Western Vacations Week Two – The White Bison
Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 10:03PM Tweet By Bennett Owen
Credit: Bryan McMorrow
Last week’s roadside adventure took us from Salt Lake City to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with a gravity-defying grab bag of attractions that included a shoe tree, a beaver pelt top hat and the legendary Jackelope. Now, after the brief distractions offered by the Tetons and Yellowstone Park, we pick up the trail at West Yellowstone, Montana right on the 45th parallel.
Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana, Buffalo grazing. Credit: NARA
Our first stop is the state capital, Helena, home of the White Bison. Clorox had nothing to do with this freak of nature, born on the Flathead Indian reservation in 1933 and revered by the Blackfeet as “Big Medicine,” which became his nickname. And Big Medicine fit the bill, measuring six feet from hoof to hump and weighing in at 19-hundred pounds. That’s a lot of Pemmican!
Credit: jimbowen0306
Not content with one freak of nature, we drive northeast towards Great Falls, and stop for a pick-me up at the American Bar in Stockett…home of a taxidermy trophy, the two-headed calf.
Credit: American Bar Stockett Montana
Credit: American Bar Stockett Montana
Credit: American Bar Stockett Montana
No, you’re not seeing double, at least not yet.
While you’re here you might also take a look at the world’s shortest river, the “Roe.” You can walk the whole 201 feet of it in about a minute.
Credit: OmanForum
But the true highlight of this tour is in Polson, at the Miracle of America Museum. Nicknamed the “Smithsonian of the West,” it features a treasure trove of idiosyncratic junk including a Viking ship with hubcap shields!
Credit: Joyce Remy
They even have one of those winged monkeys from the Wizard of Oz that scared the crap outta me when I was a kid. And if you skipped Stockett, they have a two-headed calf here too.
Provided you can drag the kids away from here, you’ll soon be at East Glacier Park for a look at the world’s largest purple spoon…affectionately known as “Big Martha.” After this, you’ve only got Glacier…
Credit: The Spiral Spoon
Next week we’ll be seeking curios in the desert southwest…stay tuned.