The History Tour and Great Scenery Too

The time in Havre provided us with a glimpse of history. We were exposed to the wild west of a railroad town and the use of the lands by Native Americans which continued our interest in visiting other historical places within the states.

We stopped in Billings for a few days to get caught up on things. We managed to take a bit of time and tour the Moss Mansion which is a historic house museum. The story behind the Moss Mansion is in 1903 entrepreneur P. B. Moss built the Moss Mansion which greatly influenced the culture of Billings. The Billings Preservation Society has maintained the mansion in its original state. Pretty amazing but glad I don’t have to dust it!

Steve Wondering if it's for sale

 

We also discovered that Billings has their very own Boot Hill Cemetery even though we didn’t recognize any of the individuals that were laid to rest there!

Billings' Boot Hill

Called that due to burying the dead with their boots on

 

We left Billings to head toward Spearfish South Dakota to see what the Black Hills were all about. Along the way we stopped at the Battle of Little Bighorn also known as Custer’s Last Stand. The relationship between the National Park Service and the Native Americans at this special location is wonderful. We learned more about the battle through a Park Ranger that gave a great account of “The Battle” which brought to life the history. He would have been great as our history teacher! Oh yeah he is a retired history teacher.

Markers at the Battle Field

The Battle

The Tribute to the Native Americans

 

 

We trekked across the remaining part of Wyoming to hit our next spot for our adventure, Spearfish South Dakota!

The history continued from our newest home base in Spearfish as we ventured to Deadwood South Dakota. Deadwood is known for being the last place that “Wild Bill” Hickok played cards. “Wild Bill” was shot in the back during a card game at the #10 Saloon. We were able to have a bite to eat and watch the re-enactment of that card game. Not sure if “Wild Bill” was winning the game but it didn’t matter in the end.

Main Street Deadwood SD

Willd Bill

 

Uh Oh! Jack McCall Get's Ready to Shoot

 

We ventured to the Mt. Moriah Cemetery located at the top of a hill in Deadwood. Both James Butler Hickok “Wild Bill” and Martha “Calamity Jane” Canary are buried there. The cemetery provides a lesson in the early history of the area. If you ever make it to Deadwood taking time out to see it is worthwhile.

On the hill in Deadwood

James Butler Hickok (Wild Bill)

 

Calamity Jane next to Wild Bill's grave

 

The area near Spearfish is also full of mining history and of course brought many enthusiasts out west to try their hand at mining. The town of Lead has the Homestake Mine which is still active today.

One day we headed back to Wyoming to check out the Devils Tower National Monument.

 

There are several stories surrounding the Devils Tower which you learn when you visit. The geological story however explains how molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground. As it cooled it contracted and fractured into columns which erosion of sedimentary rock resulted in the tower. When you stand at the base you are simply amazed.

Framed by Trees

From the Trail

There is a great trail around the base of the tower so you get a view from all sides. While we were wandering we discovered a few rock climbers up on one of the sides. Not something we felt compelled to do which is a good thing considering I trip on air!

One Big Rock

 

The View from the Tower

 

The start of the trail takes you by this tipi and Steve thinks he wants to trade the trailer in for it. I guess he thinks we will get better gas mileage!

 

Look Tory it is Big Enough

 

Change of scenery leaving the tower

 

We were also able to get a couple rounds of golf in at the Spearfish Canyon Country Club. This course is challenging but worth it as the view takes away the pain of a bad golf shot!

Izzy loved the swimming holes we found her along the Spearfish Creek. The drive through Spearfish Canyon is quite beautiful too. 

Getting Ready

Steve wanted to see if he could get the large trout that were feeding near Izzy’s swimming spot to bite. Of course this made Izzy crazy as she had to wait until her Dad gave up! Oh by the way, the fish didn’t like what Steve was serving!

Waiting Patiently to Go Swimming

Working the lure

 

The night before we left Spearfish we had the opportunity to have Pat and Molly over for dinner. We met them through George and Beth as they have been friends for over 20 years. We had a great time and as you can see by this picture Izzy approved too!

Pat, Molly and Izzy

 

We left Chris’ Camp Tuesday morning to go check out the southern part of the Black Hills. More to come!

 

Have You Ever Heard of Havre?

Transition

 

Our crossing the border into the United States was quite uneventful except for the fact you couldn’t bring certain fruits into Montana. It was a good thing I was a bit hungry as I didn’t want to give up the one apple we weren’t allowed to bring in!

We arrived in Havre Montana in the early afternoon. We found a nice RV park a few miles out of town which was nice since the other one was next to the railroad tracks. We obtained a “things to do” pamphlet in order to figure out what we wanted to see while there.

The two things folks told us we should check out were the Buffalo Jump and Havre Underground. I wasn’t quite sure what a buffalo jump was since I didn't know they could jump, so we decided to find out for ourselves.

