Sun River, Montana

July 23, 2007.

We are staying in Dick's RV Park in Great Falls, Montana. It is a nice enough park with paved FHU sites & Cable for $27. They do charge extra for wifi but we found an open wifi signal in the park. There isn't a lot of choice in Great Falls, it is either Dick's or KOA and we avoid KOA if at all possible. Bottom line, we would recommend Dick's when stopping in Great Falls.

On this day we decided to explore to the west of Great Falls. We followed the Sun River as we headed west. When Captain John Mullan build a military road through Montana and Idaho in the early 1860s, he utilized portions of already existing trails used by generations of Native Americans. Although Mullan surveyed the Sun River Crossing in 1862 he was following trails Native Americans had used for centuries. I hope that you read about the Mullan Road in travelogue 125bb-Mullan Road because that background is needed to understand the importance of the Mullan Road in the settlement years of this area.

Sun River in Montana

Construction of the Mullan Road and the discovery of gold in southwestern Montana over the next several years made Sun River Crossing an important place in the state's early history.

A toll bridge was operated near here in 1867 and the community of Sun River sprang up to take advantage of the heavy traffic between the steamboat port of Fort Benton, nearby Fort Shaw, the gold camps and the Gallatin Valley.

Old Saloon in Sun River, Montana

Realizing the potential for quick money, enterprising individuals built two other toll bridges. The arrival of the railroad in 1886 did not diminish the importance of the Sun River Crossing and it continued to thrive until after 1900.

Unfortunately even the Saloon seems to be closed these days.

Old grain elevator in Sun River, Montana

Even this once regal grain elevator in Sun River appears to be abandoned.

Sun River, Montana grain storage

Some grain is still grown in the area but it appears that it is being stored in modern facilities like these.

Not counting fur trading posts, the first important white settlements in Montana were the mining camps in the western mountains. Everything to the east belonged to the plains Indians and was buffalo range. To protect the miners and settlers from possible incursions of hostile tribes a series of military posts was established around the eastern border of the mining camps and settlements. Fort Shaw, established in 1867 was one of these military posts. It also protected the stage and freight trail from Ft. Benton (head of navigation on the Missouri River) to the Last Chance Gulch placer diggings at Helena. Everything north of the Sun River was Blackfeet Indian territory at that time.

Sun River, Montana

The Sun River is located at the base of that bluff. In the 1860s everything north of the Sun River was Blackfeet Indian Territory. We are looking north from this vantage point so everything on that bluff is in Blackfoot territory.

Hay is the crop of choice in the bottomland surrounding the Sun River west of Great Falls

East of Great Falls grain was the principle crop. Hay is the crop of choice in the Sun River Valley. The volume of hay in this picture is evidence of a major hay operation.

Sun River hay operation in Montana

Alfalfa is being grown in these irrigated fields of bottom land along the Sun River.

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Until next time remember how good life is.