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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Daniel Kalal on May 16, 2018, 09:38:16 PM
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Judith Gap is between two mountains in central Montana: the Little Belt Mountains and the Big Snowy Mountains. It is the natural north-south route that has been used for centuries, perhaps most famously by Chief Joseph and his bands of Nez Perce during the Nez Perce War of 1877.
Montana-191 is the highway over the gap; it's a road I've not ever ridden. That's my goal for this trip. The rest of this seemingly random route was just avoiding rain (as best I could), although I did manage to hit a few more stretches of roads that were new to me (especially in North Dakota).
(http://www.dankalal.net/2018trip12/map1.jpg)
(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateKS.png) Kansas
Nickerson, Kansas. It's an unfortunate thing that many of the small-town cafes in the Great Plains are either going out-of-business, currently out-of-business, or just opening up for yet another try at it. I caught the Sunshine cafe for breakfast on a day that it was open for business.
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This is post-rock country. You don't need much imagination to know how treeless this area once was. You want fence posts? Then, cut them out of the ground.
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I'd be riding in a strong forty mph tailwind that would switch round to a strong forty mph headwind within just ten miles. Crazy weather. Later that night I'd hear that the storm you see (below) contained a few tornadoes as well as golf ball size hail. I avoided anything that serious.
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(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateNE.png) Nebraska
This time of year, you've got to expect anything. It's pretty cold; in staying in the high thirty degrees all morning.
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Add a little rain...
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I do like the panhandle region of Nebraska. Except for the map, you'd figure that you were in Wyoming. Even the time zone is Wyoming time (not Omaha time). I'd even suppose that the locals cheer on the Wyoming Cowboys over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
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I'd be leaning over because of the strong side-wind while the clouds are moving in a different direction. Strange.
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A little bit of sun is welcome.
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(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateNE.png) Wyoming
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Lusk, Wyoming water tower (built 1886). There are not many existing wood water towers that have not been dismantled. This one looks in fine shape. Evidently, the tank is made from Redwood.
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Keep an eye for Pronghorns.
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If you've ever ridden through coal-country in West Virginia, you'll wonder why they even bother when compared to the vast operations in the Wyoming Thunder Basin.
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(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateMT.png) Montana
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Broadus, Montana. I guess I'm just unlucky, but every time I've been through Broadus, I've had to ride several miles of road-construction dirt. No matter; it's smooth enough. The wait at the light is about thirty minutes.
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Colstrip, Montana. This my look like a large operation, but compared to the Wyoming mines, it's pretty small.
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The tracks into Colstrip don't look much used. Perhaps most all the mined coal is consumed by the power station.
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Forsyth, Montana.
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Fine dining (as it says) at the Joseph Cafe.
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Vananda school (built 1920). These remote towns live and die with the railroad. The railroad has long pulled up the tracks, so the town is gone as well. It's likely that the land didn't turn out to be so bountiful as was first advertised, either.
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You don't need to worry much about traffic in this part of Montana; but, you'd best keep your tank filled when you have the opportunity. The small towns might have fuel, but you shouldn't count on the station being open.
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Roundup, Montana.
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Harlowton, Montana.
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Harlowton once had a roundhouse and was the center of railroading in this part of Montana. I believe the high school team is called the “engineers.†But, there are no trains.
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Morning at the Harlowton cafe. This is where I'll turn north towards Judith Gap.
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Looking south to the Beartooth Mountains. I don't expect the self-named pass is open yet.
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That's the Little Belt Mountains (on the left) and the Big Snowy Mountains (on the right). This is Judith Gap, straight through the middle.
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Judith Gap, Montana. There is rail traffic through the gap.
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Lewistown, Montana.
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Lewistown Cemetery. My great-grandmother, Antonette (Benda) Kalal was born in Radětice, Bohemia in 1856. She emigrated to Chicago and then moved (with her children) to Roy Montana, which is not far from here.
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It's a large cemetery, and I was not optimistic about finding the marker; but, I walked right to it within five minutes of starting my search. John Martin is one of her sons.
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Roy, Montana. It was never large, but it was once much more than this.
