Distinctly Montana Magazine

diversity of art (they represent over 500 native artists) and their cultural diora- mas. These dioramas illustrate ceremonial life in the early 1800’s such as the opening of the medicine pipe bundle, sacred burials, and warriors preparing for war. If you call ahead and schedule a cultural inter- preter, they bring paintings to life and enrich your time at the center. Midway between Browning and Choteau lies the sleepy, almost-not-there town of Dupuyer. Established in 1886, it’s one of the oldest towns along the front; cattle outnumber people by more than eight to one. Here the Rockies create an abrupt dark outline against the light blue sky; fields of winter wheat and malting barley intermix with rangeland, and bears still roam the open prairies. Homesteaders fol- lowed the fur traders and whisky runners and set up sheep operations here before the cattle barons began running Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village www.blackfeetculturecamp.com (406) 338-2787 Browning, Montana Curly Bear Wagner www.blackfeetnationstore.com/blackfeet- tour.html Email: cbear@3rivers.net (406) 338-2058 Browning, Montana Museum of the Plains Indians www.blackfeetcountry.com/museum.html (406) 338-2230 Browning, Montana Blackfeet Heritage Center www.siyehdevelopment.com/heritage.html (406) 338-5661 Browning, Montana Inn Dupuyer Bed and Breakfast www.3rivers.net/~inndupyr (406) 472-3241 Dupuyer, Montana Rocky Mountain Ranger District (406) 466-5341 1102 Main Avenue N.W. Choteau, Montana Boone and Crockett Club www.boone-crockett.org (look under Conservation at TR Memorial Ranch) (406) 472-3380 Dupuyer, Montana Two Medicine Dinosaur Center www.tmdinosaur.org 1 (800) 238-6873 (406) 469-2211 Bynum, Montana Old Trail Museum www.russell.visitmt.com/communities choteau.htm (406) 466-5332 Choteau, Montana Latigo and Lace www.goldwest.visitmt.com/list- ings/10337.htm (406) 562-3665 Augusta, Montana herds on the Blackfeet reservation at will. Less than a quarter-mile west off the main road, fourth generation residents, Rita and Jo Christiaens, restored one of these sheep- herder’s homesteads and run it today as the Inn Dupuyer Bed and Breakfast. Treasures from Rita’s father’s close connection to his Blackfeet neighbors are displayed in the Blackfeet and Buffalo bedroom. Upstairs in the Prairie Homestead bed- room are a wedding ring quilt, rocking chair, lace curtains, and soothing cool-toned frame windows filled with views of the Rockies. “We pay homage to the inhabitants that were here before us; life after all is an evolution,” says Rita. Out- side, an authentic Blackfoot tipi makes for fun storytelling evenings, and the restored sheepherder’s wagon is available for overnight lodging. A perfect place for the next two days of discovery. Dupuyer, along with Choteau and Augusta further south, provide a plethora of access sites to explore the more than thousand miles of Bob Marshall Wilderness trails. The Rocky Mountain District Ranger office in Choteau is a great place to start in planning your hiking, mountain biking, picnicking, or climbing activities. How- ever, the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch, owned and operated by the Boone and Crockett Club, has established a Watchable Wildlife trail on the back roads just west of Dupuyer. This is a great starter trail to view the front’s di- verse ecology and wildlife. Down on the cottonwood river bottoms and across the limber pine ridges, Aspen stands, and limestone cliffs you’ll find a birders’ paradise. Also hidden within, though rarely seen, are bobcats, grizzlies, mountain lions, and many small furry creatures. Addition- al worthy hikes include hunting for the 20-plus markers sprinkled just west of Dupuyer, Bynum, and Choteau that commemorate traces of the Old North Trail—one that carried the continent’s first inhabitants from an ice bridge across Siberia southward to Mexico over 25,000 years ago. Much of Montana’s rich history lies at the feet of the Rocky Mountain Front. Yet long before the Rockies formed, dinosaurs dominated the shifting rock and sedi- ments of Montana. These large roaming beasts left an in- delible mark and indeed made paleontology history. On a low badlands hill nicknamed “Egg Mountain,” located 12 miles west of Choteau, dinosaur embryos (the first in the world) and nested dinosaurs (the first in North America) were discovered in the 1970’s by Jack Horner and two local families, the Brandvold’s and Trexler’s. The Two Medicine Dinosaur Center in Bynum and the Old Trail Museum in Choteau exhibit many fossils and skeletons found in these 20 DISTINCTLY MONTANA • SPRING 2011

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