When we lived in Las Vegas, I worked for an advertising agency, and spent 7 years sharing a cubicle with my dear friend, Ann. She was from Montana, a little town called Malta, just an hour from the Canadian border. For years I learned more and more about this place she described as “Mayberry”. A safe, small town where everyone knows each other. I’d always been curious about it, but never so much as when she left Vegas to move back. While planning our trip, we decided to cut thru southern Montana to reach North Dakota. Later I realized it added less than an hour to take the Hi-Line thru northern Montana to see Ann! So that’s exactly what we did!
We spent a weekend camped at the town’s Trafton Park (dry camping for $5/night). As we walked along the Milk river trail, Ann told us this used to be a German POW camp during WWII. She pointed out the stone entrance and stone “ovens” that were still standing. I found out the town had applied to house POWs to help with the beet harvest while the farmers were off fighting in the war. Around 300 prisoners from age 18 to 60 (though some may have lied and been as young as 14) harvested 3,000 acres of beets in the year that they lived here.
On Saturday we heard the squeal of tires and found out the town has a drag strip that draws people from Canada and other parts of the state.
One of the biggest attractions in Montana is the Dinosaur Trail, consisting of fourteen locations across the state featuring dinosaurs that were unearthed very near each museum. Malta has two of these museums and they are right next to each other! Ann took us to the Phillips County Museum, which you can actually walk to from our campsite, if it wasn’t 100 degrees! It was fantastic! There are meteorites and currency from all over the world, antiques, rocks, gems and a very special DINOSAUR! Elvis, a nearly complete 33ft long Brachylophosaurus was found just 10 miles from Ann’s dad’s property!
Currency on display from early America and other countries. Take a look at this paycheck from the railroad for $0.10! Yes, ten cents!
I found the jail register fascinating. One person was convicted of adultery spent 2 days in jail before he escaped and had to spend 3 more months in jail. Another was convicted of making whiskey and paid a $200 fine plus spent 60 days in jail. In the early 1900s, the fine for a DUI was $150, today it's $800 in the same county. Another sentenced to life for murder.
I was surprised to find out this telephone switchboard which was in use in Malta until 1965.
Who knew there were so many different kinds of barbed wire???
I tried my hardest to find a Greater Sage Grouse, but failed. Wouldn't it be cool to see this bird displaying in the wild?
A camera from around 1900
Right outside the museum sit three wagons, the original travel trailers!
Next to the museum is a historic house that remains as it was in the past. It was neat to see the furniture, appliances and belongings that were popular in that day.
After an aerial acrobatic show, we had a water balloon fight then enjoyed a dinner of elk burgers from a hunt. What a delightful time together!
Temperatures the next day were going to reach 104, so we decided we would head to Fort Peck for electric (air conditioning). That morning Ann picked me up early and we went birding at Bowdoin Lake National Wildlife Refuge. (See next post)
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