The Wahkpa Chu’gn is a prehistoric Indian buffalo jump and campsite frequently used from 600 to 2,000 years ago. Archeologists excavated this site which left artifacts exposed in the exact place in which they were left.  We were able to see bone deposits 20 feet below the surface, as well as a roasting pit in its natural state. We were told that the Indians would run the buffalo from behind and they would basically fall off a cliff with other Indians waiting at the base to complete the kill. Some of the Indians that used this location utilized a atlatl which is a long dart with a thrower. Now you would think I would be pretty good at throwing one of these things since the thrower is basically like Izzy’s chukit we use to throw her ball.  Steve was able to capture my technique in this picture. Good thing he didn’t show you the end result! Let’s just say I should stick with buying our meat in the store!

Getting Ready

Launch

 

The other fun thing we did was to see the railroad museum while waiting to go underground. No we aren’t running from the law, well at least I don’t think we are.

The museum is well done and provides quite the history of the railroad. In addition they have an old fire engine on display. It is pretty well equipped.

A Treasure from the Past

Equipped and Ready to Go

 

 



I also discovered this office equipment which might make your job more interesting these days! At least you don't have to worry about the power going off!

Spreadsheets Watch Out

Spell Check?

 

The “Havre Beneath the Streets” provided you with a picture of what some businesses when a fire came through the town and burned some of their establishments. Since many of them had basements they figured they would just go underground. Smart thing to do especially when the temperatures in the summer are in the 90’s!

The Sporting Eagle Saloon 

 

The tour guide was great and told us about all the characters and the businesses underground. They still have some of the original equipment and supplies from over 100 years ago on display. In addition she was able to share where Havre came from. There is a Havre France and the person that was able to name this spot liked the name. We of course don’t know French but Havre means bay which just makes you shake your head since it’s not on a lake or ocean! They think it was named that to draw tourists there on the railroad. Pretty smart idea if you think about it.

C.W. "Shorty" Young's Office and Game Room

Gourley Brothers Bakery

The Bordello

Blacksmith Shop

We left Havre and headed to the breaks of the Missouri. We had time and wanted to check out if the catfish were going to want some food so we stopped at a BLM campground in the James Kipp Recreation Area.

The Missouri River

 

The fish weren’t too hungry as Steve only caught one catfish so we decided to tour the wildlife refuge and give the rest of the fish a break. The country is pretty amazing and home to a lot of deer and elk. We didn’t see any but we did come across their prairie dog town. When you look on both sides of the road you know why they called it that!

A Good Thing Izzy Wasn't Close

A Stranger in Prairie Dog Town

Prairie Dog Village

 

We had planned to stay two nights at the campground however when the mosquitos were larger than your hand and as numerous as the motorcyclists are during the Sturgis event we packed up and headed out. We continued to deal with those pesky critters when we arrived in Billings as we had some stowaways!

The Beauty of Banff Was Delivered Loud and Clear

 

SIT arrived at our camping spot in the provincial park at Banff. We didn’t make reservations much in advance so we were just going to be there for three nights. You know what that means? We had to plan and move!

The View From our Trailer

We scoped out the sites we wanted to take in and established a plan of attack. It’s a good thing Tory worked on an incident management team as her skills of “planning an attack” came in handy. Not really, just thought we would throw that in!

A park in town is next to the river

 

The Main Street View from the Bridge

We toured the town via our feet and enjoyed wandering aimlessly. For Steve it wasn’t aimlessly as he had a mission to find a place to eat lunch!  We found an Italian restaurant and decided it smelled really, really good so we landed there. It was as good as it smelled!

We concluded that we should visit the Banff upper hot springs. Now these hot springs are within Banff National Park which have been nicely developed. They just need a bigger pool as it was a busy little spot. We selected this as one of our must things to do since I had one of my graceful moments a few days before and decided to trip and fall almost landing on my face. Luckily my chest and shoulder stepped up to take the blow. Izzy was with me and believe it or not she didn’t laugh although I figured she would!  The hot springs did feel nice!

In our wanderings around the next day we decided to go visit the Cascade Gardens. The gardens are located at the Parks Canada Administrative Building. Imagine having to go to work every day here and see this out your office. Not bad!

      

 

 

It also was a location selected by this bridal couple to have their wedding. We took a few pictures while the professional photographer to pictures as well. Truly a beautiful setting for a wedding.

 

The other thing we stumbled across, well not literally, was a bike ride taking place. It was an 80K and started at 0700. We stopped and chatted with one gentleman that had completed the race already. It looked like they had a pretty large turnout based on all the bikes we saw parked.

They Rode the Distance

As you work your way into town from the gardens you cross the Bow River. Now if you have been a faithful reader and read the post where we went to the icelfields, you would have discovered that Bow Lake and Bow River are formed from the Bow Glacier. If you haven’t been a faithful reader and just jumped to this post because you thought the pictures of Banff would be cool, you’re forgiven!

The Bow River

 

We enjoyed the afternoon sitting on a balcony eating lunch and having a beer. The view from one-story up was pretty cool, plus the people watching from above was fun too. We discovered another way to see the town during our foot tour. No it wasn’t to get the red wagon and hitch Izzy up to it but you’re close. How about via horse and buggy? 

 

A Toast to Banff

 

The trip to Banff was complete with a nice heavy rain and pretty loud and close thunderstorm. Good thing we had made it back to our current spot in the park before it hit!