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'R' is for Roy.
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My grandfather (one of Antonnette's sons) was a founding member of the American Legion Post of Roy (which was once named for him), but these days it's just the Legion Bar, without any connection to what it once was.
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Looking south towards the last peak of the Snowy Mountains. Roy is just to the right (out of the photograph).
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The Missouri River. The water is very high.
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The Little Rocky Mountains, riding north.
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The Bearpaw Mountains. We're not far from the end of the Nez Perce trek towards Canada and freedom. Most would never make it across the border.
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Looking north over the Milk River valley.
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The Bearpaw Battlefield. The Nez Perce were only forty miles from Canada, but after so many escapes from the army, they were engaged in a siege battle that they could not win.
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The map (on a display board) shows their long walk from Oregon, Washington and Idaho to this spot, just south of Canada.
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Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed; Looking Glass is dead, Too-hul-hul-sote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children, to see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.
-- Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it (Chief Joseph)
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The stone (third photo below) marks where one of the Nez Perce leaders fell. You'll see little trinkets and mementos at other such markers (as is the case at all Indian battlefields I've been to).
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This land must be as close to what it once was as could be expected. The nearest town is Chinook, twenty miles to the north. The road to the south soon turns to dirt, so you won't hear any traffic. All I heard were the many birds.
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Chinook, Montana.
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The Chinook SugarBeeters. Are they the “fighting†SugarBeeters? I don't know that sugar beets are even grown around here, anymore.
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Poplar, Montana. Following the “highline†and the route of the Milk River.
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Culbertson, Montana.
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Fairview, Montana.
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(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateND.png) North Dakota
Prairie potholes. Thousands of them.
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The Prairie Pothole Region is an area of the northern Great Plains and midgrass and tallgrass prairies that contains thousands of shallow wetlands known as potholes. These potholes are the result of glacier activity in the Wisconsin glaciation, which ended about 10,000 years ago. The decaying ice sheet left behind depressions formed by the uneven deposition of till in ground moraines. These depressions are called potholes, glacial potholes, kettles, or kettle lakes. They fill with water in the spring, creating wetlands which range in duration from temporary to semipermanent.
The region covers an area of about 276,000 sq mi, including parts of three Canadian provinces (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta) and five U.S. states (Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota, and Montana).
--Wikipedia.org
In this satellite photograph, the road I'm on can be seen at the bottom.
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Wing, North Dakota.
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I've just come through this storm, and I'm still wet.
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Linton, North Dakota.
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Ashley, North Dakota.
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(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateSD.png) South Dakota
It's our duty. If we do our bit to move rocks from the field to these piles, the next generation will have it easier. And, so forth...
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Crossing the Missouri River.
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That's Nebraska over there.
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(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateNE.png) Nebraska
Verdigre, Nebraska is one of several Bohemian towns from Texas to Montana.
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I intended to have a kolache (koláÄ), but the woman behind the counter said that she only made batches that are sold by the tray. She said the town just isn't big enough to support singles--and they're such a lot of work to make. So, I'll have this raspberry thing with my coffee.
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Elgin, Nebraska.
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Albion, Nebraska.
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Sometimes i wonder if they're even trying to make a profit at these little cafes. You get an awful lot of really good food for not much. The trick is always to ignore the menu and just order whatever is on the chalk board that day.
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(http://www.dankalal.net/images/stateKS.png) Kansas
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Perhaps the weather was not always the best, but for the most part it was just fine. It's good to have ridden through Judith Gap.
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Very moving Danial , thanks .
Dusty
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Great pics, beautiful area of the country. I've never done much riding out west, but have always wanted to. Once I retire, that will be the first on the list of long trips. Right now I'm pretty much restricted to what I can fit in on a weeks vacation.
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Again, wonderful.
Thank you.
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Next best thing to actually being there. Great photos, as usual. Thanks!
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Wonderful history lesson! So many forgotten or seldom-remembered stories...we're lucky to have you, Daniel...wish you made guided audio tour narrations for listening to while riding...thanks for posting! :bow:
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Interesting Daniel. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks Daniel. I found Chief Josephs recitation very thought provoking.
