oil wells.

We stopped at a rest area, where I found this information.

I figured out that this is the Montana version of what I saw in North Dakota.
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I also saw this notice about human trafficking.

That title is: Do you feel like a Slave?

I was glad to see Montana making an effort like this.  I don't remember seeing anything similar in other states.

Remember the sign I saw outside Helena about the First Special Service Force Memorial Highway?  This next one is about that.

And then there were these.

I appreciate Montana's attempts to warn us unaware travelers, though they certainly made me a little more nervous (probably their intent).

We crossed the Teton River, which I was surprised to see so far north.  Actually, I've looked it up and learned the Teton River has nothing to do with the Teton Mountains or the Teton National Park.  The river through that area is the Snake River.  The Teton River is a Montana river that rises near the Continental Divide and runs for 64 miles to the Missouri River.  So what's in a name?

I saw a sign saying BNSF Railroad is looking for people to hire.  This would seem to confirm what that man told me in the dog park a few days ago.

I found lots of religious stations on the radio but, sadly, nothing from public radio.

I saw a sign saying "Skew Bridge - Raise Snowplow."  I've seen signs like that before and finally decided to look it up.  A website about building steel bridges told me that it's not always possible to line up a bridge squarely with the places that need spanning.  So a bridge designer and builder put in extra supports to account for the angle.  This is clearly a profession where geometry comes in handy and I was suddenly transported back to the 9th grade.  But I guess the point of these signs is that this bridge isn't one that can be plowed at a straightforward angle like they usually can.

I saw quite a few wind turbine blades being transported on the highway, fortunately all of them northbound, so I didn't have to try to pass them.

I've been seeing billboards for something called the Montana Meth Project, and they all seem to be referring to personal stories.  One I passed today said, "Ask Me How the Gun Went Off."  I looked this up and learned it's a Montana-based nonprofit that is trying to reduce the use of methamphetamine, especially in young people.  They say Barron's has named it the 3rd most effective philanthropy in the world, which is saying something if true.  It's expanded to at least 7 other states.

Then we came to Great Falls, where one of the most prominent things I saw were grain elevators.  Some I saw were labeled General Mills and Columbia Grain.

I was aiming for the Rainbow Falls Scenic Overlook, hoping it might be a little park where I could walk Dexter.  It was actually a paved parking area, but we walked around it anyway.  Here's the picture I took of Rainbow Falls.

As you can see, the falls are natural, but behind them is a power-generating dam which I'm sure makes a difference in water flow.

There's actually a waterfall named Great Falls, but as far as I could tell, it wasn't easily accessible and I was getting tired.  But I learned that there's a series of waterfalls along the Missouri River, which is what's running through the city of Great Falls.  I found this exhibit about the waterfalls, which I found hard to follow, not being from this area.  But here it is in case you're curious.

the sign - enlargements below

These signs begin downriver and move upriver toward the town.

the east end of the series -
it shows the falls of Great Falls

following from the one above - 
it shows Crooked Falls (to the east) followed by Rainbow Falls
(where I stopped)

then to the west were Coulter Falls (now buried under the Rainbow Reservoir)
and Black Eagle Falls closer to town

Because these falls are natural, they were a problem for the Corps of Discovery, as this sign explains.

the sign - enlargement below

On the way back to the center of town, I came to another overlook, this one for the Black Eagle Falls, where I found these signs.

Black Eagle Falls -
the city of Great Falls is on the left bank of the Missouri

The historic marker above mentioned the Anaconda smelter, and this sign gives more details about that.

the sign - enlargements below

I'd seen online that Great Falls has a nice long park along the river called, appropriately enough, Riverside Park.  And I headed there hoping to find some shaded grass that Dext and I could walk in.  And we did.  It's a huge park with lots of facilities, and we only found a small part of it because when we got back on the road, I found it was several blocks wide, as well as being a mile or more long.  I saw quite a few White Pelicans in the river here and there.

I saw several pieces of public art in town, most notably this version of a bison.

And then on to the campground, where we'll be staying the next 3 nights.