July 21-22, 2020 - Helena to Harlowton - Big Timber, Montana:
I always like to get an early start, but when you don’t have a reservation or even a destination, it’s no big deal. Top priority was doing laundry (don’t like to be stinky) and need to finish off another blog post which isn’t easy working in the van outside a local Library with slow WiFi. It’s 11AM when I finally leave town heading south on RT 287 to Rt 12 east. The Canyon Ferry Lake, a dammed up portion of the Missouri River, runs the whole length of this road segment with much fishing and boating recreation. Rt 12 is also called the Lewis and Clark Highway and becomes very scenic as it crossed the Belt Mountains.
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| Long scenic rail bridge over Missouri River near Townsend, Montana |
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| Route 12 takes you go through the scenic Smith River Valley |
I then take Rt 89 north to the town of White Sulphur Springs and check out the sights, I find a museum and the motel where the hot springs are located, but decide to pass. There are many bars in this town, not much else to do ?
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| A roadside view in the valley |
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| The 2 Basset Brewery |
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| The Lane Bar |
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| Bar 47 |
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| The Mint Bar |
I am debating which way to go from here, north takes me into the mountains, a ski area and National Forest land, but Rt 12 east takes me to Harlowton, Montana which sounds more interesting.
A few miles west of Harlowton I exit for the small town of Two Dot to see their “world famous saloon”. Twodots was named after a prominent ranch owner’s cattle brand. There isn’t much to Twodots these days, actually totally nothing, its glory days are long gone, but there is an historic display at a small shelter near the Saloon. The going thing these days appears to be Hay farming, that’s the cash crop of choice.
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| That was like a magnet for me |
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| The normal fascination with killing dere takes center stage |
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| Rustic exterior |
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| The old State Bank, no money deposited these days |
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| Many wolves were slaughtered, as displayed on the bank walls |
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| The Milwaukee Road came through Two Dot |
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| The Two Dot Ranch was once prosperous |
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| Hay baling days |
Harlowton is the prominent town in this area, but it also is suffering, the historic old downtown is half vacant and distressed. The beautiful old Graves Hotel is for sale and sadly I see little hope of resurrection. Ironically across the street is a “Keep America great Trump campaign storefront. I found the old Milwaukee Road Train Depot, now a land locked museum, but at least it’s preserved. They have the last old Electric Locomotive in display in the downtown area, a very impressive Locomotive that was state of the art for its time. This was the longest stretch of electrified rail in the country at one time.
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| The very last locomotive to run into Harlowton |
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| The Harlo Theater |
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| The Messelshell Museum with the Stockman's Bar in the background |
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| The State Hotel is gutted from a fire |
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| The Graves Hotel was the place to stay, no longer |
This town is depressing, I can’t help thinking back to the museum exhibit on C.M. Russell. He loved the old west, (probably excessively) and in his latter years he expressed in his paintings the beauty and purity of the virgin west and how our civilization has ruined it. It’s so true everywhere you look in the west.
To my surprise, the Upper Musselshell Museum in Harlowton actually opened at 10 AM as advertised, I hung around specifically in hopes of that and was not disappointed. I had read a few poor reviews on the museum, mostly a woman who complained about their lack of dinosaur exhibits. Many people come to Montana just for the dinosaur stuff which is extensive here, but I don’t get that excited about them. I found the museum to be really good on local history and the rooms upstairs put together by local families displaying their family history were great. They also had good information on the local Indian tribes.
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| Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe |
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| Love the sign, "We Happy" |
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| The romance of the "Old West" just not the same these days |
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| Back when all the Indian maiden's were beautiful |
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| This was a big railroad town and many rail fans remain, there was a whole room of models |
My only rear regret in Harlowton was that the Milwaukee Road Train Museum was not open and I didn’t want to hang around till Friday to see it. I was still able to wander around the outside of the building and see a couple of old cars and track equipment. The Milwaukee Road Shop in Harlowton was a division point on the electrified rail line and played a prominent part in this towns prosperity.
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| The Depot has been restored |
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| An old wooden coach car outside |
I decide to head south on route 191 to Big Timber, Montana, a town I briefly passed through on a Sunday morning last year when everything was closed, that I want to see more of. The drive is all wide open range land and beautiful, if you like wide open spaces, for about 60 miles. I take one side road diversion that goes through a ranch, slowly passing several open grazing cows.
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| A special view ! |
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| Looks like an old school, the roof peak has fallen off |
On arrival in Big Timber I’m hungry and have to go into the Timber Bar, much nicer inside than I imagined it to be, down right respectful looking, kind of hoped for something more rustic and original. I had a great french dip sandwich, just the way I like it and a good local Bozeman, MT beer. I then wandered around town, did some shopping and taking phots. As it was a hot day, over 90 degrees, I took a ride towards Billings, Montana, but then remembered that I had spent a couple of days there last year. Instead I stopped at a fishing access point along the Yellowstone River adjacent to I-90 and took a look. Every one of these fishing access areas are crowded with people, but most are day use only, no overnight camping allowed.
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| The restored Grand Hotel |
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| Very nice downtown |
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| One of the best Bar signs ever, it lights up at night |
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| The old grain elevator next to the active rail line |
A thunderstorm blows up in late afternoon and the van gets a free wash job, (it needed it) as I return to Big Timber. Big Timber is a likable small town, the fine historic restored Globe Hotel, the nice Timber Bar, several nice shops, fishing and hunting shops abound, the Yellowstone River (another Lewis and Clark stop) and the Wednesday evening rodeo.
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| Downtown view with the rain clouds approaching |
I’m a sucker for the rodeo and head to the Sweet Grass County Fairgrounds (love that name) at 7 PM. Not sure why I keep going to rodeos, I am attracted to the idea, but once there, I usually hate them and want to leave. They are all the same, all this rah, rah, God bless America, God bless the military, the corny commentary and banter with the silly rodeo clown, the Bull Riding which is more hype than anything ((usually no one stays on) and then it takes 5-10 minutes to get the bull back into the pen. Then there was the long complex raffle going on for about a half hour in the middle of the rodeo, very odd.
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| The Sweet Grass County Fairgrounds |
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| Lots of white hats here |
I spend the night at a I-90 rest area, Montana does not have an issue with people sleeping overnight at these rest stops. They are fine, but noisy with all the trucks idling nearby all night.
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