Montana

We crossed the border into Montana!  The Treasure State was different than I expected at first, having crossed through the Cascade Mountains.  It was quite a thrill to be crossing on the very road that the Native people used, later used by Lewis and Clark on their return trip. 
We headed to Flathead Lake.  It is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.  It is a beautiful lake.  Very silent waters, surrounded by hills, with an island jutting out of one area. 

From there we headed up to Glacier National Park.  As we drove through this park on the Going to the Sun road, we were oohing and ahhing all the way.  It is a glorious place.  The pristine lake with its crystal clear water and snow capped mountains were stunning.  The water in the lake was like a mirror.  We felt like we were looking at scenes you see in jigsaw puzzles.  We saw either a prairie falcon or a hawk, not sure which, fly past us and land in the upper branches of a pine tree.  It was awesome. The Visitor's Center had some stunning photos and artwork, as well as wood carvings and other mementos for sale.  The weather was nice that day.  We only wore sweaters, since it was in the 50s.  I think we are acclimatized now to the colder temps! We drove as far as we could on the Going to the Sun Road, up to the Lake McDonald Lodge.  It is built in the European Chalet style and looked like it fit right in with the landscape.  Heading back down the road, we stopped by the lake.  Rebekah went down to the shore. We had a picnic lunch by the lake, sitting under the trees viewing the gorgeous mountains, then headed out of the park.

 Once we were out of the mountains into the long grass prairie, we looked back at the Continental Divide in all its glory.  We traveled over the rolling, gentle hills filled with log cabins, cattle and horse ranches until we reached Ulm.  There we stopped at First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park.  This was a fascinating place.  We were the only visitors at the time. The park ranger spent some time with us explaining all about the jump site.  Evidently, there are several hundred in the area.  The Native people used the jumps to capture and kill the buffalo because they depended on them for food, shelter, tools, clothing, and more.  The jumps were used before the introduction of horses in their lives.  He explained how young boys of about 10 years old were the ones to lead the buffalo over the cliff, jumping out of the way of the stampeding herd.  The ranger was very descriptive in his explanation, and the Visitor Center was full of information, tools, a tipi, clothing, robes, and even full sized buffalo.  We could have driven up to the top of the cliff, but the road was a gravel road, and not to our liking!

We were going to head to Fort Benton next, where Montana began, but nothing there is open until May.  So we decided not to go.  We didn't think it was worth it to drive a couple hours out of the way to see the locked up buildings.
So we headed to Helena, the state capitol.  Our first stop there was the Saint Helena Catholic Cathedral, built in 1905.  It was a glorious church, designed to look like the cathedrals in Europe. The outside was pretty with statues along the top.  Inside, the stained glass windows, made in Bavaria, looked 3-D.  I have never seen such beautiful stained glass before. They depicted many biblical scenes.  There were two chapels devoted to Mary and Joseph, and each had stained glass windows telling about their respective biblical references.   The cathedral also had shiny brass, and gold leaf everywhere, even the crucifix was golden.  There were colorful arches and marble columns.  The altar was carved stone depicting the Last Supper, and the Stations of the Cross were also carved stone. There was softly playing music and singing that was peaceful.  It was a wonderful experience, and a magnificent church.

We went to the Museum of Gold.  It was supposed to be in a bank, but a different bank was at that address.  We went inside, but most of the museum had been moved to the Historical Society building.  We saw what little was left.  It was a disappointment.  But we had lunch at Bert and Ernie's Saloon across the street.  It was not disappointing at all! 

Then we headed over to the state capitol building.  It was a nice stop.  They were out of the self-guided tour pamphlets, but the man at the info desk told us some information.  The statue on the top of the dome represented the "spirit of Montana", and until recently nobody knew what the statue was.  We went up to the third floor to see the dome.  There were stained glass windows and pretty tile floors too.  We went into the House of Representatives Hall to see the huge painting done by Charles Russell.  They are proud of that painting. 

We headed down to Butte for the night.  We had a famous pasty (pronounce the a like in past) for dinner.  It's a cornish pastry stuffed with beef, potatoes and onions, then smothered in gravy.