Steve's Travels: Road trip east to Fort Peck Dam and environs
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The Fort Peck Hotel was built in 1933, along with a set of garages that are still in place, to house overseers and officials who would visit the Fort Peck Dam construction site during the 10 years it took to complete the dam. It was originally planned to be temporary, but survived. Now under private ownership it is open during the summer season. It was refurbished to its "1933 ambience" and gives lodgers a brief look into the era when the dam was completed.
Reporter's note: This fall will mark five years my wife and I have lived in Chinook. She's since retired as a pastor and I've scaled back from a part time reporter to "even more" part time reporting. As part of this life change, we are trying to do some traveling and have been focusing on learning about our adopted state: "Montana, the Last Best Place."
So, I'll be sharing some things we learn about Montana. Some of what we learn might be common knowledge to long-time residents and natives. But, hopefully there'll be a few nuggets that will be news to just about anyone interested. Our first trip was east, with a destination of Fort Peck Dam and the area around it. But, along the way we found some other interesting places that are worthy of a stop or, in some cases, an extended stay.
Malta: The H.G. Robinson House, a kit house on the prairie
The Phillips County Museum and the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum are major points of interest along Highway 2 as you head east out of Malta. Some readers may have children or grandchildren who have made a school trip to visit the two museums. Both facilities are well done and interesting with lots of ancient (dinosaurs) and more recent local history.
H.G. Robinson house is next door to and part of the county museum in Malta. It's a mail-order (kit) house erected in 1898 by Eliza and Herman G. Robinson. Herman was a transplant from New York who came west to be a cowboy and, eventually, started a ranch on Beaver Creek which he ran until his death in 1950. The Robinson House overlooks Highway 2 and the BNSF to the south and borders the Milk River to the north.
Access to the house is through the museum next door. A guide showed us the house, actually two kit houses butted together. Kit houses were popular in the early half of the 20th century with some estimates that 100,000 were sold between 1908 and 1940. Post World War II homebuyers were attracted to ready-built tract housing and the kit house industry basically stopped.
The Robinsons started with a sparse, basic model, later installed a second kit house at a right angle to the original structure and then added porches and other spaces over time. Kit houses came by rail car, then were hauled by wagon to the building site and "stick built" by local workers. Every piece was pre-cut and a large house might take two rail cars and include up to 30,000 pieces of lumber. The Phillips County Historical Society is working to restore the house with period furniture and the Dirt Daubers Garden Club has been doing flowerbeds and other landscaping.
The Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs has completed refurbishing five original cabins
Locals of a certain age will remember going to the American Legion Health Resort, the forerunner of the updated hot spring located west of Saco just off Highway 2. A spokesperson at Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs confirmed that five of the original cabins have been refurbished and visitors will have everything but "the food and the people, which they must bring themselves." Rental of a cabin also includes some admissions to the hot springs which were updated a couple of years ago. You can find info about the Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs, and the new cabins, at: http://www.sbhotsprings.com or by calling 406-527-3320.
Fort Peck has recreation, summer theatre and history
My wife and I attended a play at the Fort Peck Summer Theatre a couple of years ago. Since that trip, when we drove back home after the play, we've wanted to attend a play and stay at the Fort Peck Hotel. The summer theatrical productions take place in the old movie theatre opened in 1934 to help entertain the 10,000 workers who flooded the area to work on the dam. According to a placard in the lobby of the theatre, it seated 1,200 moviegoers and ran 24 hours a day to accommodate the around the clock construction schedule.
The summer theatre is in its 49th year. Typically a play runs for two weekends, then a new play is set. The season begins in early June and runs to early September. Plays are presented on Friday and Saturday evenings and on Sunday afternoons. Some plays do sell out so it's recommended to have reservations to assure you can see the play and time you want. Tickets can be purchased and seats chosen online at: fortpecktheatre.org or call 406-526-9943.
The Fort Peck Hotel is about a block's walk from the summer theatre. The hotel was also built in the early 1930's to accommodate the many officials and overseers who were involved in the construction of the dam from 1933-1943. Originally designed to be temporary during dam construction, the hotel survived. It is now privately owned and is "refurbished to its 1933 ambience"-read that, "comfy but no frills." The hotel is open during the summer and has a full service dining room during that period. You can find information for room reservations and details about a stay at info@thefortpeckhotel.com or by calling 800) 560-4931.
Although most structures that were built during construction of the dam are gone, there are still some remaining buildings that are interesting to see-like the main Administration Building. The Fort Peck Dam and Power Plant has an excellent interpretive center with information about the history of the area and the construction of the dam. It's also the starting point for tours of the dam. Do a web search for 'Fort Peck Dam Museum' or call 406-526-3493. The museum and tour schedule varies by season.
First cover of "Life" magazine was of Fort Peck Dam
One historical nugget not well publicized is that the first cover of "Life" magazine, in November, 1936, was of part of the Fort Peck Dam structure. Photographer Margaret Bourke-White was personally directed by Harry Luce, the creator of the Time-Life empire, to photograph the construction of dams in the Columbia River Basin. On the way west she stopped in Montana to photograph the residents New Deal, the main construction town, the work on the dam and the area. Of the construction town Bourke-White wrote, "...the whole ramshackle town seemed to carry the flavor of the boisterous Gold Rush days. People lived in trailers, huts, coops anything they could find and at night they hung over the Bar X bar." In 2012 "Life" reran the original Fort Peck issue with additional photos done by Bourke-White.
St. Marie is often described as a "modern ghost town"
"Life" photographer Margaret Bourke-White took this photo in 1936 during construction of Fort Peck Dam. Assigned to photograph the many dams being constructed during the Great Depression in the Columbia River Basin, Bourke-White took this photograph at Fort Peck on her way to Washington state. The photo was selected by editors to be the first cover photo for "Life" magazine, a popular news magazine that suspended regular publication in 1972. An original first edition "Life" magazine in mint condition was selling for $1600 recently on eBay.
Several months ago I met some firefighters from St. Marie, a community about 20 miles north of Glasgow. They told me a bit about the town that was once a thriving air base with nearly 1000 dwellings and home to 7,200 military personnel and families. When the Air Force pulled out in the early 1970's, a private developer envisioned a retirement community for retired military personnel. Today less than a third of the residences are in use. Driving around much of the former community looks like a movie set for one of those "zombies take-over everything" movies.
A few years ago a group of 'sovereigns' paid the back taxes and ended up owning nearly 400 of the dwellings. The FBI describes the sovereign citizen movement as "people who physically reside in the U.S. but feel they are sovereign from any government authorities including courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments or law enforcement." That creates some problems in the community.
I spoke with a lady who lives in a condominium and is part of the St. Marie Condominium Association. She said, "I grew up in this area and while sitting on my dad's hay stack used to watch the Air Force planes land and take off. When my husband and I retired we assumed the plan to be a military retirement community would develop." She feels many of the people who have moved to the town "don't want to follow rules and take short cuts." She added, "This is my home and I don't intend to leave it." Original residents have faced a barrage of legal maneuvers that would affect the status of the town and the quality of life for those living there. Most seem determined to stay.
