Lost architecture ...

Seeing yesterday's Kalispell photo prompted me to post an image of another great mid-century Montana bank building -- this is a postcard view of the old Security Bank & Trust building in Bozeman, constructed in 1960. It was an outstanding example of an exceptional, but under-appreciated architectural era.

Unfortunately, this building is gone, too ... First Security Bank destroyed it a couple of years ago and replaced it with a facility that can only be described as awful, both architecturally and functionally. I've had my accounts there for nearly thirty years, and every time I interact with the new building I mourn for the old one, and want to withdraw every penny from its replacement.

Kalispell in '74 ...

Most Montanans probably haven't heard of a photographer named Stephen Shore, but his work is well-known among fans of recent American visual art. Shore's photographs are noted for their strong use of color and for their careful, almost eerie depictions of everyday life. His most noted images were taken during a series of North American roadtrips in the 1970s, expeditions that included at least a couple of visits to Montana.

Today's image is a photo Shore took in downtown Kalispell on a sunny August evening in 1974 ... this is the intersection of Second Street and Main, looking west. It's a striking and almost bleak image, with its saturated colors and near-empty streets. And even though 1974 doesn't seem all that long ago, almost nothing in that view looks the same today.

The coolest thing in that photo by far is the old First Federal Savings building, a classic piece of early 1960s architecture if ever there was one. The building still exists today, but is nearly unrecognizable thanks to a recent hatchet-job remodeling ... enough to make any lover of architecture weep.

photograph © Stephen Shore

My great adventure ...

One of my holiday gifts this year was a book called Dow's Dictionary of Railway Quotations, a near-perfect present who's intrigued by trains, and who loves both quotes and travel. Unfortunately, the volume's compiler is English, so Britain receives undue attention and the railroads that helped build my part of the world are largely ignored. But so it goes.

So far, at least, I've only found one quote in the book with a Montana connection, but it's a classic ... the best-known statement by the man who is more strongly associated with Montana railroads than any other. James J. Hill was the driving force behind the Great Northern Railway, the "Empire Builder" whose namesake train still traverses Montana's Hi-line. This is the ending of Hill's final address to his company's shareholders, in 1912:

Most men who have really lived have had, in some shape, their great adventure. This railway is mine. I feel that a labor and a service so called into being, touching at so many points the lives of so many millions with its ability to serve the country, and its firmly established credit and reputation, will be the best evidence of its permanent value and that it no longer depends upon the life and labor of any single individual.

There's little doubt, indeed, that Hill's great adventure touched the lives of millions, including many thousands of Montanans over the generations.

Green prairie hills ...

One last photo from the Diamond Butte country, a telephoto shot of the access road to the lookout. There's something really wonderful about watching a prairie rainstorm ... even when you're wondering what all that water will do to the sticky gumbo on the road that is your only way out.

Perfect evening view ...

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, here's an interior photo of the old Diamond Butte lookout. A propane stove and lights, a couple of bunk beds, a little wooden table, an Osborne Firefinder ... and an endless, perfect view.

Diamond Butte ...

There are lots of interesting hotels and B&Bs in Montana, but for my money the best places to stay out here are the ones you can reserve at recreation.gov. These lodgings are very different from your typical motel -- they're mostly old Forest Service cabins and fire lookouts, built decades ago for ranger patrols and now rented to adventurous travelers. Nearly all are extremely remote and quite rustic ... no electricity, running water, or paved roads at these places, just lots of solitude and spectacular views. And peace.

I've rented a number of these cabins over the years, and they've all been idyllic places. Here's one of my very favorites: the old Diamond Butte Lookout, an hour or so south of Ashland in an almost-unvisited corner of the Custer National Forest. It's a thoroughly isolated spot, and I think the lookout only gets a handful of reservations a year, but staying there is a wonderful experience. I took this photo on a July evening last year as I arrived at the lookout, just after a summer thunderstorm had passed. It was a glorious evening, watching the sun set over the prairies and hours of nighttime lightning strikes off towards the Black Hills. I didn't see another soul, and it was if I had the world to myself.

Charlie ...

For the final part of my personal 2010 update, I wanted to introduce my new traveling companion: this is Charlie, the Australian Shepherd. I adopted Charlie from a shelter in October ... he's a very happy little guy, and he's already decided that he loves exploring with me. Hopefully the two of us will be wondering around Montana for years to come.

And if you need anyone to chase some cattle for you, be sure to give Charlie a call.

Miles ...

I think it's time to return to Montana blogging, at least for a while. My apologies for the long absence ... it's been a very busy few months, with a number of changes, and I want to mention a couple of them in my first two posts.

When you go exploring, the most important thing is to have good travel companion, and for nearly seven years I had the very best -- Miles, the Border Collie. Miles was along for nearly all of my Montana wandering, and he saw more of the state than nearly any human ever will. Always eager to go, always happy to be on the road with me.

Miles died back in May, after battling a tumor for over two years ... an eager hiker and great companion till the very end. Rest well, my friend.