Great Falls, Montana, Part III

After breakfast in Great Falls, we met up with Patsy's sister, Sharon, and her husband Jim. We were all going to see a buffalo jump today! What is a "buffalo jump" you ask? Well...Let me tell you! A buffalo jump is a plateau that has a large cliff off one side of it. The Indians would drive the buffalo up the back side of the plateau and force them to run over the edge of the cliff, killing or wounding many of them from the fall. We were told that if the lead buffalo jumped off the bluff, the others would unquestionably follow. Buffalo were used by the Indians for many things including, food, hides for warmth, utensils from their bones and the list goes on.

We visited the First People's Buffalo Jump just outside the city of Great Falls. This jump was used between the years of 900 to 1500. We checked out the visitors center first which was at the base of the cliff. It was full of artifacts and told the story of the jump. It was a very windy day and outside the center Gary and I walked out to the Teepee's that were erected to see if the wind would get into the Indian tent. It was actually still in the teepee, almost no wind.

The ranger at the visitor's center told us we could drive up to the edge of the plateau to get a real perspective on the height of the cliff. He said it is deceiving looking up from there. There was a path to the top, but with the wind being so strong, we elected to take the car up. The height from the top of the plateau to the visitor center was, indeed, very deceiving from the bottom! I can see how effective this method of the buffalo jump was to kill a large amount of buffalo at one time.

After visiting the jump, we headed back to Clinton, via the back roads, and to Gary and Patsy's home. We traveled by Wolf Creek Pass where the lowest recorded temperature in the US was recorded. A chilly -70 degrees on January 20, 1954! A bit too cold for us!

We enjoyed seeing Holter lake which was a little side trip off the beaten path. This area had grown into a vacation spot with great fishing and camping. We finally headed to Livingston and to the ranger's station there. We heard rumors that they had a full size grizzly bear on display that had been hit by a truck nearby. We were told that the bear was getting into homes and stealing food and becoming a nuisance. I believe they were happy the problem was taken care of!! This bear was 12 years old, weighed 830 pounds and stood 8' tall. Not what I'd like to see coming at me, day or night!!