Hello Everyone!
Greetings from the prairies of eastern Wyoming. I have officially turned my headlights east and I have begun my long journey home. It’s been a fascinating time here in the Rocky Mountain states and I would love to keep exploring for the rest of the year, but between the crazy heat of the last month and the issues I’ve had with my van this summer, I have decided it’s time for me to go home for a while. When I get there I’ll be able to sort some things out, regroup and get ready to get back to it again in 2027. It’s not been an easy decision, but I think it’s a good one and I’m starting to wrap my head around it at this point. Waking up super early so I can drive somewhere and then spend all day either inside or sitting under a tree is not a lot of fun and even though the summer is waning, it looks like another month of heat could be ahead. The work I needed to have done on Shadow Catcher this summer highlighted how old she is getting and how hard it will be to keep getting parts and also just how far away from home I am in a 30 year old vehicle. Even though she’s been running really well for the last few weeks, I think it’s time for her to find a new home with someone who needs and expects less from her than I do going forward. So I have slowly begun my eastward journey with no plans to speed across the country, but with every intention of getting there in the next few weeks. That said, I’ve had a really interesting week here in northern Wyoming and southern Montana exploring small western towns and some of the battlefields of the Plains Indian Wars. The heat broke on Monday and I have done my best to make the most of the last few days with cooler conditions to run in. I’ve certainly slept better, that’s for sure. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
After leaving you last week, I finished up a few things and then strolled down the road and checked into the historic Greybull Hotel for the night. The Greybull is a charming small-town hotel which was clean, comfortable, very reasonably priced and right in the middle of town. I plunked my stuff down and cooled off for a minute and then wandered down the street to the tiny Greybull Museum. The museum was really small, but had a lot of cool rocks and fossils from the area and some nice historic artifacts from the town as well. From there, I popped next door to CC’s pizza for dinner and then went for a beer at the Smokehouse Saloon. On Wednesdays they were charging 25¢ for a draft beer or $1.50 for a pitcher. I showed tremendous restraint by limiting myself to just one pitcher, but I had paid for a nice hotel room which I wanted to get back to enjoy it, which is exactly what I did. It was quite nice to relax on my couch, in the air conditioning, and watch some TV for a while. I know that is something many, many people do every night, but for me it was a luxury.
In June of 1867 a small group of soldiers from Fort Bridger, who were in the area to help protect the overland trails coming through South Pass, decided to try a little prospecting during their down time. They came up lucky and soon a small gold rush brought 2,000 people up the mountain, and South Pass City was born. The mines and the town would both go through a series of booms and busts over the next 90 or so years until, in 1968, the whole town was bought by the state of Wyoming and was designated a state park. The Carissa Mine was bought in 2003 and added to the park. Extensive restoration of the town makes it seem as if the citizens just left yesterday, leaving the store fully stocked and half drunk beers on the bars. The Carissa Mine and Mill are incredible to see as not only have the buildings been restored and stabilized, but much of the machinery is in working order. I had a great visit to South Pass City and found the whole place fascinating. They had a great display outlining South Pass City’s role in giving Wyoming women the right to vote back in 1869 and it was also home to Esther Hobart Morris, the country’s first female Justice of the Peace. You can even get a cold sarsaparilla in one of the saloons. I hope you enjoy these photos from old South Pass City, a beautifully restored Wyoming gold rush town.
The Northern Pacific Railway came to southern Montana back in 1882 and the town of Livingston was born. Named after a railway stockholder, Livingston slowly grew to its current population of about 8,000 people. In the early days, it was marketed by the railroad as the “Gateway to Yellowstone” and they even laid down a branch line which ran from the main line all the way down to Gardiner on the park’s northern border. Livingston is still a popular gateway to Yellowstone, although you have to drive there now. The town maintains a lot of its historic character with beautiful old buildings, classic neon and awesome painted advertisements and ghost signs. I arrived in Livingston during a heat wave, ended up sticking around for a couple of days and really enjoyed it. There are some nice museums and a lot of great bars and restaurants. I hope you enjoy these photos from Livingston, Montana’s historic “Gateway to Yellowstone”
Hello Everyone!
