Travel: Adrift in the Sweet Grass Hills, MT

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On a clear day Gold Butte and the rest of the Sweet Grass Hills in northcentral Montana dominate the northern horizon and are said to be visible from as far away as 150 miles; while we can't confirm or deny that we can say "the distance is mind-boggling, much farther than we at first suspected."

The reason for this is of course the buttes--West, Gold, Haystack and East--jut up about 2000 feet above the surrounding, relatively flat High Plains.

The Sweet Grass Hills are located north of US 2 (HiLine) northeast of Shelby and northwest of Havre just a few miles from the Canadian Border. 

Trees are scarce, largely confined to the buttes themselves. With nothing much taller than the namesake grass to block it the Hills are notoriously windy--even on those rare calm days on the surrounding prairie you can bet the wind will kick up here.

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Big and empty beyond imagination ranch and farm buildings are few and far between--as such tourists are rare and the few folks you do encounter are almost sure to be ranchers, farmers or hunters. Judging the size (the main structure is about 10 X 10) of this long ago abandoned one-room school house (Hill County School, circa 1910) in past times might have even been emptier.

Prior to settlement the Hills were Blackfeet Indian territory. Considered a sacred area, extensive petroglyphs can be found carved into the sandstone bluffs.

The area also holds a prominent place in the history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In the 1870s Mounties were dispatched from eastern Canada in an attempt to bring order to the area and put an end to the whiskey trade with the Indians. White traders, mostly from the Fort Benton area, were doing a brisk business trading whiskey with the Blackfeet. Eventually successful the Mounties were at first woefully unprepared and somewhat ignorant of the challenges before them. One account tells a harrowing tale of the troops being hopelessly lost and near death in the country north of West Butte. Knowing Fort Benton was somewhere to the south, two were dispatched in a desperate attempt to get help. Ironically the very traders the troops were sent to end the whiskey trade, sent supply wagons north and the party was rescued.

Not long after the whiskey trading days, gold was discovered in the vicinity of Middle Butte. The town of Gold Butte quickly sprang up and boomed for a time. Eventually the town was abandoned, cattlemen bulldozed the buildings and all that remains today is a cemetery and scattered mining debris.

The public land is primarily BLM, and a few scattered State sections; the BLM land is managed as a Special Recreation Use Area.

















 



Nez Perce Trail Saves Day

What began as fishin' trip in the upper Big Hole quickly deteroiated as a sea of muddy roads foiled access to what most certainly would have been folly anyway--as suddenly, almost overnight--the combination rain and snow melt have the area streams literally ragin'. The Big Hole at Melrose for example two days ago was running in the mid 2000s and yesterday jumped to nearly 4000 and this morning is still rising.

When we hit rain near Wisdom it became obvious as a fishing expedition this one just wasn't going to happen. But with already 60 miles driving invested as Gale said, "Seems pretty dumb to turn around and head back to Dillon, it's been nothing but muddy roads since since we left town."

OK.

So we put together a quick Plan B and headed toward Chief Joseph Pass the only hint of clearing skies on the horizon. What the hell we'd do once we got there, who knows?

May Creek, like every other stream in the county was all but over the banks so any idea of fishing was officially declared DIW...literally.

So...

We turned off on the first two track looked rocky enough to allow at least getting off the blacktop not get mired down. At the first pull off we got out more to stretch our legs than anything, also the dogs probably needed to pee. An old forest service jack fence beckoned we take a stroll up the mountain whereupon we soon came on a well-trodden trail. While I went to the truck to grab a camera Gale went down hill to the trailhead. And discovered the trail was none other than the Nez Perce Historic Trail...Imagine.

So off we went.

The trail climbed gently offering a great view east to the Big Hole valley and the West Pioneers beyond. Elk and deer tracks and droppings littered the trail and the mountainside, as did the droppings of coyote and what I think was pine marten but can't prove it.Wildflowers were everywhere, some in full bloom others just starting. Marsh marigold, Nuttall's and blue violet, penstemon, alpine buttercup, spring beauty, a teeny tiny blue flower we couldn't ID and a bunch other stuff just starting to show. All in all, the wildflowers, a few old growth snags such as the one pictured, the music of several small creeks and the constant vista made for a scenic, downright pleasant hike more than making up for the aborted fishing sojourn.