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Mile 12,478: Big Sky Country

Friday, October 5th, 2007

Recently I’ve been concerned about the education…or rather the lack thereof…of my blog readers. I feel as though I’ve left you all high and dry in the information department so have decided to devote this entire entry to education, illumination and enlightenment. And for that, we return to Big Sky Country

Last week, of course, I inundated you all with pictures of my family and our various goings-on. This week I’m going to inundate you all with a little history and geography lesson as it relates to my family and our goings-on. As I’ve mentioned before, the vast majority of my family lives in the central part of Montana in both Fort Benton and Great Falls. Before leaving my grandma’s last week I took it upon myself to take a self-guided refresher course on the importance of central Montana in the history and development of the Old West. And because I love y’all so much (too much time in the South) I’m going to share it with you.

The picture at the top of the page was taken at a scenic overlook on Highway 87 right before entering into Fort Benton.

The mountains in the background are the Highwoods and the river snaking below is, of course, the Missouri…the same Missouri River and the same location that Lewis and Clark first explored in 1805 on their way to the Pacific Ocean. At that time, this area along the river was inhabited and explored entirely by the Blackfeet Indians but by the 1830s fur trappers had discovered the site of present-day Fort Benton and soon a thriving center of trade was born amongst the Native Americans, the white explorers/fur traders and the growing numbers of homestead settlers and gold miners.In 1860, the steamboat Chippewa became the first steamboat to reach Fort Benton and because of an underwater “shelf” just past FB steamboats were not able to go any further up the Missouri River. With that, little ol’ Fort Benton became the world’s innermost port…3,300 miles upriver from St. Louis andOld Bridge (incidentally created by the Milwaukee Bridge and Iron Works in 1888) that is now a pedestrian bridge. the farthest port by water from ocean or sea served by regularly scheduled powered craft. Unfortunately the boom times in FB were rather short-lived as the miners eventually dropped off and in the 1880s the railroad turned up…effectively blitzing the river traffic as they knew it.

Never fear my dears because the Homestead Act of 1862 (in my opinion one of the most Alternate view of Missouri River.interesting pieces of legislation ever written by Congress) introduced more than a few settlers who contributed to a resultant boom in agriculture. Even today, Chouteau County is one of the top counties in grain production in the state of Montana as a whole. Of course, roundabout the time of World War II things again started to decline but unlike other prairie towns in central and eastern Montana, Fort Benton became known for itsNew bridge (circa 1962) with the recreational opportunities and ultimately its historical significance in the settling of the Old West. FB is a major jumping off point for those looking to float the Missouri River through a wild section of the unchanged river called the Missouri Breaks.

Now some of my astute readers may be wondering if there is a “Fort” in Fort Benton. Well, I’ll tell you. Yes there is…or rather yes there was as the remains of which are crumbling quickly despite efforts to maintain it. Interestingly, the fort was built as a fur trading post rather than a military outpost between 1848 and 1860 and truthfully, by the time it was sold to the military in 1869 the adobe structures were already starting to crumble. The only structure remaining is the corner blockhouse in the photo below…the square building in the lower left hand corner with the flags on top of it…one of the oldest buildings still standing in Montana.

A bit about the pictures…when the Grand Union Hotel pictured below was opened in 1882 it was considered to be the finest hotel between Chicago and Seattle. For those of you interested in real estate you’ll likely be amused to hear that the construction of the Grand Union cost $50,000 and an additional $150,000 was

spent on furnishings with a construction time of 1 year, 3 months and 18 days. When I was a kid it had fallen into a state of disrepair and much of the interior and furnishings had been auctioned off. In 1999 the Grand Union Hotel gained a new lease on life following a skillful restoration supervised by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the U.S. Parks Department, and the Montana State Historic Preservation Office which has preserved the historical character of Montana’s oldest operating hotel and one of its most famous landmarks. The Culbertson House pictured above left (brick building) was also built during the heydey of 1882.

After spending a few days in FB with my grandma and other assorted family members it was time to head back to Madison in anticipation of departure for Ecuador on October 9. The drive from Montana is largely through North Dakota…quite possibly the most boring state to drive through (though Texas truly rivals it and is significantly wider). One interesting thing in North Dakota worth taking a look is Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora right off of the Interstate. I stopped briefly to take a picture of the Painted Canyon in the southern portion of the park (pictured below). It is worth mentioning here that I consider ND to have few redeeming qualities (and I’m allowed to say that since I was born there. Keep it down! I don’t like that tidbit of information to get out much!)…lots of wind, smelly water and a dull landscape. It occurred to me recently that perhaps North Dakota has a bad rep and maybe there are some interesting things to know about it. So in continuing with the educational goals of this post I give you the following:

3 Truly Exciting and Enthralling Things You Did Not Know About North Dakota

1. North Dakota is 12th in size in terms of land mass in the U.S. but is 48th in terms of population (approximately 640,000 residents in 2006).