It’s been another hot week out here on the road in central Wyoming. July is historically the hottest month in both Wyoming and Montana, but this summer has brought record temperatures to both. Daytime temperatures are once again nearing 100° out here, but thankfully it’s been cooling off enough in the evenings to sleep in my van. I’ve been up and out early most days to get my driving done before it gets ridiculous out and have definitely been trying to scout out some shade whenever possible. Despite the heat, I’ve had an interesting week out here exploring some of central Wyoming’s small towns and what they have to offer. I also spent some time on the Wind River Reservation this week, home to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapahoe Indians. Wyoming is the least populated state in the country and it’s definitely not hard to imagine that out here. Big lettered towns on the map are relative and mean that these are big towns for Wyoming, but not necessarily big towns. With only around 588,000 people in the entire state, Wyoming’s whole population is slightly more than that of Baltimore, Maryland and slightly less than Memphis, Tennessee. I definitely enjoy the small towns and the wide open spaces of the Cowboy State, and I’ve been happy to see so many new-to-me places this week.
After leaving you last week I headed out into the night there in Jackson. I’ve certainly seen a lot of changes in Jackson over the last 25 years since I first visited, and every year it gets a little more L.A. and a little less Wyoming. The place that continues to roll with all of the changes is the infamous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar right there on the town square. The Cowboy Bar opened its batwing doors back in 1937 and has always been a central gathering place for the town. It’s decorated with burled wood beams, taxidermied animals and cowboy relics and even has saddles in place of barstools. With live music every night, I’ve never been there when it wasn’t busy. On any given night, you’re likely to find locals and tourists, cowboys, rafting guides, drifters and beauty queens shooting pool, shooting whisky and tapping along to the band. This night was no different and I enjoyed a few cold ones and a few tunes while I chatted to some folks from Charlotte, N.C. who were in town for a wedding. Long live the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar – may it continue to evolve with the town and somehow still remain exactly the same as the first time I walked into it.
Located on the Madison River in Madison County, tiny Ennis, Montana is known for its abundant fly-fishing opportunities and public outdoor art. The area was originally settled in 1863 by William Ennis and the town that grew up there bears his name. I’ve been through Ennis a few times and always find it to be a quiet and charming little town. I hope you enjoy these photos from tiny Ennis, Montana.
Gold was discovered in Alder Gulch in 1863 and Nevada City sprung up almost overnight. It was a true boom and bust mining town which may have grown to as many as 2,000 residents but would dwindle down to only a hundred by the end of the decade. By 1880, the population was down to 50 and it would continue to shrink until Nevada City was all but a ghost town. In the 1950s, former state senator Charles Bovey decided to revive the old town as an outdoor living history museum. He salvaged a dozen or so buildings which were original to the townsite and then started bringing in other historic buildings from around the state. Today, Nevada City is owned by the State of Montana and managed by the Montana Heritage Commission. I unfortunately arrived after it had closed down for the night, but there was still plenty to see from the street. I’ll definitely have to get back and explore it another time. I hope you enjoy these photos from historic Nevada City - where Montana history comes to life.
Dillon, Montana is such a cool little town. Founded in 1880, it was originally called Terminus because it was, at least temporarily, the end of the line for the Utah and Northern Railway. The following year the town was renamed Dillon in honor of Sydney Dillon, the president of the Union Pacific Railroad. Located in the Beaverhead Valley, Dillon was a nice, central location to bring the train through to supply the nearby mining towns of Bannack, Virginia City, Nevada City and others. While the railroad was the impetus for Dillon’s founding, soon cattle and sheep ranches began to sprout up around town, shoring up the economy. As it grew, Dillon would become the county seat of Beaverhead County and build a gorgeous courthouse in the middle of town. In 1892, the Montana Normal College was founded in Dillon, which operates today as the University of Montana Western. Perhaps my favorite fact about Dillon is that it is the final resting place of Pit the Elephant which was struck and killed by lightning in 1943 at the fairgrounds. Too big to move, she was buried where she fell and the town continues to maintain her grave today. Dillon is a lovely little town with some great museums and plenty of bars and restaurants to explore and I really enjoyed my time there. I hope you enjoy these photos of Dillon, Beaverhead County’s classic rail town.
