My destination was Bozeman in the state of Montana which lies in northwestern United States.
As I boarded the Embraer 175, I noticed that there was something odd about the shoes that some passengers were wearing. Their soles had treads on the name, the kind that you see on the tires of four-wheel drive vehicles.
My boots had rubber soles without treads. It was the month of May but snow was in the forecast for Montana. Just south of the Canadian border, Montana is a place where it can snow during any month of the year.
After seeing those treaded shoes, I was worried.
Thankfully, my fears were not realised. It did not snow on that trip or on the second trip that came two weeks later. Coming and going, I was lucky to have a window seat on my flights. The views were nothing less than stellar. As we neared the state, we saw mountain range after mountain range covered in pure white snow.
And as we headed back to California, the mountains were replaced by valleys and snow by green earth and then brown earth.
Appropriately, the word Montana comes from the Spanish and means mountains. There is a surfeit of mountains in the state. From Bozeman I went to Butte which is 90 miles west. My Uber driver turned out to be better than most tour guides I have hired in my 40 years of travelling through some 35 countries. Montana is a state with few Uber drivers since among the 50 states it is the third least densely populated, the eighth least populous and the fourth largest in area.
At one point we went over the continental divide, which was a first for me.
We also went past a place called Three Forks where the Jefferson and Madison rivers come together. They are joined by the Gallatin River a mile downstream, forming the Missouri river. We stopped and took a look. When combined with the lower Mississippi River, the Missouri forms the world’s fourth longest river system.
This was also the place visited by Lewis and Clark of the famed expedition that ran from 1804 to 1806. President Thomas Jefferson authorised their mission shortly after the US purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French. The purpose was to explore the western part of the continent and to prevent the British and other European powers from moving into it. Another goal was to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean.
The town of Butte was once one of the most populated in the state. It became famous because of its copper and gold mines. As time went by, the mining industry shifted elsewhere and the town shrunk in size. The hotel I stayed in did not serve meals. So I went across the street with a friend to dine at a local eatery which also had a casino in the back. Many patrons were staying busy at the slot machines, hoping to make the proverbial fortune. On the second evening we got a chance to check out an Italian restaurant. Service was great but the food was average. The prices, however, were more than reasonable.
Appropriately, the word Montana comes from Spain and it means mountains. There is a surfeit of mountains in the state. From Bozeman, I went to Butte which is 90 miles west. My Uber driver turned out to be better than most tour guides I have hired in my 40 years of travelling through some 35 countries
We heard about the “Copper Kings” that had made Butte a great city in days past. They lived in mansions which now offer tours.
Glacier National Park is a few hours away to the north. It is also called an international peace park because it continues into Canada. The park is featured in several of the exceptionally picturesque books written by Blake Passmore.
In the southeastern portion of the state is the famed Yellowstone National Park. Montana also has several other parks and the best time to tour them is in the summer.
Bozeman is home to the Museum of the Rockies. It’s located at Montana State University, the biggest school in the state. The museum is renowned for its collection of dinosaur remains, one of the largest in the world. It gained fame during the tenure of Jack Horner, a palaeontologist who discovered the Maiasaura dinosaur, providing evidence that some dinosaurs cared for their young.
His reputation catapulted when he served as technical advisor to all the Jurassic Park films. The British palaeontologist in the film ‘Dr Alan Grant’, played by Sir David Attenborough, was partially modelled after him.
One other piece of trivia. Montana was featured in a 1929detective novel about a labour dispute, Red Harvest, by Dashiell Hammett. It’s the only novel of his that’s not set in San Francisco. His most famous novel, The Maltese Falcon, was made into a film starring Humphrey Bogart.
With its vast uninhabited lands, wildlife abounds in the state. The animals include black and grizzly bears, big horn sheep, elk, bison, mountain lions, wolves, and coyote. The birds include osprey, ravens and hawks. Several species of water fowl are to be found in the wetlands.
On my second trip I got to visit Helena, the state capital. The capitol building is constructed of local sandstone and granite and its architecture is Greek neoclassical. The exterior of the dome is made of copper and on top sits a feminine statue that some call Lady Liberty.
It houses a number of art objects including a 1912 painting, titled Lewis and Clark Meeting the Flathead Indians at Ross’ Hole.
One evening, I went to eat at a Mediterranean grill with friends. I ordered chicken kabobs. While we were waiting for the order to be served, a question arose whether the eatery was Greek, Lebanese or Turkish. No one in the group seemed to know, not even one of the waiters.
When the manager came to check in on us, I asked if the owner was Turkish. She was surprised that I knew. I said I saw a poster about Anatolia on the wall and that one of the entrees with eggplant called Imam Bayildi. No Greek or Lebanese restaurant would carry either. She smiled and said the owner would be pleased to know that you had eaten here.
On these trips, I got to see some spectacular scenery from the freeways and to learn some parts of the state’s fascinating history. The people were friendly and there was a choice of many cuisines.
I intend to return at some future date to tour the iconic parks that have put Montana deservedly on many a vacationer’s bucket list.
The writer can be reached at [email protected]. He Tweets at @AhmadFaruqui