Distinctly Montana Magazine

Gems BY VIRGINIA BRYAN THE FORT PECK HOTEL In the early 1930s, thousands of workers flocked to the windy prairie in northeastern Montana to find work on the construction of the Fort Peck Dam. The Corps of Engineers built a modest structure for officers staying at the dam site. The depression-era building, a luxury by Fort Peck's hard scrabble beginnings, transferred to private ownership. Later, it became a hotel. In all that time, not much has changed. GLENDIVE'S CHARLEY MONTANA Charles Krug came to Glen- dive with the railroad, tried his hand at cattle and went broke. But by 1907, he'd found his fortune in sheep. To let townsfolk know of his success, he built a four-story, architecturally-designed brick home near the Yellowstone River. The home's stately entrance is framed by four, massive white columns. The interior boasts leaded glass, quarter-sawn oak doors, carvings, and enamel fireplaces. For 90 years, Krug's seven children lived in the home, clearly palatial by Montana prairie standards. When the home changed ownership in the late 1990s, the original structure was intact and many original furnishings still in place. "Much of the home remains as it was," said Sonja Max- well, proprietor of the Charley Montana Bed and Breakfast since 2009. She and her husband live on the third floor. Five guest rooms are on the second floor. The main floor is devoted to entertaining, as Charles Krug intended. During the summer 2011, the Charley Montana was full nearly every night. Sonja doesn't see business slow- ing anytime soon. While many guests find the Charley Montana on the Internet, others are there because of the oil boom inundating northeastern Montana. "We stay one step ahead of the house at all times or it wins!" Sonja said of the upkeep that goes with maintain- ing an older, historic structure and the influx of people. "We don't have any ghosts," she laughed. "I think the Krugs were peaceful people." Then she added, "There's enough drama day to day!" The Charley Montana, located at 103 North Douglas, can be reached at 1-888- 395-3207, 1-406-365-3207, charley@midrivers.com or by visiting www. charley-montana.com. www.distinctlymontana.com It's so authentic that cur- rent owner, Linda Mann, has been asked if she's open for business or if it's a mu- seum. The Fort Peck Hotel, like the Grand Union, is on the National Register of Historic Places. "We love this old place," said Linda. "It's gorgeous the way it is. I don't want to modernize it." Some rooms have original claw foot bathtubs. There are no room phones and just two televisions on the premises. The hotel's wagon wheel light fixtures are original, as are heavy, wooden exterior windows, wood floors, and French doors leading to a screened-in porch that extends the length of the building. A continental breakfast is complimentary; summer dinners are served in the dining room. Internet service was added to accommodate the pale- ontologists from Montana State University–Bozeman and elsewhere who come to dig for dinosaur bones. "They need it," Linda said, "or we wouldn't have it either. People keep telling me we gotta catch up and get modern. I don't want to." She does her bookkeeping and keeps track of reserva- tions the old fashioned way—with a pencil and paper. Linda and her husband, Carl, an outfitter, cater to ar- chery and rifle hunters seeking trophy elk, antelope, deer, and birds. They'll refer you to local fishing guides and of- fer weekend packages that include tickets to the Fort Peck Summer Theatre, also in an historic building from Fort Peck's depression-era boom. Open from April to November at 175 South Missouri Street, the Fort Peck Hotel can be reached at 406-526-3266, 1-800-526-4931 or fortpeckhotel@nemont.net. Virginia Bryan is a free-lance writer living in Billings She is the Chair of the High Plains Book Awards, a project of the Parmly Billings Library. She prefers secondary highways and historic hotels to interstates and roadside lodging. 47

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