Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 2 54 its associated Recreation Park. Nothing is ever as simple as that, however, and the move took many years and much effort by local volunteers. In 2010, the National Carousel Associa- tion held its annual tour, starting in Spokane and continuing on to Missoula, Helena and Boulder. At that time, the location had a roof, but no side walls. Today, the carousel has its own building in Recreation Park on Highway 69 south of town. The carousel has 36 jumping horses and two chariots. THE SPIRIT OF COLUMBIA GARDENS CAROUSEL BUTTE Copper King William A. Clark bought Columbia Gardens in 1899 as a gift for the people of his city. The park's carousel was built in 1923 and ran for fifty years until the park closed and the carousel burned in 1973. But memories in Butte are long, and in 1996, a group decided to replace the destroyed merry-go-round and started the Spirit of Columbia Gardens Foundation. As with Boulder and Missoula, the community of Butte came together to build a new carousel, and 2015 saw the ground-breaking for the ride's building in Stodden Park. Nondys Mason was one of the volunteers. She painted every one of the 35 horses, and told NBC News, "We have some very famous horses here that represent over 100 years of his- tory in Butte." Like Missoula's horses, the ones in Butte are carved bass- wood. The carving and sanding could take a year per horse, and Mason reported that each horse took 250 hours to paint. Completed horses went on display at the Butte Plaza Mall and it was there that the Montana Standard photographed each horse. Those photos and the descriptions of the horses are online. GREAT NORTHERN CAROUSEL HELENA Unlike other carousels around the state, the Great North- ern Carousel was built as a carefully planned bit of urban re- development. When local developer Alan Nicholson got the idea to rehabilitate the old Great Northern railyard, the rail- road (now known as Burlington Northern) was uninterested. That was in the 1970s. By the 1990s, the City of Helena had an interest in fixing up the area, and Nicholson approached them. From the start, Nicholson had wanted a carousel on the site. The Great Northern Carousel opened in 2002. In 2010, Don Largent, host of the annual National Carousel Association meeting, said about the Great Northern, "The one in Helena is probably about the nicest new-generation carousel in the United States. It's something to be proud of." Like other modern carousels around Montana, the "horses" are hand-carved. Unlike the others, the Great Northern has other creatures to ride. These include two frogs (one a Montana tree frog), an ot- ter, a bison with two prairie dogs riding behind the saddle, two jack rabbits, a bighorn sheep, a pair of antelope (prong- horn), a triceratops, a pig, a cutthroat trout, and two bobcats, one of which is chasing a grizzly. A real Montana experience. ROAD TRIP! You can easily visit all the carousels in this article by driv- ing a loop around western and central Montana. Starting in Missoula, head north on US 93 to Somers, then catch US 2 in Kalispell. Highway 2 will take you to Columbia Falls and Shelby, where you head south on Interstate 15. The Interstate will take you to Helena, Boulder and Butte, where you get on Interstate 90 to return to Missoula. Of course, with a circle like this, you can jump on the carousel at any point, returning to your starting point as the music fades away. The Great Northern Carousel in Helena

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