Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Montana Through The Years


                         

                 click on any picture to see a larger version and start a slide show.


                                                                    Big Timber Falls
                                            Custer's Grave - Battle of the Little Big Horn
                                                                Glacier National Park




                                                   My Great Grandfather & Great Grandmother
                                                      My Grandmother front right
My Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother were some of the first Norwegian settlers to settle in Big Timber and Melville, MT.  My Grandmother was born there in 1884 and the small Lutheran Church, at the base of the Crazy Mountains was built by many of my relatives.  The church was featured in several movies, one was River Runs Through, and Dave Matthews did a music video.  My cousins have large cattle and sheep ranches and Susan and I try to visit every couple of years.  It is truly God's Country.  If you go anywhere near Big Timber and want a break from your camper, stay at the Grand Hotel.  The breakfast is included and it is out of this world.  The food in the restaurant is great.

My father grew up in San Francisco and would spend summers on the ranches working.  The horse he is on in the photo was his and his name was Dewey. 

I believe this is where I got my love of the outdoors.  When my wife and I first got married we went camping in Wisconsin a lot, but then the kids and sports and it was lost in the dust.  In 2006 we made a trip back Montana taking Amtrak and that started the itch to see the country.  Two years of researching campers will come to an end when our Grandby is delivered sometime in mid to late July.

A special thanks to Ski for helping me set our blog up.  I hope that we will get the opportunity to meet many of you during our travels.

                                                                     Melville, MT
                                                                  Beartooth Highway












                                                                 My father late 1920's
                                          My Grandmother center seated & My Father far right

                                                                          My Father

                                                  Back packing into the mountains