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D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 4
W
HETHER NAVIGATING THE SWITCHBACKS OF ONE OF MONTANA'S SERPENTINE
MOUNTAIN HIGHWAYS or traveling along a stretch of blacktop running arrow-straight
across the plains to the distant horizon, it is impossible not to notice the white crosses.
They stand solemnly alongside the
state's highways and interstates,
flashing by with no particular ca-
dence—one cross here, another six
miles down the road, a cluster of five
attached to a single post 50 miles later.
The light bounces particularly well off
of the bright white paint of those that
appear to be newest. Others are dot-
ted with spots of rust and gritty layers
of dirt and grime—testaments to the
long years they have spent silently
guarding the sites they represent.
Each post flags the site of a fatal motor
vehicle crash. The number of crosses
affixed to the post indicates the num-
ber of lives lost in the collision.
"They are not a memorial to someone
who passed away," explains Lowell
Long, commander of both the Amer-
ican Legion Department of Montana
and of the Montana American Legion
Post #48 in Chinook. "The markers
are a reminder to people to slow down
and drive safely, because unfortunate-
ly someone died in that spot."
A VOLUNTEER EFFORT
CARRIED ON THE BACKS OF
TREASURE STATE VETERANS
MONTANA
AMERICAN
LEGION'S
HIGHWAY
FATALITY
MARKERS
PROGRAM
