Monday, May 11, 2009

Ringling, Ringling ...

This is a photo I took a couple of years ago, of the old Milwaukee Road depot in Ringling. I have a fondness for Ringling ... it's got a great setting, and there's still a good little bar there. And Jimmy Buffett wrote a song about the place! Hard to beat that.


6 comments:

  1. Jimmy Buffet?? I thought he only wrote about Florida! :)

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  2. Didn't Ivan Doig's family have some history in that area? I wondered when I read about it, where it was on the map.

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  3. Ah, Steve ... Buffet had a hard-core Montana period in the 70s, before he slowed down and moved south for good. :) He lived near Livingston, Montana for a while, and the song "Ringling, Ringling" can be found on his album "Living and Dying in 3/4 Time."

    If you like Buffet, you should check out an old movie called "Rancho Deluxe," which was filmed up here back then, and has a Buffet soundtrack.

    And Angharod -- yes, Ivan Doig's family had roots in the Ringling area. His first book, "This House of Sky," is a largely autobiographical work, and much of it is set in the Ringling and White Sulphur Springs areas.

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  4. Hi Mark, I use to ride the ole Milwaukee RR and have had cheese burgers in the Ringling bar. When I saw the Ghost church blog I thought for sure it would be the church at Ringlin. I am enjoying your site here. Photo's and stories both. Keep up the "fun" work. Good job. When Jimmy Buffet went south so did his music. Ha.

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  5. Hey, Jeff ... thanks for the note! The Milwaukee was a fascinating thing, indeed, and it went through some of my favorite spots in Montana. And if you haven't been to Ringling lately, you'll be happy to hear that the old church has been completely fixed up! The school's been closed a couple of years, though, but the bar's back open after having been closed for a while.

    Anyhow, thanks for the good words. And you're right about Jimmy Buffett, too!! :)

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  6. The Ringling School House was purchased in 2012 by a family from Milton-Freewater, Oregon (just South of Walla Walla, Washington)...the owner's parents moved to White Sulphur Springs a year or so earlier. Presently, at the school house, there are three adults, seven children, seven dogs, one cat, four chickens, two turkeys, two land tortoises, two water turtles, and two fish tanks!! As one of the occupants, I am seeking information about the "three" burial plots at the St. John's Catholic church..was told there was two, but I discovered that there are three...was told that no one knows anything about who is buried there...while the exterior of the church has been somewhat remodeled, the interior is gutted and it doesn't appear that the owner's are going to restore the church completely....Joey

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