Confluence, Forts, and Time Zones

North Dakota - same

Our next stop is further into North Dakota at Fort Union and this is when we figured out our next Oops. We forgot that North Dakota is in the Central Time Zone and Montana is in the Mountain Time Zone. So we lost an hour when we crossed the border. That meant that the Fort and the gate were closed.

Between 1828 and 1867, Fort Union was the most important fur trade post on the Upper Missouri River. During the summer season they have lots of activities. But all we got was a picture.

Moving on to the Confluence of the Yellowstone and the Missouri Rivers. Originating high in the interior of Yellowstone National Park at the Yellowstone Lake in Wyoming, the Yellowstone River flows 676 miles to its confluence with the Missouri River - unrestrained by a single dam. Eventually, the Yellowstone River joins the Missouri River just past the border with North Dakota.

Once again the Interpretive Center is closed so we went looking for the actual site.  

The river flowing from the left is the Missouri. The Yellowstone is flowing from the south. When they meet at the red marker (the Confluence) the Yellowstone flows into the Missouri and continues eastward as the Missouri River.

It's a beautiful place and we tried to imagine what it was like when Lewis and Clark were there. I'm sure the rivers were flowing much higher and wilder. Close your eyes and listen to the clashing of the two rivers as they struggle for dominance. 

Fort Buford was also closed but there were a couple of buildings that were open and others had windows to look in. Fort Buford was built in 1866 as a military outpost. It is probably best remembered as the place where the famous Hunkpapa Sioux leader, Sitting Bull, surrendered in 1881.

This photo does not do this dragonfly justice. His/her wings were glittering so brightly and was just incredibly gorgeous.

This was the original cemetery. The headstones have been refurbished and replaced as needed. Several of the headstones tell what the men or women died of. Several suicides.

 Vaughn found this grave and wondered if she could be one of my relatives. My maiden name is Mercer. There's not much information available about this little girl but I may just have to keep looking.

 

There are some very interesting stories about those who died at Fort Buford. Here's a link if you're interested in reading some of them. Fort Buford Cemetery

Masons at Fort Buford

Most of the members were veterans of the Civil War. Yellowstone Lodge #88 was founded in 1871 and the membership began with 29 freemasons. Only white men were allowed to be members. When the soldiers at Fort Buford were moved to Fort Shaw (in Montana), they lost most of their membership and in 1874 surrendered their charter.

This horse sculpture (located behind the lodge) is a tribute to buffalo soldiers at Fort Buford.

By this time, it is starting to get late and time to head back to the hotel. I did take a couple of pictures of old buildings in Fairview that I thought were interesting.

The old Hotel Albert. No longer a hotel but still operating as a casino, bar and restaurant.

 The old bank building

Sunday morning we attended church. My Grandma Haase and my sister were two of the very first members of the Latter-day Saint church in Sidney. In fact, we did not have a chapel to meet in. A couple of places we met were a Quonset hut in Fairview and the Girl Scout Cabin in Sidney. The congregation has definitely grown and they have a beautiful chapel. There were still a few people who remember my folks and me and it was fun to visit with them.

Bridges, Tunnels, and Oops

 Fairview, MT  - same

Vaughn told me about a bridge and tunnel that he wanted to explore in Fairview, MT. A small town on the border with North Dakota. My walking ability is greatly diminished and I do not like heights so Vaughn walked the bridge while I waited in the car and watched people. There were many people floating the Yellowstone and the parking lot for the bridge is a great place to get off the river. 

 Views from the bridge

(Can you see Vaughn on the bridge in the above picture?)

This bridge is known as the Fairview Lift Bridge or the Great Northern Railway Bridge and was built in 1913 across the Yellowstone River.  It was built as a lift bridge to accomodate steamboat traffic. But construction took so long, once it was completed, steamboats were on their way out.

You can barely see the boat on the water but if you enlarge the picture really a lot, those little black dots turn into tube floaters.

The only time the 'lift' span on the Fairview Bridge over the Yellowstone River was raised was in 1914, shortly after it was constructed as part of an ambitious plan by the Great Northern Railroad for its never-completed Montana Eastern Railway. 

It has been said that the body of a lynched railworker and criminal, J. C. Collins, is inside one of the concrete abutments of the bridge.  Nobody knows for sure if fact or fiction.

At the east end of the bridge is the Cartwright Tunnel which is the only completed railroad tunnel in North Dakota. The tunnel is 1,456 feet long and most of the digging was done by hand. It becomes completely dark in the center near where it curves to the other side and that is where the Oops happened.

 

Vaughn wasn't as prepared as he should have been for the tunnel. It was really dark and the only light he had was his phone flashlight. He had it pointed downward so he could see where to walk and did not realize that the tunnel curved. He ran right into a wooden plank and cut his head open.

