I had to go to Harlowton to work on a story Thursday morning, on what turned out to be a glorious day for a drive.
As everyone in this part of the world knows, it has been a very long winter, so long that I probably shouldn’t refer to it as if it were over. So to finally get a chance to drive on dry roads under blue skies and on one of my favorite Montana roads was an opportunity I was inclined to savor.
I wrapped up my interviews shortly after noon (look for a story tomorrow), then took the scenic route home. I stayed on Highway 12 to Lavina and then Highway 3 back to Billings, but I took every detour I could, poking around Ryegate, Shawmut and Lavina, and around two places that aren’t really towns anymore, Barber and Cushman.
What follows are a few images from that drive back to Billings, a small taste of many Last Best News travels to come.
Photos by Ed Kemmick
Long-term parking in Shawmut. ” credit=”
The wind played havoc with this flag in Shawmut. Tying the loose ends to the flagpole didn’t help much. ” credit=”
A National Register of Historic Places plaque at this church says it was built in 1917 “by a Methodist congregation in the small, new farming town of Barber.” Like so many towns along Highway 12, it owed its existence to the coming of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, & Pacific Railroad to the Musselshell Valley in 1908. The plaque says the church is now the only occupied structure left in Barber. Who occupies it, I don’t know.” credit=”
This little house in Ryegate is what houses used to look like before the era of rampant consumerism, not to mention the onset of the obesity epidemic. OK, not really. Even in the old days, this was a pretty small place. Note that the outhouse is about a fifth the size of the inhouse, if that’s a word.
Steady winds were pulling at the metal siding on this vacant building in Ryegate. As I was photographing it, an old boy in a mud-crusted pickup stopped, rolled down his window and said, “You want to buy it?” “Sure,” I said. “How much?” “Whatever you got,” he said. I told him I’d bring my wallet next time I was in town. ” credit=”
Cushman is about a mile south of the highway between Ryegate and Lavina. Two ancient buildings looked like they might have been part of old Cushman. This is the new Cushman, I guess, since it’s at the junction of Cushman Road and West Cushman Road.” credit=”
This caution tape was blowing into the road as I entered Lavina. What was it warning us about? High winds, maybe. ” credit=”
