RVing Around America with Ron and Kathy: Missoula, MT

Thursday, July 21, 2016

A travel day with us leaving behind Idaho and arriving in Montana and back in Mountain Daylight Time. The majority of our travel today took us through the mountains filled with very straight pine trees and the beautiful St. Regis River which flowed along side the highway and wove from right to left as we crossed many bridges. We encountered a number of small towns along the way, some nestled in valley areas. There were also a number of construction sites, one several miles long with Ron having to drive between two sets of barricade some rather windy. Glad he is the good driver he is. We will remain here in Missoula until Monday seeing the local sites before heading to Kalispell and Glacier National Park.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Missoula, MT is located along the Clark Fort River where it meets the Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers in Western Montana and where five mountain ranges merge in what is called the “hub of five valleys” with the metropolitan population at around 114,000. The green and light brown mountain ranges that surround the city are filled with large homes surrounded by acres of land and mountains filled with tall pine trees. A beautiful view.

The city was founded in 1860 as Hellgate Trading Post and was part of the Washington Territory. By 1866 the settlement had been renamed Missoula Mills and later shortened to just Missoula. The establishment of Fort Missoula in 1877 helped to protect the western settlers, the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1833 brought rapid growth and the maturity of the lumber industry and in 1908 Missoula was chosen as the headquarters of the U.S. Forest Service all helping with the growth of the city.

Downtown isfilled with some old buildings, the University of Montana and an area of lovely old homes on tree lined streets. This beautiful large old home is now a fraternity house.

After several stops and starts and a detour, we arrived at the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula where we listened to a video about the establishment of the city and then walked through the museum filled with local artifacts, historical information, posters from World War II and information on how this Fort was used during its early years and during World War II.

An old Block Pattern Quilt

The Museum is housed in what was the Quartermaster’s storehouse built in 1911. The 32 acre complex is dotted with both original and historic structures from the surrounding area.

Did you know that in 1896 a Lieutenant organized the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corp which undertook several short journeys before making a 1,900 miles bicycle trip from Fort Missoula to St. Louis, MO? The Army concluded that the bicycle would never replace the horse.

The Fort has been used as a military training center during World War I, the Northwest Regional Headquarters for the CCC, an Alien Detention Center for nonmilitary Italian men in 1941 and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor it housed 1,000 Japanese men (predominately middle aged and older successful business men) who were first generation immigrants who were prevented from becoming U.S. citizens due to the Alien and Sedition Act. Following WWII, the Fort was a prison for American personnel accused of military crimes who were awaiting court martial. Today the Fort is in the hands of several nonmilitary agencies. Lovely grounds with lots of information.

Pictures from the grounds of the complex below.