Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2008 > July > 21 > Entry
Mountain West No. 2: Wyoming & Montana
Began the day with a short walk in the cottontail-flecked hills above Casper. Joe flushed a pronghorn just steps from our motel.
Stopped by the National Trails Interpretive Center in a over-designed building overlooking the city. Learned a lot about the Oregon, California and Mormon trails, all of which threaded through this ford on the North Platte River. The traffic over the trails in the mid-19th Century reached almost 500,000 migrants, called by the center the biggest unforced migration in history, but that’s hard to justify when you consider transatlantic immigration or even recent Mexican migration north.
Just on the Montana side of the border, we fanned out over the Little Big Horn Battlefield (pictured). Located on the Crow Reservation, the monument includes dignified, well-designed tributes to the native fallen. One can see why this spot on elevated mounds attracted such reverence, despite the rather inglorious details of the battle.
Bozeman feels like a typical college town. Butte, on the other hand, is an industrial ghost town, one third the size of its 1917 population at the peak of the copper boom. It reminds me of small cities in the Rust Belt, where the pawn shops and taverns dominate the midtown streets. Despite the tales of spectacular environmental damage in the vicinity, the valley, like so many in Montana, is a cool, dry respite, complemented by the homey fare at Fred’s Diner in the Uptown district.
We’re in Missoula now, staying at a motel, new to me, called C’mon In. Fashioned as a upland lodge with a huge atrium of stripped timber, larger than usual indoor pool, giant stone fireplace, mutliple hot tubs and patio furniture outside each room, it offers an ersatz luxury — everything looks apres ski, but don’t scratch the surface. Not that we don’t appreciate the comfort after yesterday’s safari.
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