“The Ramparts of God” Part of the joy in being retired is freedom of time and as the temperature began to approach the 100’s in Billings I decided to leave town and spend three weeks exploring the Rocky Mountains of northwestern Montana. The plan is to head northwest from Billings to Glacier National Park, cross over into the Flathead Valley, explore the forests of the northwest corner of Montana, then turn east and tour central Montana before returning south to Billings. Augie the doggie and I packed up and hit the road. Come along! As usual, the plan has changed. Due to the increasing number of forest fires and unsettled weather, I decide not to head back east over the mountains to central Montana bur rather head down to Missoula and then via I-90 to Billings.
Kalispell, MT to Missoula, MT (Hwy 83 to Hwy 200, west on Hwy 200 to I-90)
Instead of shooting straight down Hwy 93 to Missoula the plan is to take the scenic route through the Swan/Clearwater River Valleys on Hwy 83. I was hoping that the weather would cooperate with that stunning Montana blue sky because I knew the pictures would be spectacular, but Mother Nature did not cooperate. This is one of the most scenic drives in Montana as the highway climbs up the Swan River Valley from Flathead Lake, peaks at a low pass and then descends down the Clearwater River, all the while between the Mission Mountains on the west and the Swan Mountains on the left. So, off we go, heading east from Kalispell before turning south on Hwy 83.
The valley is carpeted in dense forests as the highway rolls its way south.
For nearly 90 miles the Swan Mountains to the east and the Mission Mountains to the west.
Much like sapphire drops dangling from a necklace of emerald green, numerous lakes sparkle along the way.
At the intersection of Hwy 83 and Hwy 200 we turn right and head west up the Blackfoot River canyon west to merge with I-90 and onward to Missoula. The river carves a path through the mountains on its’ way to joining the Clark Fork River heading west.
Shortly we emerge into the Missoula area. Missoula sits at the base of Mt. Sentinel where the Bitterroot River comes up from the south and joins the larger Clark Fork River, which in turn heads northwest out of the valley to eventually spill into the Columbia River and on to the Pacific. Surrounded on all sides by towering mountains that protect it from the biting cold seen on the eastern side of the Rockies, the climate is somewhat temperate in nature and gives rise to Missoula’s nickname, “The Garden City.” By far the largest city in western Montana, nearly 110,000 people call the city and surrounding area home.
Missoula, MT
The first European settlement in the Missoula area was the Hellgate Trading Post, founded in 1860. Six years later the settlement moved five miles up the river and was named the Missoula Mills after sawmills in the area. In 1877 Fort Missoula was established and in 1883 the Northern Pacific railroad came to town, guaranteeing the economic future of the area by providing east access to the timber riches of western Montana. The final piece in building the foundation of the Missoula area was the establishment of the University of Montana in 1893. While the economic engine of the area was the timber industry for over 100 years, the decline of the timber companies in the 1970’s corresponded with a diversification of the economy and in addition the underlying stability of the university and medical community has helped the area maintain a vibrant economy. Certainly the downtown area is alive and well, full of shops, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. despite the larger stores fleeing to the mall at the south end of town and the big box stores out west on Reserve Street. The queen of the downtown area is the Missoula County Courthouse, built in 1908 and designed by Missoula’s premier architect of the age, A.J.Gibson (who also designed five of the original buildings on the University of Montana campus).
Downtown Missoula is tucked away between the railroad tracks to the north and the Clark Fork River to the south. Anchoring the north end of Higgins, the main street, is the historic Northern Pacific Railroad Train depot, built in 1901.
The view from the turnaround in front of the depot reaches to the south as Higgins turns into Hwy 93, running down the Bitterroot Valley towards Idaho.
The compact center of town is a combination of restored historic buildings and modern construction.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s Missoula was often referred to as the “Berkeley” of Montana, a reference to Missoula as the center of the Montana’s counter-culture movement, comparing it to the University of California at Berkeley. Much like that university town, Missoula combined academic excellence with a liberal point of view not particularly shared by the rest of the state in which they are contained. Missoula continues to be the center of “free thought” in Montana and walking the streets of the downtown area you see two indications of that, bicycles everywhere and, even on a mid-week morning, petition gatherers on most street corners… At least no one is burning bras (or marijuana, at least openly!)…
Across the river from the downtown area to the southeast, sitting at the bottom of Mt. Sentinel, lies the University of Montana.
