Havre to Malta, Montana

August 23 - 24, 2020 - Havre to Malta, Montana:

I could only find one coin laundry in Havre, can it be true and the reviews were mixed.  It was fine except a third of the dryers were not working and the dryer I used was super hot even after I adjusted it lower, my tee shirts probably will be a size tighter now and my jockeys will be like speedos.    These coin laundry washers and dryers can be brutal on your clothes. 

I am continuing on route 2, the “High Line” heading east and make stops at Chinook, Harlem, the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, Dodson and my destination of Malta, Montana.   In a previous visit to this area, Twinkles and I visited the nearby Bears Ears Battlefield where Chief Joseph and his band finally surrendered to the US Army after heroically evading capture for close to 2,000 miles. We had also visited the renown history museum  in Chinook, the Blaine County Museum.  I  decided to pass on both on this trip. 

This Elk Bar cowgirl would lure me in !

The Mint Bar & Lounge sign and building is a corner landmark 

The former Elk Bar sign was saved, but it's no longer a bar

The Chinook Hotel is a grand building

Charlie Russel monument that was rejected for the Montana Capital
as they didn't like his hat, so it need up here in Chinook

A High Line favorite

Harlem was once a prosperous town, it has several prominent buildings, mostly vacant now.  The large sign warning of the dangers of Meth says a lot.  I stopped at their grocery store for a few items, it was clean and nice and nearby I saw a nice children water splash playground.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinook,_Montana

The cathedrals of the west

Interesting how the bars are the only businesses that appear to redoing well

These towns are all half closed

A once beautiful corner building, now vacant with a Meth warning sign

Entering the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation is similar to going into a third world country, the hardship and poverty these people have endured is heart wrenching. This is a very large reservation at 375,147 acres and has 7,000 members.  It is home to the Assinboine (Nakota) and the Gros Ventre (AaniiIH) people and was established in 1888.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Belknap_Indian_Reservation

They are trying to maintain the native language 

Trying to maintain the old traditions is a struggle

Fort Belknap Sign

A few miles out of town was this old church, the sign referred to it as the "Pink Church"

Lots of hay fields and wheat on the reservation property

Dodson is a very small reservation community, 124 people as of the 2010 focus census, the only thing that caught my attention was the old saloon on the highway with a great old cowboy sign:

This buildings art was interesting as well

It's the best !

I'd pay a $1,000 for this sign, someone needs to save it !

As I drive into Malta, the road underpass seemed familiar and then on the first corner the beautiful First State Bank building confirmed it, I’ve seen this before.  In our former RV travels, when driving to places, I would often detour into towns close to the road and take a quick tour through.  This was one of those places, but I didn’t stay long enough to see much.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta,_Montana

The photo does not do it justice, it looked like a shinny beacon of finance in the sunlight

I park on Main Street to start my walking tour and as I walk past the Mint Bar a young lady (she probably wouldn't want to be called that), Krista Fahlgren, sitting in front says hello and how bored she is as no one has come into the bar all afternoon.  Being a very hot day, I told her that after walking down the street that I would stop in on my way back.  She quickly proceeds to find out where I come from, (I still look like a stranger), and what I am doing in Montana.  She is a very good conversationalist, something I am not, but we are having a very good exchange on many topics.  Then, another stranger in serious bike riding attire comes in, it turns out he is from New York City and is doing a cross country ride.  That becomes another interesting conversation, it was one of those magical hookups, where three total strangers come together, out of the blue and have a special moment.

The Mint Bar is a rather nice and friendly place

A biking maniac, off to do another 25 miles before quitting for the night, when Krista told him he should get something to eat, he said beer was calories and he was OK

After leaving the Mint, the nearby Stockman Bar and Grille was recommended as having good food, it was and an interesting cowboy crowd.  The Stockman is where the ranchers hang out and a number were there shooting games of 8 ball with Johnny Cash playing on the juke box.  Ranchers and farmers in Montana, actually everyone in these small towns, drink nothing but cheap domestic beer. Many bars don’t even have micro brew beers on tap.  The cheeseburger and spiced up fries at the Stockman were excellent however and the service was friendly and fast.

The Stockman Bar and Grille

Malta is a railroad town with frequent freight trains and scheduled Amtrak passenger service running adjacent to Main Street,  The entrance into town is unusual as it is an underpass crossing under the tracks.  Malta is a nice town with all the basics, but with no big city frills.

The underpass coming into Malta

The Malta train depot with Amtrak service

Phillip's County Museum display in town

Malta City Hall

Beautiful brickwork design

Large grain elevator complex in Malta

They are tearing this grain elevator down

The Palace building with its beautiful sign

There are two really excellent museums in Malta, the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum and the Phillips County Museum.  Montana has become well known for dinosaur hunting and there is a special tourist Dinosaur trail passbook to entice tourists to visit dinosaur attractions in the state.

https://mtdinotrail.org/great-plains-dinosaur-museum-and-field-station/

The Phillips County Museum has an impressive dinosaur exhibit 

The distribution of Indian tribes in the west as of 1800

Kid Curry was a bad man

Hardy pioneers indeed

A portrait of John and Mary

Pullman dining car advertisements were great

A very touching story showing Eva May and her boots, when playing she was scratched,
within a week she dies from the infection, life was hard on the prairie 

Looking down from second floor at Phillip's County Museum

Amazing dinosaur fossils at the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum

They are all real

A new science for me

On my second night, I learn of the town park less that a mile away from the downtown where for $5 a night you can just park anywhere and have a quiet, dark  

site, water spigots are nearby, there are garbage cans, picnic tables and a working bathroom that is reasonable clean.

Outside of town I come upon this roadside sign that I though to be quite entertaining.

Dudes please make note !

My next stop is questionable, as the Fort Peck Indian Reservation is massive, it's a long drive across it and I’m not sure about the feasibility of overnighting on the reservation.