Distinctly Montana Magazine

74 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 3 - 2 4 Building, and indeed, most of downtown. Visitors should stop by the Museum of the North- ern Great Plains and the Missouri Breaks National Monument Interpretive Center. The latter has a mo- saic laid into the entrance way sidewalk showing the Missouri River and the dis- tances from Fort Benton to Walla Walla via the Mullan Road (610 miles), Helena via the Helena Wagon Road (140 miles), St. Louis (2,285 miles), among other historic roads leading to or away from the town. A walk north from the Center will take you past the Lewis and Clark Botanical Gardens, monuments to the Cow Island Inci- dent (an abortive effort to stop Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce/NiMiiPuu), Acting Governor Thomas Francis Meagher (who fell overboard and disappeared near Fort Benton), actor George Montgomery, Captain John Mullan (who was charged with building an overland road between Fort Benton and Fort Walla Walla), The Lewis and Clark Memorial, and the Keelboat Mandan, to name a few. Aside from Fort Benton, several smaller communities can be found along US Highway 87 between Great Falls and Havre, or along Montana 80 which runs from Fort Benton to Stanford in Ju- dith Basin County. None of these towns are very large, but all have something to offer visitors. In Loma, I would recommend Ma's Café, especially for the pie. Big Sandy, home of Mon- tana's Senior Senator Jon Tester, has a home-built skate park, and down- town is a gallery of pottery Charbaby Clay, featuring the work of Charlotte Dan- reuther In between, but off the highway a few miles, is the Virgelle Mercantile, owned by retired pharmacist Don Sorenson. The Mercantile not only sells a wide selection of antiques, but also serves as a bed and break- fast. Back in the 1990s, a group of my friends hired Don to outfit a four-day canoe trip through the Missouri Breaks. We did this four years in a row, and loved every minute of the time we spent on the water. Unfortunately, Don is no longer acting as an outfitter. Along Montana 80, you pass through Geraldine and Square Butte, two more small towns worth a visit. Geraldine's Milwaukee Road Depot and the former First National Bank are both in the Na- tional Register, as are the jail and school in nearby Square Butte—a town named for the adjacent topographical feature that towers over the town. A drive from Great Falls to Geraldine will take you through Highwood, on the north side of the Highwood Mountains.

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