University of Montana
The U of M is the flagship liberal arts university in Montana, with nationally renowned schools of law, journalism, and education. (The counterpart is Montana State University in Bozeman – Oregonians think U of O and OSU, very much the same) The university began holding classes in 1893 in temporary quarters as the campus was designed and the first buildings constructed. University Hall, designed by A.J. Gibson, opened in 1898 and remains the iconic symbol of the university.
University Hall sits at the eastern edge of a three acre oval plaza that forms the planned center of the university. All major buildings were planned to be sited around the oval, but practical considerations precluded the original plan from being implemented. In this view looking north from the center of the oval towards the Clark Fork River, I can see (from nearest to farthest) Rankin Hall (1909), Anderson Hall (2007), and the Social Sciences Building (1921).
A concerted effort has been made over the years to maintain the “look” of the campus with brick of varying hues being the unifying factor. Here’s a short walk around campus north of the oval.
This is just a small snapshot of the northwest part of campus, it’s much larger and spread out than the pictures indicate. However, I still am able to discover a small jewel in the forest. As is often the case, in years gone by even the most utilitarian of buildings was designed with grace and style in order to add to the ambience of the university. Here is the heating plant, built in 1922 and still providing heat for the university buildings.
And, of course, no visit, however brief, to the University of Montana would be complete without a walk by that holy of holies, Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Construction at the south end of the stadium precludes from getting pictures with the reverence with which Grizzly fans hold towards this site…
At the opposite side of town to the west sits another jewel of the area, Fort Missoula
Fort Missoula
Fort Missoula was established in 1877 and was another of the “open forts” of the west, forts without a surrounding wall. Little remains of the original fort as the grounds were totally revised and new buildings constructed around 1910, most of which are still standing today. During World War II it served as a detention camp for Italians (non-military men from merchant and luxury liner ships seized at the beginning of the war) and later the addition of Japanese-American internees. The fort was decommissioned in 1947 and most of the smaller buildings were destroyed. The larger buildings continue to be used by public agencies including the Forest Service, BLM, Northern Rockies Heritage Center, and Missoula County. The fort grounds resemble a giant “D” with the parade ground in the center. To the west of the vertical line of the “D” lie the remaining buildings from the pre-1910 remodel. The NCO house, a duplex providing housing for noncommissioned officers and other personnel, was built in 1878 and used until 1947. The small Carriage House to the left was used to store buggies and equipment for the inhabitants of the duplex.
West lies the 1911 brick Quartermaster’s Storehouse (1911) and the Quartermaster’s Root Cellar (1908). The root cellar provided cool storage for perishables like fruits and vegetables, and the metal vents on the top allowed air to circulate.
Walking east to the vertical line of the “D” the first buildings on the west side of the parade grounds are the 1940 Post Headquarters (currently used by the Forest Service) and to the right the 1906 Post Headquarters.
Stepping to the right of the 1906 headquarters I look across the parade ground to the curve of the “D”, officers’ quarters on the left and barracks behind the trees to the right. The trees provided welcome shade from the blistering afternoon sun in those “pre-air conditioning” days.
The buildings, built during the 1910 remodel of the fort, are white stucco with red tile roofs. Here’s a view looking down officer’s row.
The officer’s housing consists of seven separate buildings, and is a mixture of housing.
The barracks housed 170 men and it was hard to get a good picture of them given the size of the building and the intrusion of the large trees on my view!
To the south sits the fort hospital, now the Western Montana Regional Community Health Center.
In all the years that I have been through Missoula (and it’s a lot, given that Missoula sits astride the main route from Billings to Portland), I had never stopped to visit the fort. Glad that I did!
Next up: Precious minerals aren’t only thing in southwestern Montana to earn the state the nickname “Treasure State”… Mooooo!
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