2. Some notable former residents of ND include: Roger Maris (of baseball fame), Shadoe Stevens (of American Top 40 fame), Josh Duhamel (actor in Las Vegas and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton) and Lawrence Welk.

3. North Dakota grows more sunflowers than any other state.

Painted Canyon in Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, North Dakota

Mile 11,070: All in the family

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

Two weeks. Ugh. So sorry my dearest blog readers. I’m hoping this is the biggest gap we’ll have on this trip but I make no promises. Unfortunately getting ill the first couple of weeks really trounced my blogging endeavors. I had grand plans to take some interesting day trips, see some countryside, pop into a ghost town or two…basically be a tourist in the state where I spent many summers as a kid. But then the pus grew on my tonsils and that plan flew out the window. So what have I been doing? Not too much that’s blogworthy, really. Of course there was the funeral for my cousin JJ on September 15…and then the birthday party on the 22nd for my grandmother who turned 75. Basically…lots and lots of family stuff which is fun for me but probably not-so-interesting for the rest of you. If you’ll indulge me a little I’ll be posting quite a few pics of said family this time around but will shift back to travel locations later this week.

I’ve fielded several questions lately about the status of the investigation surrounding my cousin JJ’s murder so thought I might type a brief update on what’s been going on. As many of you know, my 26 year-old cousin was shot to death late on September 6 in Fort Benton, Montana (where my grandmother and the majority of my mother’s family lives). The two suspects were immediately apprehended after the man with the gun lead the authorities to the body the next day. Multiple stories have been given about what happened and the murderer maintains the shooting was accidental…but with four shots to the head we’re thinking that’s not likely. The one thing that most agree on is that the outcome was likely fueled heavily by alcohol and drugs for both Cal and Kelsey (the murder team) were known to have drug-related issues. Since Chouteau County hasn’t seen a murder in more than a decade, the state of Montana sent in their own investigators who’ve been extremely tight lipped about what is going on in the investigation. Both Cal and Kelsey have pleaded “not guilty” to their charges (deliberate homicide for Cal and obstruction of justice for Kelsey) though more charges are likely to be filed as the evidence is reviewed. To say this is a difficult time for my family would be an understatement but all things considered, we’re getting on with living which is simply what must be done when something like this happens. Your continued good thoughts would be appreciated.

After the funeral, my mom, step dad Tony, my sister Lindsay and I headed back to my mom’s for a few days where we mostly vegged and got ready forFaye and Stew my grandmother’s birthday party the following weekend. The moose head pictured above is my brother’s…no, he didn’t hunt it (Tony did) but he did pay for the taxidermy. As you might imagine, the moose presents a bit of a transportation problem so it remains here on my mom and Tony’s wall until such a time as my brother figures out how to come and get it. Good luck to him on that endeavor. Here’s a couple of pictures from our Wednesday night out at the VFW for steaks and Cheers for a couple of beers. These handsome folks to the left are Tony and Maxine, of course. Some friends of my mom and Tony, Faye and Stew, were out at Cheers on Wednesday night too. That’s them on the right. Faye is the newest Extravaganza blog fan so I thought she might get a kick out of seeing herself posted on it (Hi Faye!).

On Thursday we packed up the cars and headed east to the prairies of central and eastern Montana. After a tough weekend of funerals and sadness, my family really needed a reason to celebrate so decided to continue on with the original plan of my grandmother’s 75th party on September 22. Maxine, Tony, Lindsay, my aunt Joanie and I Phyllis and Michaelspent Friday afternoon putting together 13 lasagnas for the party on Saturday. While it was fun…I’m quite sure I do not have a future in the catering business. I don’t like being responsible for so many people’s gastronomical happiness!! To the right is a picture of my sister Lindsay (Noodle Woman) in her chef’s hat with my mom’s sister Joanie. Despite the fact that my grandmother didn’t think anyone would show up, the party was a smashing success by all accounts and fortunately the lasagnas turned out OK. Below is a snapshot of the whole crew with my Granny on her 75th birthday. Aren’t they cute?

The Hankins Seven + Granny Goose

From back left…Cheryl (Tori’s mom), Joanie (Andrea: cousin Alijah’s mom), Marlena (Sheila’s mom), Rodger (cousin Jenifer’s dad) and Dale. In the front row from left is John (JJ and Stevie’s dad), Granny Goose and Maxine (my mom, ofStevie and Tori Butch and Uncle Dalecourse). And in the thumbnails there’s Granny’s cousin Phyllis and her son Michael who traveled 12 hours from South Dakota to be at the party. Also shown is the official emcee of the family…Uncle Dale…and official musician…my mom’s cousin Butch. And of course…the tag team of Stevie and Tori.And with that Tour de Familia I shall depart for now. I should be able to get some more Montana stuff up and posted by the end of this week and I’m back in Madison on Thursday night for the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy with Colette and Ryan. I’m in the Mad City until October 9 when I depart for Quito, Ecuador…stay tuned for some new culture, new useless facts and lots of great pictures coming from South America starting early October. My best as always and thanks for reading the Extravaganza Blog.