Your great grandmother lived to a ripe old age for those times. No doubt very moving for you.
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Thanks again for the effort it took to stop and take all those pictures. Very evocative ....
What do you do when you see a storm that likely has bad stuff in it (hail, tornadoes, etc), and there's no shelter in 50 miles, no road going in another direction, and nothing to do but go right under it?
Stop and hunker down? Keep riding through it? .....
Lannis
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:bow:I agree with twowings +thank you
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As usual, an insightfully narrated travelog, beautifully photographed, and flavored with pertinent historical, cultural, geological, military, ethnological, architectural, genealogical and culinary observations of places visited. The Renaissance Traveller.
Merci, Daniel.
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Thanks once again! I've ridden through Montana a good deal, and some of those towns. But not up that valley. Your extra effort to share is really appreciated.
Moto
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What do you do when you...
The answer isn't very clever; it has happened just a few times to me. But, all you can do is park the bike and then just take it. I've been grateful to have a helmet and a full Aerostich roadcrafter suit while being pummeled with large hail. Usually, you can find some sort of shelter, but when there's nothing, and turning around is no better, then you are out of options and there's nothing to be done than to just take it as it comes (keeping off the roadway for the car rivers that can't see anything, either)
For a contemporary historic context on the Bearpaw battle, I looked up the New York Times for the dates just after the battle. This editorial is clear enough. My screen-grab captured the beginning and end of the column:
(http://www.dankalal.net/2018trip12/NTtimes15oct1877.jpg)
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The complete text of that article gives a full account of the injustice of our government in dealing with the non-treaty Nez Perce. Thanks for the pointer to it. Well worth reading.
The publication date was Nov. 18, 1877.
Moto
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Thanks as always. Now I want to go there.
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Awesome!!
Thanks
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Thank you for taking the time/effort to post the pics and the narrative. Next to actually being on the road, it was a nice escape....
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I love your travel pics and commentary, especially on the roads less traveled. Well done.
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A genuine and heartfelt thank you, Daniel. We appreciate the time and effort of documenting your trails with us and explaining the context of those journeys.
Spud
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Thanks a bunch for the great pictures as itbthgs on my heart. I was out there 4 years ago with my wife and two good friends. It’s the most beautiful landscape I’ve ever seen in my life. I hope I get to go back some day.
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Beautifully done. Your mind sharing the past in pictures for us all to remember.
A land more at peace with itself. Will we ever learn anything from history?
Thank you for being so generous, Daniel. Good fortune, R3~
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Daniel, as always.. Great thread, thank you for the effort to record & relay your trips.
I do think the Hutterite colonies are still producing sugarbeets up in that neck of the woods.. they grow all sorts of commodity crops on an incredible scale
I was so sad to see the far point of your travels took you so tantalizingly close to my two very most favorite Montana sites!!! AHHHH
Please promise that if you revisit that area, you will look for the Ulm Pishkun Buffalo Jump (First People's Buffalo Jump State Park) AND one of the most amazing things I've ever seen... the Shonkin Sag, an ancient dry waterfall surrounded by incredible rock formations
Both are quintessential Montana places, beautiful, uncrowded, and are ancient beautiful history sitting unassumingly by the roadside.
Ulm Pishkun
(https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get2/I0000Pfb_502NTfQ/fit=1000x750/11060304.jpg)
Shonkin Sag
(https://i1.wp.com/environmentalvitality.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DSC_1244_fix_sat-e1502855897332.jpg?resize=870%2C317&ssl=1)
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Nice to see a great trip report from a place not often reported on. I love Alaska ADV trips but most have pictures of the exact same sights. Your trip was a breath of fresh air. Maybe larger photos next time . . .
NC
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Another great photo journey; I love the way you entwine the history into your commentary. But a question I've pondered for some time is what model Guzzi are you riding? I can never get a clear view of the bike (not that the bike is the star of the show, but a great means to an end).
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But a question I've pondered for some time is what model Guzzi are you riding?
2013 NTX Stelvio
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Thanks again, Daniel. I nominate this as the best of another good lot of pictures..
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