School on a Bus (a.k.a. Radical Sabbatical)

Kevin:  Today we went to a museum, we got in free because it was some kind of special day. It’s name was Museum of the rockies and it had a lot more than just history. I was astonished to see outside they had a huge T-rex, we almost got eaten.  They had a planetarium showplace, they had a HUGE dinosaur exhibit, and they had a rock and geode exhibit, it was great! I learned a lot of really cool things, like:

• Did you know the triceratops weighed 10 tons?
• Did you know our galaxy is more than 78 million light years across?
• And lastly, if you weighed 57 pounds on earth you would weigh 4.31 pounds on Pluto?

Adam:  I saw reptiles – there were snakes and turtles and alligators.  And there were dead dinosaur skeletons.  There were Indian stuff. And I tried to outrun a grizzly bear. Mom saw a snake eat a rabbit.

Today we visited the World Museum of Mining. When you homeschool, be sure to always call ahead when you visit a museum or interpretive center. Often these places provide discounts for school groups – many times there will be no charge at all. The other advantage is you may be able to arrange your own tour guide. Many of these people are volunteers who can greatly enhance the experience. This was certainly the case with our tour guide at the World Museum of Mining.

John T. Shea fought in World War II and then came back to start working “on the hill” in the 1940’s. He worked as a miner from the 1940’s until the late 1980’s. His dad also worked in the mines and so his stories went back to the time of candles and mules. Since he retired he’s been President of the Montana Association of Miners, worked to build portions of the museum, has been in PBS documentaries, and now volunteers to take school groups around the museum. He is still able bodied and still sharp at 82 years old.

Butte is known as the city that’s a mile high and a mile deep. The latter claim is due to the depth of the mines. We learned how they would bind a mule vertically into the small 4×6 foot cage and then work it in the mine for up to 6 months before that mule saw the surface again. They never lost a mule although the mules were a bit more ornery than usual. Later of course the miners were using pneumatic and battery driven equipment. Miners worked in pairs and were responsible for blasting and excavating the ore. They also installed the posts, caps and girts to support the shaft. Each minor was paid based on how far they extended their tunnel. Although gold and silver were present, it was primarily copper that was extracted. Ultimately the mine produced over a third of the total U.S. copper consumption while it was in operation. The hill is known as the richest hill in the country, it was also where over 2,500 men died while working in the mines. The industry shifted from mine shafts to open pit mining in the 1950’s when the price of copper dropped. Most of what is produced today goes to China and India.

Between the Mineral Museum and the World Museum of Mining we received a great education on the mining industry in Butte. But we all feel the most impressive part of our experience was the man who lived the history – John T. Shea.

We left Great Falls but did not get far. We stopped at the Ulm Pishkun Visitor Center less than 20 miles south of Great Falls. A pishkun, also called a buffalo jump, is where the bison were stampeded over a cliff in order to more easily gather buffalo hides needed by the tribe. As luck would have it, we stumbled on a special event celebrating the Indian culture. There were a number of activities going on including talks on all aspects of Plain Indians both historic and current. There were also hands on activities such as erecting a tipi. Then we learned to throw an atlatl which is a spear throwing lever that enables the spear to go much farther. There was an atlatl competition going on as well.

We spent the entire day at the center. Instead of camping in Helena as we had planned, we made it only twenty miles from where we left this morning. We chose to take advantage of the great opportunities that presented themselves to us – not to mention the people who were sharing their expertise. This is one of the great things about not having a schedule to abide by.

Tonight, after dinner, we attended the local high school football game in the small town of Cascade, MT where we made camp. It’s not quite the same as a professional game but we enjoyed it just as much. Sadly, the home team lost 35-6 and it was their homecoming game. I suspect they won’t have a winning record this season.

After school today we visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Museum. The museum was recently built in 1998 with a government grant. Although we’ve been to other Lewis and Clark museums, this one is my favorite so far. A portion of the museum focused on the portage around the five major water falls on that stretch of the Missouri. It is quite amazing the stamina the group exhibited throughout the 2.5 year expedition. The 18 mile portage around the falls was one of the more difficult times in the trip. Ken Burns also did a short movie for the center.

One of the highlights was a ranger presentation on the culinary delights of the expedition. Lewis’s favorite delicacy was beaver tail. The ranger had a real beaver tail and it was evident it was very fatty at the base. Another favorite was the organs of a bison stuffed into the intestines, then boiled, and then fried in bear fat. We also learned they packed over two tons of butter for the trip. A common theme is that fatty food was very much appreciated by the members of the expedition. Considering the cold combined with how hard they worked, they were probably in need of the calories – unlike the majority of today’s Americans.

Today we visited the Charlie M Russell Art Gallery.  Russell is well known as a cowboy artist who documented much of the ways of both the cowboys and Indians in the 1800’s.  Russell worked as a cowboy for over ten years before he quit focusing on his art –he knew that of which he painted.  He created over 4000 works and was adept in almost any medium including pencil, oil, and sculptures.   Caleb says, “Art galleries are for me!“

When we came up from West Glacier to Logan Pass, we had stopped at Logan Pass and returned the same way back to our camp. Today we drove the Going to the Sun road from the West entrance – again stopping at all the view points. We also took another hike, this time to St. Mary Falls. The water is a beautiful grey blue – indicative of glacial runoff. The sun was out today which cast the park in a whole new light. The lighting on the mountains was magnificent and ever changing as the sun moved across the sky.

As we were coming down in the van, we were able to spot two black bears up the hill and observed them through our binoculars for a good half hour. Every now and then another car would also pull over. This was in stark contrast to our trip to Yellowstone two years ago during the same season. There a bear can easily cause a traffic jam as 100 or more people all try to get a view. Glacier Park is amazing in its raw beauty and lack of visitors – at least at this time of year.