I cried when Great Northern merged with three other railroads in 1970 and became Burlington Northern. I loved those blue engines with the Mountain Goat on the side.
Then in the 1980’s they stopped using cabooses when technology advanced and they came up with FREDs (flashing rear-end device).
My mind wandered back to those early years and made me wonder where this caboose was headed for. I’m hoping it’s going someplace where it will be loved and appreciated.
For all you fisher people out there. This is at the Tongue River Reservoir near the Montana/Wyoming border. There are also RV sites but we didn’t take the RV down this time. The guys had a father/son day and it was a huge success.
Todd said that really helped with his fishing withdrawal symptoms. The top two pictures are of a smallmouth bass. The one with Jim sitting down is a walleye.
This large pile of boulders is an extremely rare geological formation that can be found in only two other places on Earth. (Pennsylvania and Australia) The rocks chime when tapped lightly with a hammer and each rock has a different tone. If a boulder is removed from the pile, however, it doesn’t ring.
Even though I was born and raised in Montana, I had never heard about these rocks until I read about them about three weeks ago. I definitely had to go find them. And that meant Jim had to find them too.
We left the motor home at Wheat Montana (remember those fabulous caramel rolls?) and headed out on our quest. I knew the exit we were supposed to take off I-90 (Exit 241 – Pipestone). But I missed the sign for the Ringing Rocks and we drove about 15 miles out of our way (on a gravel road that wasn’t maintained very well) and were about ready to give up. As we got back to the entrance to 
I convinced Jim we really did want to go so we headed up this narrow, gravel road. It is about four miles up to the rocks.
The first part of the road is pretty easy but the higher you climb the narrower the road. There are many places where two vehicles would not be able to pass each other and someone is going to have to back up a long, long ways. And the closer you get to the rocks the more treacherous the road becomes. The last 1/8 mile is loaded with large, jagged rocks and without a high clearance vehicle, you’d be in trouble.
You can park at the bottom of this last 1/8 mile and walk up. But listen carefully for vehicles coming down the road because there are curves that you cannot see around.
We were lucky. We only met one vehicle on our way up and we were at a spot where they could pull over. The only other vehicle we saw, arrived at the rocks just as we were getting ready to leave. When you go – and it really is worth it – don’t forget your hammer!
But they are so beautiful and weren’t afraid of us at all. They even knew that the girls were on a leash and not a threat.
The people who own the house across the street have a really high fence around their garden. Wonder why?
After that – catch and release. Just ask me if my hubby is happy!!
The town of Elkhorn grew up around the mine and as many as 2500 people lived there in the 1880’s.
By 1900 the Elkhorn mine had produced 8,902,000 ounces of silver, 8500 ounces of gold and more than 4 million pounds of lead – all of which was worth about $14,000,000.
Today Elkhorn has been rediscovered and several “summer” cabins have been built in the town with more to come.
Four more items of interest about Helena, MT.
And so ends our tour of Helena (at least for this visit). I hope you have enjoyed it half as much as I have.
The cathedral is patterned after the Votivkirche in Vienna. The twin spires are 230 feet high. The South Tower was almost destroyed in the 1935 earthquake that hit the Helena area.
This is definitely a must see if you ever get to this area. It is so beautiful on the inside.
The Bluestone House, which sits right below the Guardian, was designed as a private residence for Lillie McGraw, one of Helena’s wealthy madams. However, she ran out of money and the house was never finished.
Today Reeder’s Alley is full of small shops and a couple of restaurants.
The Pioneer Cabin was built in 1864 and had the first glass windows in Helena. It sits as the gateway to Reeder’s Alley.
Helena has some really gorgeous buildings as well as mansions.
The second building is the Atlas Block Building. Built in 1889 the green salamanders represent their escape from the fires that destroyed the wooden buildings in downtown Helena.
This is the Helena Civic Center which was originally a Shrine Temple built in 1920.
The requirements for membership were simple: millionaires only. At one time the club had 134 members. They met at the club and feasted on Blue Point oysters, Russian caviar, roasted bald eagle, and diamond-encrusted king crab served in ivory saucers with melted polar bear butter and drank thousand year-old-scotch after dinner.
The membership requirements have been somewhat relaxed in this current day: A $200 initiation fee gets you in, and the dues are about $70 a month.
These millionaires also built some really gorgeous homes in Helena. Here is just a sampling of what you can see.
This house had the first elevator in Helena. Notice the gargoyles on the front porch.
Many of these mansions still have the hitching posts out front where you can tie up your horse when you come to visit.
The stream that yielded the gold is no longer running through the gulch. That gulch is now Helena’s main street downtown in the historic district. It is a one way street, very narrow and I would not recommend anyone try to drive their rig through there.
The Bullwhacker
Extra, Extra
The Prospector Fountain
SYMBOL OF THE PROS (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) – a bronze by Bob Scriver.
These two sculptures are located outside the Montana Historical Museum.
At the beginning of the Civil War he joined the Union Army and rose to the rank of brigadier general. In 1867 he was appointed acting governor of the Montana Territory.
In the summer of 1867 he traveled to Fort Benton to receive a shipment of guns and ammunition. On the way he fell ill and stopped for six days to recuperate. However, he was still sick when he arrived at Fort Benton. Sometime in the early evening of July 1, 1867, he fell overboard from the steamboat and his body was never recovered.
The next few posts are going to introduce you to the Capitol of Montana. Jim and I took the tour train which is a really great way to see the town and hear about some of the history of the place.
Helena was founded basically by mistake by four gold hunters from Georgia who was known as the Four Georgians. They were not having any luck finding gold around western Montana and on July 14, 1864 they decided that they were to take one last chance in panning a stream in the area that is now Helena.
That night they found gold and named the stream, Last Chance Gulch. (And that is the name of Helena’s main street today.) Work spread and in a few short years more than 3000 people called this area home.
At first the town was called Crabtown. Other names bounced around were Squashtown and Pumpkinville. However, many of the miners were from Minnesota and wanted to name the town after a town in their home state, Saint Helena. So Helena it became.
