Day 6 – 8 June 2009

The scenery in Montana is breathtaking! Malmstrom AFB, and the city of Great Falls for that matter, lie on a high plain exactly where Lewis and Clark and their men carried and pulled their boats and supplies around the five falls of the Missouri that obstructed their advance by water. On the western horizon the Rockies can be seen and on the eastern horizon the Highwood Mountains (not in the same league as the Rockies) are visible. In between is prairie, mostly flat with occasional dips or small valleys. Of course, the mighty Missouri cuts a deep and broad swath through the landscape. In my mind's eye I could see thousands of buffaloes grazing on either side of the Missouri. This, of course, is no longer true due to the greed and callousness in the late 1800s.

The weather in the morning was pleasant and although we wanted to get an early start, we departed the campsite at our usual time of 8 O' Clock. We went to see a couple of the smaller falls and then drove to the “Great Falls.” Now, these falls don't compare at all with Niagara. I can just remember that the distance that the water falls is between 30 and 60 feet. Nevertheless, the water thunders over the falls, or rather would thunder if the settlers of that area in the late 1800s and early 1900s would have been a little more considerate and mindful of their environment instead of thinking only of their gain. The reason I say this is because on top of each of four of the five falls dams to control the amount of water that flows over the falls were built to divert the required amount of water to power the hydro-electric plants that are attached to the dams. When the natural water level of the Missouri is low, almost no water may go over the falls because it is all diverted to the power plants. The reason why one of the falls has no dam associated with it is that the backed-up water from the next fall downstream all but covers it, in essence making it disappear. That's all I'm going to say about that.

We then drove south from Great Falls to a village called Ulm ( I'm going to Google that name to see if I'm right that Germans had a hand in it's settlement). Outside of Ulm is the “First People's Buffalo Jump State Park.” A “buffalo jump” is a cliff over which the Indians used to drive a herd of buffaloes by stampeding them and luring them in direction of the cliff. The buffaloes would fall over the cliff, the first over would be killed outright while the following animals would only be injured because they fell on the dead ones below. The injured would then be killed by the Indians with arrows and lances.

The way the Indians got the herd to stampede was to have a young man called a “runner” drape the skin from a buffalo calf over himself as a disguise and ease up to the lead cow. She would then think this was a calf or even her own calf. Then other braves would drape wolf skins over themselves and approach the herd as if they were wolves. This caused the herd to squeeze together for protection. The crowding together would excite the animals and they would start to run. When the buffaloes stared to run, the brave disguised as a calf would start to run toward the cliff and the lead cow would follow, trying to protect what she thought was a calf. This was very dangerous for the runner. A man can run about 15 mph, a buffalo can make 30 mph. The stampeding herd thundered ever closer to the runner. Meanwhile, other braves would jump up from hiding places on both sides of the path to the cliffs, waving and shouting, thus directing the herd toward the cliffs. If the runner survived long enough to reach the cliffs, he would jump down unto a ledge and let the thundering herd fly to their death over him. To the shortsighted buffalo the edge of the cliff appeared as a dip in the prairie. Even if the buffaloes at the front recognized the danger and stopped, the rest of the frenzied herd would push them to their deaths.

This all sounds cruel, but before guns and horses this was the most efficient way for the Indians to obtain food to feed their tribe and buffalo hides for their lodges and clothing. If the kill was great enough they used the extra meat and hides as bartering materials with other tribes and with white traders.

All this and much more was explained to us by two very nice people in the visitor center which we had all to ourselves because we were the only visitors. When my friend inquired where we could buy a cow hide to use as a rug they made several phone calls to find out which store sold cow hides. The visitor center sells buffalo hides, but they seemed a bit hairy to us, to say nothing of the $1000 price tag. I have nothing but praise for the locals we have met on our trip so far. All were friendly, courteous, and seemed especially pleased when they found out that we came all the way from Germany to see the sights in their state.

After driving up to the actual cliff and enjoying the magnificent view of the valley below, we had a little lunch at the top of the cliff with only a prairie dog colony as neighbors. Then we pressed on to our next destination - “The Gates of the Mountains.” This is a gorge or canyon which the Missouri river has cut and which was named Gates of the Mountains by Lewis and Clark because on the other side the real Rockies loom into view. We wanted to take a much-praised boat ride through the Gates, but unfortunately the weather canceled our plans. Just before we got to the place where the boat ride starts and ends rain, snow (yes snow) showers, and cold made the trip for the passengers on the boat before the one we wanted to take so miserable that the operator canceled our boat trip. We were the only prospective passengers for the next trip and I don't think the captain would have gone out for just two people anyway. Well, that was too bad, but we had already seen a film about the Gates and had a glimpse of what it was like.

We then went on to Helena, the capitol of Montana. We walked around the State House and through some of the adjoining streets. The only significant event I can report from Helena is that I stumbled while stepping off a curb and ended up on all fours in the street. No harm done except to my ego. The guide book mentioned a famous church, but when we got there the place was closed. So we moved on.

Another Lewis and Clark point of interest on my list was "Three Forks." Three Forks is the place where three tributaries that form the Missouri come together. It is also called "Head Waters of the Missouri." There is a little town called Three Forks and a park with a sign that commemorates the Lewis and Clark visit there, but that's about all. There wasn't enough time or interest to search out any other sights.

After a quick meal in a restaurant in Belgrade, Montana, we settled into our campsite at a Kampgrounds of America (KOA) campground outside Bozeman, Montana. My friend had to try out the adjacent fitness center with its heated pools and I opted to engage in that "intolerable labor" of writing down the day's events. So ends day six.