This statue in Bozeman caught my eye, so I consulted Google to find out her identity. Please meet Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973). Rankin was elected to the US Congress from Montana in 1910, making her the first woman to hold a high government office in the United States. This statue was created by Jim Dolan.
After reading about Jeannette Rankin I noticed the above statue and was equally intrigued. This is Malcolm C. Story (1902-1994). Jim Dolan created this one too, but how Malcolm deserves a statue, I cannot understand. Malcolm was a grandson of Nelson C. Story, a Bozeman founding father. Other than that little tidbit, all I found on him was that in his later years, Malcolm is said to have been fond of wandering the streets of Bozeman in a bright red plaid coat. Wow. So if you've ever dreamed of having a statue of yourself in your home town it may well happen. Turns out it's not really that high of a bar! (At least not in Bozeman anyway)
July 26 was Marty's 64th birthday. The day started with me surprising him by playing "When I'm Sixty-Four", by the Beatles on the Beast's sound system.
Marty chose a hike for us to do on his day, and so we hiked the College M Trail. It was only 1.5 miles each way, but it was a bit of a climb with 850' of vertical gain. As you can see from the trailhead sign below, there was also a shorter route. The shorter route was only a half-mile to get to the same spot atop the hill. Well, it wasn't my birthday, but I was really glad Marty didn't want to do the shorter, steeper version.
Here's the view from atop the mountain. So much for "Big Sky Country", huh? We'll have to come back another year before fire season so that we can truly see the big sky.
"M" is for Marty. We hiked up to the "M".
And then we went for beers at MAP Brewing Company!
We also went to the Bozeman Hot Springs on Marty's birthday. These are natural hot springs, and people have been enjoying them since the late 1800's. They look a little different now, I'm sure.
We were staying at the Bozeman Hot Springs Campground, so it was an easy walk right next door to the hot springs. We had much confusion when trying to find out the cost of the hot springs, but we finally got the answer: they're free for the campground guests. Lucky us!
The hot springs these days are actually eight indoor pools and four outdoor pools. The temperatures in these pools vary from 57° to 106°. Someone from the staff comes around every hour to check the temp and log it. We noticed the white board below after we'd finished our soak, so we didn't know what to expect until we dipped our toes into each pool.
Near the glass wall you can see three of the pools. The far left pool was 106° when we were there, and the one right next to it was a frigid 59°. Quite a shocking difference! The pool in the foreground is the "main big pool" inside.
Here you can see the indoor pools from the opposite end, where there are four more pools to explore.
Outside were three long crescent-shaped pools and one smaller, old-fashioned rectangular pool. We were told that the lighting outside after dark is really pretty. However, at this time of year it doesn't get dark in Montana until after 10, and we didn't feel like going back there at that time of night. They also have live music outside on Thursday and Sunday evenings. You can see the stage in this picture. Unfortunately we didn't make it for that either. Maybe next time.
Virginia City and Nevada City: sister cities of the old west. (Just an hour’s drive from our RV park in Bozeman)
Virginia City and Nevada City were both born with a spectacular discovery of gold in Alder Gulch in 1863. Thousands rushed to the area in search of gold, and by the fall of 1864 the Virginia City area boasted an estimated 10,000 residents. Many small settlements sprang up in a 14-mile stretch around the area, and it became known as "Fourteen-mile City"; with Virginia City and Nevada City as the main centers of commerce.
Virginia City housed Montana’s first public school, newspaper, and telegraph, and it served as the Montana Territorial Capital for 10 years ... until the gold ran out. In the early 1870’s Virginia City’s population had been reduced to only a few hundred, and in 1875 the territorial capitol was moved to Helena (Montana's state capital today).
Virginia City was known as a particularly lawless and violent town in its early days. Road agents became notorious for robbing and murdering travelers in the area, resulting in up to 100 deaths in the period from 1863 to 1864. The situation spawned the formation of the famous Montana Vigilantes. The vigilantes hung many “offenders” without due process. Apparently violence was the answer to ... violence. Incredibly, this lawless vigilante history is still a point of pride with some Montanans today.
If you want to read more about it: https://www.hcn.org/issues/51.11/history-montanas-vigilante-obsession-obscures-the-truth
Today’s Virginia City is described as a “lively ghost town”, but with a population of 216, I’d hardly call it a ghost town. It’s more a touristy “old west” town where some people still live. Many of the city's structures were built before the turn of the 20th century, and some date back to its heyday in the 1860's. There are several actual shops where one can buy food or souvenirs and several re-created shops on display solely for visitors’ curiosity.
Nevada City, on the other hand, has a population of zero. Although there are a few operating businesses, no one actually resides there. The entire town of Nevada City is called a “living historical museum”. Numerous buildings have been dismantled from other Montana areas and reconstructed in Nevada City. Nevada City has 108 authentic gold rush era buildings, fourteen of which are original to Nevada City.
The two cities are just 1.5 miles apart. You could drive from one to the other, but they also offer a train ride and museum entrance combo ticket, so we purchased that.
VIRGINIA CITY:
In Virginia City you can pay to ride around in a stage coach. That's not so unusual, right? But this particular stage coach has a dog who trots all over the top of the coach the entire time it's moving. He's keeping an eye out for robbers, I assume. When the guests depart and the coach is stationary, the dog takes a break and lies down in the driver's seat until the next customers board.
I'm not sure what to make of this display. The case itself has engraved letters: "J. P. Priwley's California Fruit and Pepsin Chewing Gum". I guess they ran out of gum, and doll faces were the next best thing? Kind of creepy!
Shave and a haircut, two bits?
See the mugs on the shelves above the sinks? Did you know that it was typical of barbershops of the era for regular customers to have their own shaving mugs with their name and occupation on them?
They didn't need to tell me twice to keep my distance!
Our last Bozeman area outing, (other than another trip to the hot springs) was a relaxing float down the Madison River. Madison River Tubing rents tubes and even ice chests (which sit in their own tube). They strap your tubes together and off you go! About two hours down the river you get out, and they shuttle one of your party 20 minutes back to the put-in point to get your car.
