Lolo | Schipperhaven

Since we first visited Missoula in April, 2011, we’ve claimed that Montana is our favorite state and Missoula is our favorite city in the U.S. There’s an asterisk on that: Not between October 15 and April 15.

We went there this year to rest and enjoy waking up with a view of the Bitterroots. We went there because friends live 50 miles away, both north and south. And we went there to commune with our favorite animals at the National Bison Range.

But the relaxation was tempered. Several weeks earlier, I received an order for a large number of Nantucket baskets. There was no way I could wait until we reached Florida to produce them, so I set up a workstation and spent most of our 17 day stay weaving away. It really didn’t matter; being in the ambiance was the most important part.

Delivering water to quench the Lolo fire

There was another reason for sitting tight. A forest fire was raging in the Bitterroot Valley, as close as 25 miles from us. Ash and thick haze blocked our view for most of the time, turning day into . . . well, see picture! I drove down to the Travelers Rest State Park in Lolo — the last Lewis & Clark bivouac before crossing the Rockies in 1805 and a key stop on their way back — to replace my tattered tee shirt. I was blocked for an hour by fire-fighting helicopters hauling giant water buckets aloft to dump them. As our visit went on, the fire became more contained, and Dot was able to head south past the fringe of it to visit our dear friend, Susan Buchard, in Hamilton.

The Bison Range is within Lake Missoula. It existed during the Ice Age, and when the glacial dam that held the Lake broke with cataclysmic flooding, the cascading water traveled all the way to the West Coast, carving out the Columbia River Gorge — and many other of today’s geologic features both east and west of it. The 22 mile white knuckle drive through the park gives you an opportunity to stare into its depths.

: The remains of Lake Missoula

: View from the top

: 22 mile drive through rolling hills

: The Namesake

: Mule Deer

: Pronghorn Antelope

One other event brought a mixture of joy and tears. We chose August 22 to hold a birthday party for all four of our Schips. It was that date two years earlier that we lost Teddy, my heart dog, in nearby Bozeman. It was truly a celebration for our four travelers and our five angels.

: The Party Scene

: Schipperke Birthday Cake in Cupcake Form

: Thomas Isn’t Too Sure About This

: Allie, Schip-Dude and Melody

: Allie and Melody

: Schip-Dude Discovers the Balloons

: I’m Gonna Get Ya!

: Schip-Dude Wins!

: Our Angels: Barnacle, Serena, Willie, Teddy and Gracie.

By this time, we realized that a stop in Williston proper would amount to nothing but chaos. The entire area had been consumed by the Oil Boom and its attendant problems. Not only would we have never found a site to stay in, there were already huge buildings that collectively held the RVs of hundreds of workers who’ve flocked to the area.

But the city wasn’t our real goal anyway. Twenty-two miles to the southwest, just before crossing into Montana, lies the Confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. The Missouri continues west from there — the route Lewis & Clark took on their way to the Pacific. On the return route, however, the two captains split up the party at Lolo, Montana. Lewis and a few others headed north to explore the Marias River and learn more about the Blackfoot tribe. Clark, Sacacawea and the others followed the course of the Yellowstone. They planned to meet a month later at this Confluence.

Lewis and his party had the most trouble, including an unfriendly encounter in which the Expedition took he lives to two thieving Blackfoot braves — the only fatal encounter on the entire trek. Clark and company were also hassled by the Crows, who stole 28 of their horses, but no bloodshed occurred. The groups finally reunited as planned, but not without many anxious moments.

We expected the Confluence to be more of an L&C shrine than it was. While the Interpretative Center certainly acknowledges the visit of the Corps, considerable other events of historic proportions occurred there as well, such as the building and manning of trading posts and military forts in the region.