50@50 Bozeman MT
I’m equally an explorer and composer – I explore through musical means, and I compose through exploring the world around me. Studying the landscape, its formation and evolution, the impact of human history and how people through time, their beliefs, customs and values blend to create the essence of place, similar perhaps, but different than any other is truly gratifying.
Departing North Dakota, we followed the Yellowstone River west. I LOVE driving through the landscape, seeing how the topography evolves. It’s like watching the hands of a clock; they move over time, but it’s hard to pinpoint the exact movement of shift. From I 90, the Yellowstone River turns south on Hwy 89 toward its namesake park. This landscape, called Paradise Valley is largely made up of farming communities along the outskirts of the immense caldera, with hot springs punctuating its crevasses. Chico Hot Springs rests outside of the town of Pray. Allegedly, Lewis and Clark enjoyed its waters back in 1805.
The glaciers, volcanic activity and the Intermountain Seismic Belt shaped Montana’s landscape. Surprisingly, the state experiences an average of 10 earthquakes a day! Archeologically, people have lived here for 12,000 years, their way of life shaped by the land. The oldest known human trail in the Western Hemisphere is here, running along the eastern Rockies, from Alberta south into Mexico with markers and other structures in places. “The Blackfeet know it as the Old North Trail.” [1] Just west of Bozeman, it splits into three separate trails. Some tribes, such as the Salish and Kootenai believe they have always been here, others such as the Shoshone and Crow arrived in the 16th-18th centuries.
As in other northern states, fur traders represented Montana’s early European influx, but gold brought the rush in from the 1860s to 1880s. The gold bonanza – and silver – made Virginia City the most important city between Denver and San Francisco! A living ghost town, many of its original buildings have been shored up, with hotels, rooms to rent, and nine saloons to whet your whistle. John Bozeman forged a cutoff of the Oregon Trail, aptly named the Bozeman Trail, and went into business guiding miners to Virginia City. Downtown is charming, western and hip. Locally, Montana State University has helped establish Bozeman as a technology hotspot.
We decided to spend the first day exploring the surrounding environment. With a topographical map in hand, we turned south on Hwy 191 into the Gallatin Mountains. About nine miles north of West Yellowstone, at Hwy 287 we encounter Hebgen Lake. Just as one’s appreciation of music will remain quite limited if one’s only exposure is to a few of the “greatest” pieces by the world’s “greatest” composers, so also is one’s travel experience limited by visiting only the iconic – most photographed – sites. The earth is full of awe-inspiring places with only regional awareness. Such was the case with Hebgen Lake. SOOO breathtakingly beautiful. On its northern shore lay an empty motel, a few cottages and a BAR featuring a deck overlooking the lake. I HAD to stop. I look down and see a dock with seven “parking” spaces – most of the bar’s traffic comes from the water.
Heading west, the road climbs and we encounter Earthquake Lake. In 1959, two earthquakes brought down part of the mountain, damming the Madison River, eradicating the road in the process. The event tilted the earth under the lake. Today, the river runs again and while the lake looks normal from above, it isn’t. Traveling north on the west side of the mountains, the hills appear barren of shrubs and trees. Cattle and sheep graze the hills and to the west, the Madison River meanders north with and abundance fishing access points and lodges and an along its banks.
Three 20th century events shaped the culture of modern Montana. First, the depression arrived far earlier here – a drought began in 1917 through the mid-1920s. Half of the state’s farmers had already lost their land by 1925. When drought returned in 1930, 25% of the population was destitute. Secondly, the Meriam report raised awareness of the appalling state of Native Americans and the government’s mismanagement of tribal funds resulting in the Indian Reorganization Act which radically changed U.S. policy in regard to Native people.[1]
Last, but not least, foreign mining and a federal proposal in the 1960s to build 21 coal strip-mined and fired electric plants, which would divert nearly half of the Yellowstone River’s water, enraged the people of the state. Voters elected to abolish their 1889 constitution to reflect the times and the state’s values. The radical new constitution was passed in 1972. Article 9 states that the government and each “person shall maintain a clean and healthful environment for Montana for present and future generations”. Unique at the time was the recognition of “the distinct and unique cultural heritage of the American Indians” and inclusion of “educational goals to the preservation of their cultural integrity”. [2]
The next morning we, we travelled just a few miles south of town to Hyalite Canyon for our first hike. Through the falling canyon, one can hike past 11 waterfalls! The beauty of it is that the road is paved for all except the last three miles climbing up to 6900 feet as a starting point to the hike. Our plan is to hike 5.5 miles with 2500 feet of elevation gain to the lake near the top; Grotto Falls is accessible on an easier trail less than a mile. Even in summer, the morning is in the 40’s. The gradual climbing trail is challenging, but beautiful with many flowers. We encounter patches of snow at about 8000 feet. Just shy of mile five, with the ground more snow covered than not, we and several other hikers lose the trail. Disappointed, we turn back. Funny how my senses become more aware of the colors and textures of the flowers and bushes and the sounds of the birds when I’m not focusing on reaching a destination.
The second hike is at the Missouri Headwaters State Park just west near the town of Three Forks. Lewis and Clark arrived here, quite disappointed, in 1805. They’d hoped the Missouri would flow westward all the way to the Pacific Ocean, but it doesn’t. The great Missouri River is the confluence of the Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson rivers. The ranger said that the site has changed relatively little since then, in spite of the development and desertion of a town here. More walking than hiking, the paths make it very easy to see exactly where and how the rivers adjoin. So exciting!
Landscape shapes culture also by perception. As Americans, the western landscape is both a real and perceived place. Images of iconic locations become imprinted upon our brains with SO many expectations. But, nobody ever tells you about the journey to and from these image points. Each mile we pass, the landscape evolves – color, shape, composition, texture and SOUND. As we go to these dream places, we don’t merely arrive and depart – we have an opportunity to be surprised and delighted with the journey to and from each place, and to uncover its underlying culture.
[1] http://montanahistoricalsociety.org/education/Textbook/Chapter2/Chapter2.pdf This educational resource is surprisingly balanced blending science, geography and history.
[2] This was not a fix-all, and many criticisms existed regarding the act – especially because it encouraged tribes to set up constitutional structures similar to the U.S., and still gave the federal government significant oversight. John Collier, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at this time, saw that rights that seem so basic, forming businesses, participating in the economy, religions freedom were granted. Some tribes who originally rejected the IRA set up governing structures in alignment with tradition.
[3] http://www.montanahistory.net/state/constitution1972IX.htm