Summer 15

Late Sunday afternoon (close to 5PM, Mountain time), Fort Benton. There were a number of restaurants and stores, it's apparently a popular tourist destination for people from Montana and nearby states.

In the center of the levee, a monument to Shep who waited dutifully at the train station for 5+ years waiting for its owner (who had been shipped east in a coffin) to come back. The story: www.fortbenton.com/shep.html

Interesting story behind this statue. Captain (Army) Mullan built the first wagon road connecting Fort Benton, farthest port on the Missouri, to Fort Walla Walla, Washington on the Columbia River. The road was built 1859-60 and traversing it took 47 days by wagon.

At its busiest times when it was the entry to the new West, Fort Benton was fairly wide open and known for the number of people killed in fights on the main street. Ms. Dumont was a local madame, nicknamed "Madame Moustache," who was famous for her ability to handle the rough frontiersmen.

From just west of Fort Benton, above the point where a bar across the river makes it no longer navigable for commercial boats.

Looking west over the Missouri, from a vista point just west of Fort Benton. (For the very sharp-eyed, there's a boat with three people in it on the river, somewhat to the left of the center of the picture.)

Former Great Northern Railway passenger depot in Great Falls, MT, refurbished and now used as office building. Though the architecture and particularly the tower are gorgeous, I couldn't find any details on the depot.

The former Great Northern depot from a pathway that is a converted railway bridge over the Missouri river.

A classic streamline-moderne intercity bus station in Great Falls, even with the ceramic tile walls typically used. Per a source on Flickr (link below), it was built by Greyhound in 1947. Unfortunately I didn't notice until processing the photo that there is an information plaque on the wall of the station. www.flickr.com/photos/25229906@N00/9719876769

A classic streamline-moderne intercity bus station in Great Falls, even with the ceramic tile walls typically used. Per a source on Flickr (link below), it was built by Greyhound in 1947. Unfortunately I didn't notice until processing the photo that there is an information plaque on the wall of the station. www.flickr.com/photos/25229906@N00/9719876769

Great Falls Civic Center, built in the 1930's under the Works Progress Administration. See: www.greatfallsmt.net/mansfieldcenter/mansfield-theater

Somehow I never in my mind associated General Mills with actual grain elevators and mills!

Black Eagle Falls, the site of the first dam built in Great Falls (see adjacent picture). The dam and powerhouse visible here were built in 1926-27.

The first dam and powerhouse were built at Black Eagle Falls in 1889-91 (neither of which are visible). In 1893 an additional powerhouse was built on the south side of the river -- the arches at the base of the falls in roughly the center of the picture are from that dam. That powerhouse provided power for a flour mill and for the city's streetcar system.

The Tenth Street bridge, built in 1920. The bridge was declared redundant after the construction of a new bridge in 1990 and was to be demolished, but preservationists succeeded in saving it. Plans are reportedly in the works to make it a pedestrian bridge, but as the adjacent picture indicates, only a small section of the north side has been made usable. I have no information regarding the monument/sculpture on the right side of the picture.

The Tenth Street bridge (see adjacent),plans are reportedly in the works to make it a pedestrian bridge, but the portion with railing was all that was usable when I was there.

Rainbow Falls and Rainbow Dam, on the northeast corner of Great Falls. The dam was built in 1910; the powerplant is a half mile downstream, thus most of the water is diverted (see adjacent) from the falls. In the background is a railroad bridge. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Dam

Rainbow Falls Dam Powerplant (center of picture, built in 1910) and the canal for diverting water from the dam to the powerplant.