Hwy 2

I've always been curious about Havre, MT. Maybe its the name - like negotiating with a rancher about a horse, "Yes, I think I'll havre." Is Havre a person, a thing??? Maybe it's because its so far away from everthing. Anyway, having passed through, I'm glad to be passing through and pray that I don't have to live there. Like so many plains towns, it sit in a slight depression in the earth. Low buildings, short scrubby trees and no real center, just a long lighted runway with buildings along the Milk River where either Lewis or Clark described it as the "color of tea with an admixture of milk."

Couple of interesting stops though. Just east and south of Havre is the site of the last NezPerce battle and final surrender. After being pursued by General Howard for some 1200 miles (Over Lolo Pass, south down the bitterroon valley, into southern Idaho, up past Henry's lake, into Yellowstone, up through central Mountana, across the Missouri R and through the Bear Paw Mountains just two days from Canada) they stopped to rest knowing they were several days ahead of Howard. Unfortunately they didn't know there was a fresh new army unit coming from the east and they got caught in a hard to defend location with now way of escape. Losses were heavy on both sides. A seige was in place and Chief Joseph made the decision to surrender.

The location sits in a flat and willowed stream bottom at the north end of the low Bear Paw Range. Most researchers say they stopped because they were tired and thought they were safe. But I think that somewhere deep in their collective conscience they wanted that familiarity that the mountains would give them (having lived their lives near the Wallowas and Bitteroot Mt.) before facing the uncertainty of the Canadian Plains. A pause before the final break with the past. It's a strange place to visit: lonely, haunting and very real as to what happened there. The teepees of Chief Looking Glass and Joseph have been located along with the actual surrender site. That war ended a lot of things for the NezPerce. Moved to Oklahoma and Kansas for 8 years before they could finally get back to the Northwest, their bands lost all their horses and over half the people. Despite 25 years of broken treaties and promises, all they wanted to do was to get out of the way to embrace being responsible for their own destiny. Sounds very American to me...

Then there was Ft. Peck Dam, the worlds largest earthen dam at 3.4 miles long. For a good read, pick up Ivan Doig's book, "Bucking the Sun" and enjoy a good mystery and a lot of information about the life and times when the dam was built.

Weird thing shortly after the dam on Hwy 2. The road side was littered with what we thought was TP. Then we noticed this white stuff on the road surface. It seemed to be stuck there. Finally came to a construction stop and the flagger said it was indeed TP. They were crack sealing the road and would put TP over the tar used to fill the crack. "To keep the tar from flying up and damaging cars and avoid litigation." Hmmm, TP and tar installed by, (are you ready?) Highway Technologies, Inc. Pretty hi tech, huh?

(Pictures - Ft Peck Dam, Bear Paw Mtns, NezPerce Camp Ground looking east, Surrender location looking north toward camp and Plaque)