Places Visited:

Montana: Touring Helena

July 24, 2007.

We are staying in Lincoln Road RV-Park Helena, MT less than a mile west of I-15 at exit 200. Lincoln Road RV-Park is about 10-miles north of downtown Helena but in a very good position access everything in the area. $25.04 with Good Sam discount plus-taxes for FHU in nice gravel pull thru sites with some shade. Free wifi was available but no cable TV.

Helena is the Capitol City of Montana and a nice clean college town as well, at least that is the impression we got during our stay. Helena is situated against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in an area Lewis and Clark called "Prickly Pear Valley" when they traversed it in 1805. In 1864, gold was found in Last Chance Gulch and a community sprang up around the placer gold. The fledgling gold camp developed into the city of Helena. Unlike many early gold camps, the community did not die when the gold ran out. Merchants used Helena's strategic location near mines, ranches, and freighting routes to create a banking and supply center. By 1875 Helena's economic and political power was such that it wrested the territorial capital from Virginia City another famous gold mining town (this was before Montana was a state).

Montana became a state in 1889 and Helena is where the Capitol Building was constructed. Later in this travelogue we will take a tour of the Capitol Building. But before we tour the Capitol I want to give you some "flavor" from what we saw and appreciated.

One thing we noticed when driving around Helena was "pet" deer making themselves at home deep in the city with no woods within miles.

The deer laying under the apple tree in this yard is less than 2-blocks away from the Capitol. We saw that same deer in this yard several times during our stay.

This deer is crossing a busy intersection also within two blocks of the Capitol.

This deer was between the Capitol and downtown which are only 6 to 7 blocks from each other.

This deer was munching foliage in the historic section of Helena where all the mansions are located.

I can't remember where the yard was where we saw this deer taking a siesta on someone's manicured lawn.

This is an aristocrat deer as he has decided to reside in the mansion district.

While in Helena we visited Carroll College a private liberal arts school. I think it is a Catholic College but of that I am not sure. Carol College has a beautiful campus with stunning architecture. Buildings appeared to be clothed in sandstone.

This is another Carroll College building that appears to be constructed of sandstone.

We visited the campus to see these stained glass pieces by Father Dan Hillen, a nationally known stained glass artist. In the Carroll Campus Center and the cafeteria's east and west walls are companion pieces "The Arrival" and "The Awakening".

I have no idea which of these is "The Arrival" and which might be "The Awakening". I am sure that some of you artists can tell.

Each of the stained glass pieces are 450 square feet of stunning colors and images.

We toured the Montana Historical Museum located across the street from the Capitol. The Historical Museum is worth a visit. One of the exhibits in the museum was of this white buffalo.

This white buffalo goes by the name Big Medicine.

To most Native American bands on the Great Plains who depended on the bison for their survival, a white calf carried sacred importance. Many of these native tribes imbued the white bison with supernatural powers and some Montana tribes --- like the Blackfeet --- considered him the property of the sun. The man who killed a white bison received his power from the sun and the "good medicine" held by the white hide extended to the hunter's family and his entire band.

In 1933, at the National Bison Range near Moiese on the Flathead Indian Reservation, a white calf was born to a naturally brown mother. He became known as "Big Medicine", in recognition of his symbolic importance to Native Americans.

"Big Medicine" lived his entire life on the National Bison Range, but his fame spread worldwide. He grew to more than 1,900 pounds, rose to six feet at the hump, and measured almost 12 feet from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail.

A bison's normal lifespan is about 20 years, but, because of his significance, "Big Medicine" was given special care to prolong his life. He spent much of his maturity in the Bison Range's smaller exhibition pasture where he received individual attention. During the last three years of his life he was fed a diet of steamed barley soaked in molasses, high-protein rabbit pellets, two kinds of bran, and tender, third-cut alfalfa. Nevertheless his weight dropped considerably. When "Big Medicine" died in 1959 at the age of 26 he weighed only 1,193 pounds and his hide was a poor specimen because of his advanced age and condition.

Following his death, Big Medicine's hide was -------- well he was mounted. "Big Medicine" is now on display at the Montana History Museum in Helena.

Joyce took this picture of the Meriwether Fire the afternoon before we took the boat ride and experienced the fire up close and personal.

One evening the sun put on a good show for us.

This is another picture of the Meriwether fire in what is referred to as a "blow-up".

This is the Montana Capitol building. It is faced with sandstone from a Columbus, Montana quarry.

Don't these look like beautiful marble columns? As beautiful as they are they aren't marble. These are scagliola columns (scagliola is a plaster technique that mimics marble).

This is another view of more scagliola columns.

This captures part of the 90-panel barrel vault comprised of original and reproduction glass. Also in view are the scaliola columns designed to resemble Italian marble.

The painting under the barrel vault is depicting "Driving the Golden Spike" it documents the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad's transcontinental line at Gold Creek, Montana, in 1883--- a significant event in Montana History and indeed our nation's history.

You will recall the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 with the driving of the "golden spike" at Premonitory, Utah.

I wish I could give you some information about the stained glass arch but none was provided.

Joyce took this from the bleachers at the rodeo one night while we were in Helena.

Another picture taken while we were at the rodeo.

This horse almost launched a Montana cowboy into the spectators seats. At least it looks like the cowboy will land on his feet. We gave him a few "style-points" for this dismount.

Is dismount a word? If not I just invented it.

Near the end of the rodeo each night the Budweiser Clydesdales would trot into the arena and put on a show. They are fun to watch and are such pretty animals. We stopped by to look at the Clydesdales after the show one night and talked with some of the handlers. The largest horse in the group weighs 1,250 pounds. From Helena they are going to Sturgis, South Dakota for bike week. They all seemed to be looking forward to that.

Until next time remember how good life is.

Mike & Joyce Hendrix