When he finally got back to the car, he was dripping blood everywhere. Head wounds really do bleed a lot. But he was a trooper and refused to go to Urgent Care. I thought he needed stitches but being male, he said no way. So he cleaned up the best he could and held a kleenex to his head as we went on to more adventures. 

Next up the Forts and another Oops.

Memory Lane

 Sidney, MT  it was warm but not hot so nice weather

I decided that I was going to go back in time. I grew up in Sidney, MT which is over by the North Dakota border. I knew it must have changed a lot over the last 50 years and I wanted to go see places one last time. Since Vaughn only lives 50 miles from there, he decided to come along. So while I waited for him, I drove around town and took some pictures.

This is where I grew up. In the smaller house in this picture. The large house is where my Grandparents Mercer lived. Those were the days when family stayed close by. I remember Grandma Mercer giving me fresh peaches and cream. Also the lilacs in her backyard. It breaks my heart to see the decay of their home now.

That tree in front of our house has definitely grown. I remember when dad planted it. Just a scrawny little thing.

 

These next three pictures of where I went to school. Grade School, Junior High (not called middle school), and High School.

 

 

As I was sitting across from the High School, this fire truck came by with lights and sirens. I figured it was my Dad saying hi. He was a volunteer firefighter for probably 20 years or so. 

My Dad was also the Mayor of Sidney for a few years, then became the Director of Public Works, and after he retired from the city, he was again elected Mayor. The water treatment plant was one of his greatest achievements along with an o\Olympic size swimming pool.

The Dutch Mill was one of our favorite places to hang out along with the Malt Shop. Neither exist anymore but we still have the windmill to remind us of good times. Best french fries ever.

This is the house that Jim and Todd lived in while I lived and worked in Billings. They were finally able to move to Billings so we could be together again. 

The courthouse

 

This used to be our ice skating rink. You can still see the old warming house. They now have a nice new rink and a hockey team to go with it.

And one of the main reasons I came to town was to visit some graves. The first one is my Grandma and Grandpa Mercer. The second one is my mom and dad. I tried to find my Mom's parents' but I couldn't find it. I thought I looked everywhere but even with the map I couldn't find them.

Vaughn finally showed up and we had adventures that were waiting for us. One of those adventures was not so good. Check back to see what it was.

 

Friends for 50 Years

Billings - same

Vaughn and I have been friends for 50 years. Boy is that hard to comprehend. How the time does fly. And through all these years, he has been a good friend to me, even when I really didn't deserve his friendship. Like the time I called him in a panic and told him he had to get over to my house immediately. (We actually lived by each other so he wasn't very far away.) He came tearing over the yard and into the house, afraid of what he might find. What he found, was me having a meltdown because of all this noise on my roof. He went outside to take a look and found that a whole flock of birds had landed on my roof. I was a mess and he cracked up laughing. It was just like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's movie.

So I digress. Vaughn was going through Billings headed to Bozeman for the Trump campaign. He had time to stop and have lunch with Todd and I. Nobody can tell our stories like Vaughn can. We laughed so hard while reminiscing he was almost late getting on the road.

He also stopped on his way home and we all went to dinner. More fun stories and good laughs.

Vaughn and I had another adventure when I went down memory lane. But that will be the next post.

 

Pour Painting

Billings - Same

Not everything was about Elias but almost everything. 

 Some of you know that Michaela is an artist and is a paint instructor at Bitterroot Sip and Paint in Billings. On Sunday she took Mary Beth, Todd, Elias and I down to the paint studio for a lesson in Pour Painting.

You have got to realize that I do not have a single artistic bone in my body. I see a blank wall and I see a blank wall. Michaela can imagine that wall in a dozen different ways. All of them gorgeous. So this painting thing is so far out of my comfort zone it is in a different universe.

So this is what I see. Panic!!

 

Then comes the paint. Now what do I do? 

 

Michaela showed us a bunch of different techniques using straws, a brush, a chain, a small strainer, and a whole bunch of other everyday things. 

 

And I'm still frozen in my chair wondering what in the world I am doing here. 

So I pour a little paint on my blank canvas and push it around a little bit. Then I add some more and use a small brush to push it around some more. As you can see in the next picture that Mary Beth is using the straw technique trying to keep her hair out of it. (Isn't her hair just amazing?) 

 Eventually my painting was a horrible shade of brown. I definitely wasn't doing something right. So Todd took pity on me and told me I wasn't pouring enough paint on the picture. So he mixed several colors together and poured it on the canvas. Then I had to move it around to make a random design.

This is the result of our hard work.

Todd

Mary Beth

Michaela

And, TA DA, Mine

I think if I was to do this again, I might just have a little idea of what to do. But I can't guarantee that. I really enjoyed myself in spite of my lack of artistic talent. Yes, I would do it again.