Day 23

Last night, we slept at a campsite in Malta, Montana. It was right on Route 2 which seemed perfect because we didn’t have to waste time driving just to find a place to sleep. And since we were planning to be there less than 10 hours it’s not like we needed someplace scenic or isolated. But the site was nothing more than a city park. No actual sites, only empty space. Simply pitch your tent where ever there was room and deposit $5 in the payment box — on the honor system. By the time we pulled in it was already dark. But when we got out to scope out the area with flashlights we found dozens of large holes in the dirt, homes, we assumed, of some sort of critter. We could only guess what animal might live there since we didn’t see any living creatures at all. But Kati insisted on pitching a tent as far from the holes as possible. I guess none of us really wanted anything trying to burrow into our tent in the middle of the night. When we finally selected a spot, the wind from an approaching storm kicked up and lightning lit the sky in frequent flashes. Setting up a tent in the dark is difficult, add heavy wind to the scenario and it’s almost comical. We put down the tarp but the wind blew it away before we set the tent down. Then once the tent was up it was bending and blowing in all sorts of ways while I fought to get the stakes in. Finally, the tent was staked and the rain came but it only beat down for about twenty minutes. The wind, however, kept up it’s ferocity and I wondered if it might actually blow us into the next town. But when we woke up all was quiet. No wind. No rain. And the temperature already uncomfortably hot at 7 o’clock.

Sadly, we left Montana this morning but we entered North Dakota. It is the final new state G3 will visit on this trip. (It is also a first time in North Dakota for me and Kati.) In total G3 has now been to 26 states.

We stopped in to see Fort Union Trading Post which is a National Historic Site on the border of Montana and North Dakota. John Jacob Astor established the trading post in 1828. While in existence, it was the busiest trade post on the Upper Missouri River. It was also Astor’s most successful fur trading location. Men from various tribes in the area went to the trading post to trade their furs for coveted goods — including rifles — from the East. The end of the Civil War brought about and end to the trading post. With Union soldiers redeployed out west and violence escalating between Americans and Native Americans all peaceful relationships were severed. You can’t trust or trade with people who might shoot you.

G3 was excited to find a blacksmith at the trading post. He has been fascinated by blacksmiths since he was really little. They are by far his favorite part of living museums. (He has been begging me and Kati to find him an apprenticeship so he can learn the trade. If any of you have any idea where we can send him to learn the necessary skills please let me know.) The blacksmith at the trading post is also an engineer so he not only discussed what the blacksmiths did at the trading post, he also incorporated some of the science behind working the metal which G3 found interesting. G3 watched and listened so raptly that he gave G3 the hook he had been working on. Free souvenirs are even better than the ones you have to pay for.

Fort Buford is less than five miles from the Trading post. As we were leaving, I asked Kati to please take the detour. Fort Buford would probably have dissolved into obscurity except for the fact that it was where Sitting Bull surrendered his freedom and consented to live on a reservation. When we arrived, we could hear thunder crashing above. The moment I started to read the sign regarding Sitting Bull thunder tore the sky open and rain poured down. But like yesterday, it lasted only a few minutes.

Daddy liked Teddy Roosevelt a great deal. If Roosevelt wasn’t his all time favorite president, he was definitely in his top five favorites. Mostly, I think, Dad liked him because of his role in conservation and the establishment of the National Park system. Also, Roosevelt was from New York and Dad loved his house out in Oyster Bay. When my brother and I were younger he took us to Sagamore Hill. And then, when my son was about six years old and developed an interest in Presidential History, Dad excitedly took G3 to see Roosevelt’s house. We all had fun that day. Just one more experience Dad wanted his grandson to have. He gave G3 so much. Needless to say, whenever I hear about Roosevelt, I think about Dad. So I’ve been thinking about him a lot today as we began our exploration of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Shortly after Dad died, his first cousin got G3 a subscription to The Week Junior magazine. G3 and I enjoy reading it at night before bed and discussing the news. One of our favorite parts of the magazine is the spotlight of a State or National Park in the United States. Not long after we started planning our summer trip the magazine chose Theodore Roosevelt National Park. As soon as G3 read it he said, “We have to go there.” I agreed and immediately added it to our itinerary. I am glad we did. It is beautiful. Thank you Anna.

We arrived at the campground in the Northern Unit of the park early in the evening and were lucky to get a campsite. The temperature which had been painfully hot all day finally dipped down to 70, so of coarse I had to take a hike. G3, surprisingly, said he was going to come with me. To make him happy, I selected a short segment of the Buckthorn Trail which would take us to a prairie dog town. You know how much he loves those rodents. On the way, we saw a bison on the trail walking directly towards us. We stepped off the trail to give him plenty of room. Neither one of us wanted to be trampled by an angry wild bison.

Seeing the prairie dogs may have been the highlight of G3’s day. He spent a great deal of time watching them. And I could not believe how close he was able to get to them.

Sorry, lack of service again delayed my post.