It's Day 451...It's also July 30th 2020...and we are in Cut Bank Montana.

It's Day 451...It's also July 30th 2020...and we are in Cut Bank Montana....

You know....it's funny.....I really did not want to leave...Craig Montana.... for some odd reason…but at the same time I felt like, with all the information I now had, it was still...only half of the story.

There was still so much more.

I now understood how my grandfather came to be where he was…when he was there....

I also understood that for her entire adult life....from the age of 16...my grandmother was by his side on that adventure...

So what about her legacy? Who and where did she come from,,, and how is it.... that she met a young man of 22 years and married him in Boulder Montana in 1931.

And then after grandpa’s time in the service why would they decide to call Fargo North Dakota home?

Fargo is also the birthplace of my mom…and Fargo Central High is where she met my dad. Just as close in my DNA as the Craig name…is that of a man named Charles Patrick Jones...my dad...and a man who I know little to nothing about. Could it be that Fargo North Dakota could provide me with some sort of connection? Or at least maybe a few answers? As I had so clearly learned in Craig…there was only one way to know for sure…I have to go to Fargo.

It would not be a rush to Fargo…I made sure to take the time to see more of this place I suddenly felt like I was “from’. Maybe not born here, but none the less, the place where it all began…I needed to see it. Just be in it for a while....

We'd definitely....be taking our time.....

Driving east across the top of Montana, things quickly flatten out and become very agricultural to the south...but all the while...those great Rocky Mountains follow along... to the north.

The hayfields and ranches continue but I started to see large stands of corn and vast wheat fields…even a wind turbine farm generating electricity for far off communities. The wind park just outside Cut Bank Montana provided the perfect stop to grab some shut eye for the night. ...and read about....this place called Cut Bank.

It's he country seat of Glacier County Montana and was appropriately named for the creek running on the outskirts of town.

According the the city’s official chamber of commerce website…”The Blackfeet Indians described the stream as …the river that cuts into the white clay bank.

In the early 1800’s Captain Meriwether Lewis...of Lewis and Clark fame... led a small group of men up the north fork of the Marias River, now known as Cut Bank Creek. Since that time visitors have continued to enjoy traveling to the Cut Bank area. With the majestic Rocky Mountains on one side and gently rolling hills and wheat fields on the other...and watching the sunset over all this....and sunrise the following morning...it's no mystery why so many...keep coming here.

Today...Cut Bank is a community of around 3000...but began life in 1891 with the arrival of the Great Northern Railway....it grew quickly as a railway hub.... And it's history is closely tied to that Lewis and Clark Expedition, with several historically significant sites in the area...

And learning we were in Blackfoot country....we'd ad another name...to the list of Native Americans we'd learn about....an interesting turn earlier in the day...as we zig zagged our way across the area....was when I spotted a well traveled gravel road....leaving the highway and offering an escape off the asphalt...and into those Rocky Mountains. We'd travel that road...enjoying the scenery when we came across a bit of a pull out....a great spot to stop....and enjoy a ham sandwich while walking about with Dougie. As we headed back towards Vacilando...we were approached by a law enforcement vehicle. A Black and White SUV....with bold lettering across the side that read....Blackfeet Nation Law Enforcement Services . The officer asked how we were doin....always fun to watch folks take note of our Washington State plates...I spose they encounter folks from just about everywhere around here.

I explained...holding my sandwhich in the air....and pointing at Dougie....that we just pulled off for some lunch....and walk around....sure is pretty awesome out here...I said.

Yup...we like it....he smiled. But then....seems a reminder of this dang pandemic...is waiting... most everywhere we go. The officer...almost awkwardly....went on to explain that reservation had taken pretty aggressive steps to protect the community of some 17000.... and those steps included closing the Glacier National Park entrance... prohibiting visitors..... and enforcing stay at home orders. We both grinned...and...sorta looked around and all the wide open....all around us....as if to highlight the fact that we understood the irony in what he was asking....as he politely pointed us back towards the highway and off the reservation....Stupid pandemic.... A bit of reading later....would tell us that The Blackfeet Nation, is a federally recognized tribe of the Blackfoot people...and The Blackfeet Indian Reservation...just west of Cut Bank, Montana....covers parts of Glacier and Pondera counties...sharing borders along the way...with Canada

The Blackfeet people have lived in the area.... since the 17th century. They were originally from the woodlands north and west of the Great Lakes but moved to the Northern Plains due to pressure from British traders. Once they arrived here....They managed to keep this... all to themselves....for centuries....before those pesky European Explorers....and Settlers started showing up.

Clearly a hardy people....The natural beauty around here can be breath taking....but comes with a cost....long....cold...and dry winters....the area often finds itself being the coldest location in the lower 48 states...and Summers...pretty short....and wetter than most.

So having just been booted off the reservation.....we wandered back down that gravel road...back out to the highway .... and towards Cut Bank....where we would find out spot for the night...a pretty awesome spot....amongst the rolling hills of a Wind Farm. The massive wind turbins surrounding us .... amongst the foothills of those Rocky Mountains...a great place to stare at that sunset...and read about this place called Cut Bank Montana...

And yep.....theres all the obvious.....a variety of outdoor activities, including stream fishing, tubing, boating, upland bird/waterfowl hunting, bird-watching, camping, and hiking. There's even a network of hiking trails know as The Cut Bank Trail System....runs along Cut Bank Creek....and offers up some pretty amazing scenery.

Another tight knit community in rural American.....that hosts several community events...like the annual Lewis and Clark Days Festival, which features live music, a chili cook-off, a parade, a car show....and more.

Even some not so obvious factoids....like...the Cut Bank Meteorite......In 1892, a meteorite fragment weighing over 200 pounds was discovered here... near Cut Bank.....at that meteorite....would find it's way to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C....where it remains on display.

Cut Bank...is also home to the World's Largest Penguin Statue......a quirky 27 foot tall statue in the heart of the town....a bit of an odd landmark to lay claim to....but seems it draws plenty each year....for the photo op....maybe we'll check that out tomorrow.

Internet also tells of Historical Murals....all over the historic buildings of Downtown Cut Bank...featuring artists depictions of the town's history.... including its homesteading roots, agriculture, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition....and

Glacier County Historical Museum: A pretty cool place offering... an "Overnight in History" program where visitors can stay in a caboose, a 1917 homestead house....or even a 1935 oil worker's house....a pretty cool way to experience life....in the old days here in Cut Bank.

Calling it a night......watching twilight turn to dark....I pondered the 827 miles between us...and Fargo North Dakota...

We'll continue east in the morning...

I wonder what we'll learn there...