Distinctly Montana Magazine

3DAYS along the Sculpted into jagged peaks by glaciers, then scoured over millions of years by wind, rain, and geological shifts, the mountainous terrain of the Rockies bear down in a hostile fashion along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Front. Here, in the overthrust belt, older, harder rocks of limestone lie on top of their much younger predecessors, acting like a corral for the great glaciers that poured out of the Rockies onto the flatlands and creating large sheets of stagnant ice that covered much of what is now Eastern Montana. DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL More fantastic pix and possibilities Go to www.distinctlymontana.com/rockyfront112 Just as startling, unyielding, and unfathomable as the Rockies is the great Eastern Plains that make up a whop- ping two-thirds of the state of Montana. These two very different, contrasting faces of Montana meet as if by ac- cident along the roughly 110-mile drive down the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountain Front. Dave Walter put it suc- cinctly in Montana Century when he said that “Montana is a hybrid straddling two distinct geophysical regions: the Great Plains and the Northern Rockies.” It is here, follow- ing scenic Highway 89 from Browning to Choteau, then south on US Route 287 across the Sun River to the cross- roads of State Route 200 (known by locals as 4-Corners), where 10,000-foot peaks transition dramatically into the flat country of the Eastern Montana plains. Short grass prairies, checkerboard farms, and open rangeland dotted with occasional stands of willows butt up abruptly to the magnificent Glacier National Park, Lewis and Clark National Forest, and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Not only magnificent scenery draws many to the front, but also its history, recreation, archeology, accommodations, and the hint of something more. In the early morning as dawn breaks across the prairie sky’s smoky grey migrating to dusty rose, the snow-bound peaks appear to float up from the flatlands into a pillow of clouds, leaving you to wonder about their existence at all. If you dare turn your back on the Crown of the Continent to the west and feast your eyes across the vast openness of the great unending plains to the east, you may find your- self unsettled and unnerved. It has had this effect on even the sturdiest of figures down through the ages. It’s best to heed the advice of those who came before us, time to cow- boy up. This could be the best three days of your life. The Blackfeet Reservation (also known as Pikuni), located on the front’s northernmost section, is a perfect place to start. One of the earliest settlers in Montana and its largest tribe, the Blackfeet are a nation within a nation, estab- 18 DISTINCTLY MONTANA • SPRING 2011

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