Hello Everyone!
Well, as of this writing my Shadow Catcher is still in the shop, but it should be ready by the end of the day, three weeks to the day after we rolled into Missoula. I certainly never expected it to take this long and can only say that I really wish Dodge hadn’t used some strange axle when they built this van. Usually Dodge parts are pretty easy to come by, but we finally ran out of luck with this one. I’m really hoping that everything is truly set to go and that we can cruise through the rest of the summer with no problems. That said, it’s been a pretty good week out here all things considered. I spent the beginning of the week out exploring in my loaner truck, came back to Missoula for the Zootown Music Festival over the weekend and then headed back south to my friend’s house in Corvallis for the rest of the week. I just pulled back into Missoula this morning and hopefully we’ll be back on the road by this time tomorrow.
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After I finished up this post last week, I went out and had a nice long walk around Butte. Butte is truly one of the most photogenic cities I’ve ever been to and there always seems to be something new to see every time I’m there. The sun was on its way down so the light was good and my camera was very happy to be clicking away. I wandered down to the warehouse district for dinner at Casagranda’s Steakhouse, a cozy little spot tucked into the old Bertoglio building with an awesome Highlander Beer mural on the front. I have really been looking forward to eating a local steak and this was an awesome place to get one. The prices were incredibly reasonable, especially considering that the steaks came with soup AND salad, fresh baked bread, a side dish and even a scoop of ice cream at the end. It was a truly satisfying meal in a lovely setting. After dinner I wandered back up the hill into Uptown to take some more photos. I popped into Maloney’s bar for a beer and then had one more at the Copper King Saloon before calling it a night. The Copper King was located across the street from the old Milwaukee Road train station and had a lot of cool history which the ladies there were happy to discuss.
Tiny Wisdom, Montana takes its name from explorers Merriweather Lewis and William Clark’s name for the river which runs through town. Today we call it the Big Hole River, but who would change a town called Wisdom? It would seem unwise to me. Resting in the Big Hole Valley between the Pioneer, Anaconda and Beaverhead Mountains, Wisdom is also surrounded by Beaverhead-Deer Lodge National Forest. The Big Hole Valley is also known as the “Valley of 10,000 Haystacks” due to the ranching in the area which uses the beaverslide hay stacking technique developed nearby. There isn’t much to Wisdom, but I found it a pleasant place nonetheless. I stayed at the immaculate American Legion campground just outside of town and enjoyed a visit to the Antlers Saloon. My friend, Crystal, grew up in Wisdom and remembers it as a fun place when she was a child. Her grandmother owned several businesses in town and her brother still lives nearby. Today, Wisdom’s big draw is fly fishing, but it’s also along quite a popular cycling route. I hope you enjoy these photos from tiny Wisdom, Montana - a cute little town in the Big Hole Valley.
Colonel William Wallace purchased an 80 acre tract of land back in 1884 along the south fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. Over the next few years, several major silver deposits were discovered in the surrounding hills and a town grew up around Wallace’s cabin. By 1887, the railroad had made its way into Wallace and the town would grow even bigger. A fire in 1890 would burn much of the town and wooden buildings were rebuilt in brick. Despite this, Wallace would burn again in 1910 in what would come to be known as the “Big Burn”, one of the largest forest fires in American history. Wallace rebuilt again and the silver in the hills kept the town alive. The mines would thrive until after World War II and then slowly began to close. Today, Wallace’s population hovers around 800, with tourism being the town’s major industry. Wallace is the only town which is included, in its entirety, on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a wonderful place to wander through with lots of old buildings, bars, hotels and restaurants. The historic Oasis Bordello Museum tells the story of Wallace’s storied red light district which lasted into the 1990s. Besides the history of the town, the area surrounding it is full of hiking and biking trails, ski slopes and a plethora of other outdoor activities. I first came to Wallace over 20 years ago and every time I return it makes me smile. It’s just a lovely little town, well preserved and open for business. I hope you enjoy these photos from fabulous Wallace, Idaho - small town perfection in Idaho’s Silver Valley.
