From Yellowstone we traveled northwest through the Big Sky canyon. The landscape flattened a bit and spread into a wide grassey floor that was bordered on either side by high rock walls and the thick foliage of the Gallatin Forest. The highway wound through the valley alongside the rushing Gallatin River.
The river is easily accessed from the road and is a favorite area for fly fishing. There were folks fishing in the river in many spots along the way.
We stopped to picnic at Moose Creek Flat Campground where there is a put-in for river rafts. Murphy enjoyed wading and greeting the rafters from the shore. He was pretty sure they needed his help navigating!
From here the road continued to climb in altitude, transitioning to the higher rocky terrain of Montana. The highway crawled up mountainsides of rock and massive boulders, to the summit of the Continental Divide, at just under 6,400 feet.
We crossed the Continental Divide several times during this part of our trip. On this leg we were heading west towards Glacier National Park in northern Montana. The distance from Yellowstone to Glacier is about 400 miles, so we had planned to stop halfway, in Missoula. However, the campground called to let us know they had been closed down by a severe windstorm, so we found an alternative spot for a stop-over in Butte, Montana. While we had not intended to visit this area, we took a couple of days to rest before heading on to Whitefish, Montana. An interesting sight in Butte was a large white statue of the Madonna in the mountains. At an altitude of 8.500 feet, it is visible from the city of Butte.
Our Lady of the Rockies is an impressive figure. It is 90 feet tall and 48 feet wide, The statue was created to fulfill a promise made by a Butte resident, Bob O'Bill, when. his wife was diagnosed with cancer. He made a solemn prayer and a promise to build a statue honoring Mother Mary if his wife recovered. His wife healed and O'Bill kept his promise.. The building of the statue was completed through the efforts of O'Bill and the community of Butte who contributed money, time and materials to create the statue. It is dedicated to all women, especially mothers.
Leaving Butte, we continued northwest, through the agricultural areas where the highway is bounded by vast hay fields, and populated by bales of hay drying in the summer sun.
Mounds and bales of hay, came in various shapes and sizes!
The pastoral landscape was dotted with farms and ranches and livestock. A herd of horses roamed and played beside a stream.
The hayfields gave way to deeper timber and mountain lakes. The calm waters of Harper's Lake provided a serene paddle for these folks in their canoe.
The scenery on our way towards Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park was really beautiful. We passed through Swan Valley, remarkable for its heavily forested areas and sweeping meadows. The one below was particularly peaceful and seems to have overcome its calamitous past. In the past, this area experienced significant conflict between native peoples of the Pend d'Oreilles tribe and ranchers, state and city officials of the newly formed state of Montana.
The on-going conflict was over off-reservation hunting rights guaranteed by treaty and traditional tribal practices using fire that had existed for hundreds of years. In 1908, this meadow was the site of the Swan Valley Massacre, in which four Indians were killed by a state game warden and his deputy, for off-reservation hunting even though the tribe had hunted here for generations and had purchased a hunting license that was newly required by the state. The game warden was also killed during the exchange.
Following this event, the tribe continued their traditional hunting practices, at the risk of further conflict. Eventually the courts affirmed their treaty rights to hunt as they had for hundreds of years. "Today the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park administration continue to build a relationship of mutual understanding and respect."
The historic significance of this place was a reminder that we all need to work towards gaining understanding regardless of our differences to achieve living in peace and tranquility.
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