Missoula, Montana

Visited August 8 - 13, 2021

By Marty

A short detour on our drive from Great Falls to Missoula took us to the First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park.

The bluff you see in this photo is over a mile long and was used by Native Americans to kill bison, which were the primary source of food, clothing, and shelter for the American Indians. This "buffalo jump" is the largest (i.e. longest at one mile long) of the hundreds used by the plains Indians.

Prior to the introduction of horses to North America by the Spanish the plains Indians developed a method to kill the buffalo by coaxing the herd to stampede over a cliff.  Sounds easy, right? Not exactly.

The method entailed the following: 

One member of the tribe, the "buffalo runner" would drape himself in a buffalo calf robe, maneuver among the herd and lure the lead cow by bellowing like a lost calf. Always curious, and maternal, the lead cow followed him in the direction of the jump and the rest of the herd followed her.  Other hunters, draped in wolf skins, fretted the herd from behind to keep them moving and gaining speed.

As the cliff came into view of the lead cow and other buffaloes at the front of the herd they would likely try to stop but the momentum of the herd pushed them over and it was too late for the buffalo behind them to stop. The buffalo runner would cleverly leap onto a ledge just below the cliff, safe from the falling bison. Talk about a front row seat!

After the "jump" this is what happened (from the www):

The fall would kill some beasts and cripple others. Those surviving would then be finished off. Immediately after would begin the massive task of skinning the animals. Some of the fresh meat would be consumed but most would be dried and stored for later use. Enormous leg bones would be crushed to get at the rich marrow inside, and bone bits would be boiled to extract the fat. The process of butchering, skinning and smoking would last for weeks, at the end of which the natives would have an enormous supply of dried meat, and hides which could be made into clothing including bedding, shirts, coats, pouches, shelter and so on. No part of the animal would be wasted.

This type of hunting was a communal event which occurred as early as 12,000 years ago and lasted until at least 1500, at a time when horses were introduced. The use of horses and better hunting tools allowed hunters to follow the bison herds, and hunt for fresh meat year round, as opposed to large communal hunts in the fall. The bison jump quickly became an obsolete method for hunting.

Very cool stained glass art in the Visitor Center

Our Missoula RV park was very highly rated and many of the reviews mentioned the flowers

Sure enough, there were displays of annual flowers everywhere!  Jim & Mary grow their flowers from seed every year in greenhouses on the property.

We drove to downtown Missoula and hopped on the bikes to pedal south on the Bitterroot trail. The trail is 50 miles long, ending in Hamilton. We pedaled just 10 miles to Lolo and back.

A view of the Bitterroot River from the bike trail

In Lolo we explored Traveler's Rest State Park. This is where, before it was a State Park, the Lewis and Clark expedition rested for three days on their westward journey, and again for three days on their eastbound return trip.

From lewis-clark.org:

Led by their Shoshone guide Toby, the Corps of Discovery walked along the Bitterroot River—they called it "Clark's River"—between snow covered mountains, the Bitterroots to the west and the Sapphires to the east. In the afternoon of 9 September 1805 they turned westward at a creek they dubbed Travelers' Rest, today known as Lolo Creek. They stopped at a gathering place that Indians had been using for that same purpose for thousands of years, on the tributary now known as Lolo Creek, about two miles above the Bitterroot River. The captains soon recognized it as a focal point in Western geography and intertribal politics.

For three days the Corps rested here, gathering strength for the arduous 150-mile trek across the Bitterroot Mountains. Archaeological evidence uncovered at Travelers' Rest in summer 2002 had established the precise location of the Corps's camps of 9 through 11 September 1805 and 30 June through 3 July 1806.

Traveling eastward in spring 1806 over "those tremendious mountanes," the Corps arrived back at Travelers' Rest on 30 June. There they prepared their equipment and supplies for the next leg of the trip. They also rested and gathered courage for what would be the most perilous phase of the entire journey.

Ready to depart on the morning of 3 July 1806, the expedition—thirty-three souls and a dog, with sixty-seven horses—split into two detachments. The captains' intricate and risky plan would at times divide the Corps into five units, making each of them highly vulnerable to Indian attacks. Independently, the various detachments would retrace the Beaverhead, Jefferson, and Missouri Rivers, and explore the Marias and Yellowstone.

We read that this site, Travelers Rest, is the only location on the entire journey of 8,000 miles where the precise site of one of their camps has been confirmed.  Researchers had a pretty good idea of the location of this campsite and through archaeological methods were able to pinpoint it. They confirmed the latrine area by finding traces of mercury (which was a component of the medicine given to two ailing corp members at this camp). The cooking area was confirmed by finding charcoal (carbon dated to the time of the expedition), a military uniform button, and a spilled piece of lead (sourced to a region of Kentucky that was producing lead for the military during the time that Captain Lewis was preparing for the journey.)

The three tents illustrate the organization of the Corps of Discovery into three patrols of 10 men each. 

 

It's beyond remarkable that only one member of the 33 person party, Sargeant Charles Floyd, died during the 28 month journey that covered 8,000 miles through uncharted and, to put it mildly, formidable lands. It is believed that Floyd died of a ruptured appendix.

These painted benches, and a painted table and shade structure not shown, are used for educational talks. They were created as an Eagle Scout project.

The Montana Natural History Center

                                                                       

Another day we drove to Hamilton to hike to Blodgett Canyon overlook. 

                                               

Blodgett Canyon.  When we arrived at the ridge to look west into the canyon it was nice to see skies of blue for a change.

Main Street Hamilton was charming with a handful of interesting shops.  Not that charming apparently because I only took this one picture...

The Missoula Paddleheads play in the Pioneer Baseball League. The PBL has operated in the Mountain States region as a Major League Baseball affiliated league since 1939. It was fun to watch the Paddleheads battle it out with the Great Falls Voyagers.

The University of Montana, with a student population of roughly 11,000, is located in central Missoula. This is Main Hall, constructed in 1898.

The University of Montana sports teams are the Grizzlies, or more commonly, the Griz. 

If you look near the top of the hill, Mt. Sentinal, you'll see a white "M".  There is a trail up to the M that is fairly short (.75 mile) but rather steep (as you can see). We drove to campus one morning to hike the M trail and then walk around the campus. 

We were prevented from hiking the trail (mixed feelings about that...) for two reasons: 

1) a Guns N' Roses concert was scheduled for that night at the campus football stadium (near the base of the mountain) and;

2) the trail was closed due to high fire risk. We have not seen any other trails closed due to "high fire risk". I suspect the risk is that people would hike up the trail and hang out to listen to the concert below, some of whom "light one up" to help them relax and enjoy the music...

 

Downtown Missoula is charming and interesting. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, bars, and music venues.

The Clark Fork River runs through it.  "It" would be the middle of town.

You can stop looking now.  We found him in a souvenir/toy shop in downtown Missoula.

Go Griz!

There are a few music venues in and near Missoula. The town seems to skew young and hip. What is hip? This is hip:

Tower of Power: What is Hip?

We lucked out that Sheryl Crow was playing at the Kettleman Brewing Company amphitheater while we were in town. Our first "real" concert in over two years!