Gold was discovered along Prichard and Eagle Creeks back in 1882, sparking a small rush to the area. The town of Murray was established in 1884 and named for a local miner, George Murray. 5000 miners made their way to the valley, but the placer gold soon played out and the town’s population would drop to about 500 by 1910. Mining would continue in the area until the late 1950s. Wyatt Earp spent some time in Murray at the end of the 19th century. Perhaps the most loved and remembered citizen of Murray was the prostitute turned madam Maggie Hall, AKA Molly Burdan, AKA Molly B’Damn. Maggie was born in England to Irish parents and moved to New York in 1870. She came west a few years later and made her way to Murray during the gold rush in 1884. While quite a popular prostitute in town, Molly was also known and remembered for her kindness and generosity, being sure that everyone in town was fed and clothed. She died of tuberculosis in 1888 at the age of 34 and was buried in the town’s cemetery. Murray still celebrates their favorite lady every year during the annual Molly B'Damn Gold Rush Days.
There isn’t much to Murray these days, but what there is is fantastic. The Sprag Pole Inn and Museum is a sprawling complex stretching through several buildings and containing the personal collection of Walt Almquist. It displays everything from old matchbooks and cigarette packets to one of the world’s longest wooden chains. Down the road is the Bedroom Goldmine which has a plexiglass covered mine shaft in the back room. Guests were allowed to pan for gold until a flood washed out all of the support structures. I thought Murray was just the coolest little town and I’m glad I stopped to check it out. I hope you enjoy these photos of tiny Murray, Idaho, an old gold rush town in the Silver Valley.
Hello Everyone!
The weather is definitely warming up this week. Temperatures have been pushing up towards 90°F (32°C) on me here in the Pacific Northwest but thankfully it cools off quite a bit in the evening. Personally I would have loved some more springtime temperatures between winter and summer, but I know it’s almost June so it’s getting to be that time. The days are getting really long out here which has its pluses and minuses, but for the most part it’s been pretty good. I finished off my time in Oregon this week and I’m definitely glad I had the opportunity to see the Willamette Valley and all it had to offer. It was a relatively quick push back across the north of the Beaver State and southeast Washington to put me back into Idaho. I had a fabulous trip up into the depths of Hells Canyon this week and am ending the week here in Pullman, Washington just across the border from Moscow, Idaho. Both are pleasant university towns, but Pullman has a Planet Fitness so I dipped over here for a workout and I might as well finish up this week’s post while I’m here.
After I left you last week, I decided to stay the night outside of Portland at Edgefield, the old Multnomah County Poor Farm which is one of the McMenamin brothers’ signature properties. I thought a relaxed afternoon seemed like an excellent choice at that point and since I could get a dorm bed there for just $45 and be able to enjoy all of the amenities of the resort, I jumped at the opportunity. I had stopped by Edgefield on my way up the Columbia River Gorge last September and really wished I could have spent more time there, so I’m glad I had the chance to on this go-round. The main building at Edgefield is a beautiful, old, brick building with lots of art, nooks and crannies to explore. The property had four bars and the winery open while I was there, plus the main restaurant. I enjoyed a soak in the soaking pool, a nice long walk around the property and a plenty of quiet time reading my book. All of the shared spaces encouraged conversation and I really enjoyed chatting with several people during my stay. It was a wonderful afternoon and evening and somewhere I would definitely recommend if you’re ever in the area.
