Getting Lost in Montana - Fort Benton

We had an overnight in Havre (pronounced "have-er"), Montana. As we left the next morning we came upon grain silos with a map of Montana inscribed, "Get Lost in Montana". (Promoting a Montana tourism site.) 

If you look at a map of our route through Montana, one might think we were lost!

On our route we passed through Big Sandy (Population ~700). They were preparing for their Memorial Day Parade and the school band was in position, standing on a flatbed trailer, ready to play! Not something most towns/schools would condone!

We stopped in Fort Benton, the oldest continuously occupied settlement in Montana. At one point it was the most upstream navigable port on the Missouri. The Fort, like others we saw, began as a trading site and with the decline of the fur trade, was used bay the army from 1868-1881. Lewis & Clark passed this way and a memorial depicting Lewis, Clark and Sacagowea with baby Jean Baptiste. The statue was cast in New York and traveled across country standing upright on a flatbed trailer. Apparently it turned heads!

Thomas Meagher, the acting governor of Montana fell overboard at Fort Benton and drowned in 1867. His body was never recovered. Meagher had an interesting history in Ireland before arriving in the US, and there are conflicting reports and rumors about his demise.

There are several museums in Fort Benton, besides the fort itself. Next to the fort there was an excellent exhibit (and docent) describing the trading process and chronicling Indian life. One exhibit demonstrated how the Indians captured Eagles to get their feathers for ceremonial clothing. Something I had never seen before.

The Museum of the Northern Great Plains had a lot of information about trading and agriculture in the area. The addressed the decline of the fur trade, explaining that silk hats became more popular than beaver and were easier to make. and that the supply of beaver was waning. Buffalo robes (tanned hides) were still valuable trade items, until their population declined due to overhunting, especially by white hunters trying to remove food sources for the Indians between 1870-1873. 

James Hill, railroad tycoon for Northern Pacific, along with banks, agents and state governments  promoted homesteading in western lands. Anyone could get 160 acres of land for free, if they built a house on the land and farmed it for 10 years. All went well for a few years, until drought and grasshoppers spelled out failure. 

Plowing up the native prairie grasses led to huge dust storms.

Canadian farmers faced similar conditions and came up with three practices to help combat harsh conditions of the midwest.

The Museum of the Northern Great Plains also had a wide collection of historic buildings covering a span of years, beginning with homesteading. 

 

 

Memorable Museums

M is for Museums

Marvelous? or Miserable?

We visited quite a few different sorts of museums on our trip. I've already written about two of them during the A to Z challenge: the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the Tannehill Iron Works Museum, and I will post pictures from the White Sands Missile Range Museum for the letter 'W'. 

In this post I'd like to consider what makes a museum memorable. Think about it... what is it that makes you come away from a museum in awe? What makes you enthused about what you are seeing? What works for you?

Here are some key factors for me:

Showcasing something of Interest: I am certain that our individual interests play a huge role in determining whether we care for a museum, or whether it makes us yawn. (And museums do make me yawn... and when I yawn, tears come from my eyes. People must think I am very touched by what I am seeing, or very sad!)

source

At White Sands, Mr. Dreamy enjoyed seeing different sorts of missiles and armament, while I enjoyed reading a first person account of a woman whose family ranched the lands taken over by the missile range. 

source

How wonderful that this museum had enough variety to appeal to two people with very different interests. 

Presentation: Museums have lots of stories to tell. The way that the information is shared is another key to making a museum memorable, at least for me. I enjoyed the information in the Military Intelligence Museum at Fort Huachuca, AZ, but I came away bleary-eyed from reading. 

source

Sometimes, less is more. One or two pieces, with interesting descriptions might have far more impact than a case full of artifacts. And, personally, I prefer to learn about something using different modalities. I appreciated the New Mexico Museum of Space History for that reason. 

source

Displays were varied. Some required reading, others had visual displays. Some could be touched. This rocket display allowed visitors to hear the countdown and roar of different sorts of rocket engines. 

Emotional Connection: Another facet of a memorable museum, for me, is a visceral connection. Museums that suck me into a foregone time reel me in like a fish on a line. We were met at the gates of  Fort Clinch State Park in Florida by a 19th century soldier who stayed in character throughout a brief tour of the park. 

source

We could hear the sound of a fife wafting on the breeze. I was admonished for not having a bonnet covering my hair. I felt as if I would turn around to see soldiers occupying the fort. I felt as if I had been pulled into that life, long ago.

Action:
There is a Chinese proverb that states:

Tell me, and I'll forget.

Show me, and I'll remember.

Involve me, and I understand.

My favorite museums live by this creed. They encourage involvement... they have visitors 'do' something. Even the simple act of turning a page activates my brain - well, yeah, I am a simple sort of person ;-)    

In my opinion, good museums awaken the visitor (even though I might be seen yawning!) They should tickle an area of the brain and inspire and excite the visitor, and leave the person wanting more, or leave that person shaking her head as she comes away with an unexpected turn-around of thinking after seeing something from a different point of view. Museums enrich my life.

What about you? What makes your favorite museum memorable? What have I missed in trying to elucidate the key aspects of fabulous museums?