10-16-10

Big Beaver to Whitetail

I decided to take a ride up northeast Montana

Amazing what you can find up there eh?

at first I thought this was a graveyard but looks like an ag school experiment?

I camped at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers

the fort I finally got to go up into the gun tower.

They were having power problems so the displays were too dark to read. I don’t think they had power back when this was built either. Now it has power and even air-conditioning.

This old grain facility is now falling down

The Culbertson Museum

My dad was a wood carver and he would have done things like this.

They have a huge display of ‘things’ as well as what things were used in the old days. This is one of the best museums I have ever been  to. Everything is out on display and not behind bullet proof glass.

This guy has built a set of minature rifles. They are only about an inch long. There is a list which tells each model.

Gamblers

more gamblers, but these were the friendly type that didn’t want my money. Actually they invited me to a piece of apple pie. There was a threshing bee the weekend before I was there and they had several pies left over from some sort of pie event. There were even cookies and good coffee…

There was an old man that lived in this caboose for twenty years the gal said. This was up in Great Falls area I think.

This is what the old man used to get around…..

He was very religious and painted the inside of the car.

his crapper

the kitchen

This is OIL country and those girls at the card table were all talking about what they would do when their oil well came it….

I crossed the border and it was easy to get into Canada. They are so nice to people coming into their country.

What Canada looks like……

they were harvesting like mad up there as well as down on the Montana side.

There is hay everywhere in Montana as well as up here.

Ah, The Canadian border that they call BIG BEAVER. There was a real cutie of a border guard in here and she was so nice to stamp my passport Big Beaver. She wouldn’t let me take her photo…

The reason I made this trip was to go see the Whitetail MT border crossing. The government authorized a one and a half million dollar upgrade to the Whitetail crossing. This has something to do with puffing up the economy and getting money into the hands of us little guys. They were just getting started when the Canadians called  them up and said something like “We don’t care what you do over there, but we are closing down our side of the border because there are only five people that use this crossing on a normal day. “

‘There is a lot more to this story, especially how they wouldn’t stamp my passport Whitetail, but that will have to wait until I have more time to write. Let it just best be said that our border guards are Bastards…. How about a Welcome Back!!  Not a chance here or any other USA border crossing.

The start of the NEW  $1,500,000 guard shack.

Lentils being harvested from windrows

They were busy and didn’t have time to talk other than to say things were going good.

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Unloading the combine on the run

‘This is what they were harvesting…. Golden Flax??

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There is a whole town of old buildings at this museum. It was closed but I would like to go back. The High Line folks really have their old time stuff gathered up and are willing to let you see it.

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Check this old Caddy… it even has the tail lights….

Another old ‘parts’dog makes it ‘home’…. *seen this one before?