In Northeastern Oregon is a valley by the name of Wallowa. In the Wallowa Valley thrived a tribe known as the Nee-Me-Poo. Their lands weren't just consolidated to the northwestern corner of present-day Oregon, but extended east through the Clearwater and Snake River Valleys, of Central Idaho, all the way to the Bitterroot Mountain range. Consisting of nearly 17,000,000 acres, the Nee-Me-Poolaid claim to some of the most spectacular areas of the Northern Rockies.

The Nee-Me-Poo, better known today as the Nez Perce, frequently left their homeland to hunt buffalo east of the Bitterroots. They also travelled west to barter with the Salish, Kootenai and Crow tribes on the coast. The name Nez Perce comes from their tradition of wearing dentalium shells in their pierced noses. The dentalium shell, a tubular mollusk shaped like an elephant tusk, was a form of currency for the Pacific tribes of North America and wearing them in their noses showed their hierarchy.

Lewis and Clark encountered them on their expedition to find a Northwest passage in 1805. They also encountered many of the Nez Perce's neighbors that consisted of the Cayuse, Yakima, Walla Walla, Umatilla, Kalispell, Spokane and Coeur d' Alene tribes. These neighboring tribes were all friendly to the Nez Perce and traded with them often. In the case of the Coeur d' Alenes and the Spokanes, they would often hunt buffalo together.

Outside of their friendly neighbors, the Nez Perce had enemies on the eastern plains of Montana, the Blackfeet, Gro Ventre, Assiniboine and Lakota Sioux, enemies because of the competition for the valued and sacred buffalo.

The Nez Perce also accepted the missionaries that started missions in the area around 1836. One missionary, in particular caught Joseph's attention, Father Henry Spaulding. This mission was set up along Lapwai Creek, a tributary of the Clearwater River. Tukakas (Old Joseph), father of Joseph and chief of Wallowa band of the Nez Perce, held onto the Nez Perce's original beliefs of "Dreamers" and was not happy with his son's affiliation with the christian mission. The mission on Lapwai Creek was short-lived, however, and closed in 1847.

In 1855, a treaty was signed by all of the Nez Perce and their friendly neighbors, a treaty that put them onto reservations. The chief of the Wallowa band, Old Joseph, thought poorly of the treaty, but succumbed to the pressures of the U.S. government. During the deliberations for acceptance of the reservation, the non-christian tribal members performed "Dreamer" ceremonies in hopes of understanding the future with the white man.

The Treaty of 1855 allowed the Nez Perce to retain much of their original homeland that now consisted of 7,700,000 acres. The other 9.3 million acres was relinquished to the white settlers that were seeking land for cattle.

In 1863 the U.S. government asked the Nez Perce to accept an even smaller piece of land for their reservation, a 780,000 acre piece of land centered at Lapwai Creek east of present-day Lewiston, Idaho. The reason for this was the newly discovered gold in the area of the Nez Perce tribal lands. The new demands by the U.S. government exacerbated the already tense religious and political divisions among the tribe, as the new lands designated in the treaty only encompassed the area of the christian-peoples. Old Joseph openly denounced the christian religion. Yet, the leader of the christian-peoples and higher chief of the Nez Perce, Chief Lawyer, accepted the new lands. Old Joseph was further infuriated by the loss of his homelands in the Wallowa Valley, the namesake of his band of the Nez Perce. The treaty was not ratified until 1867. After it's ratification, the Nez Perce benefited economically and militarily from the U.S. government.

Old Joseph, along with Looking Glass, White Bird, Big Thunder, Eagle From Light and Toohoolhoolzote, however, refused to leave the Wallowa Valley. These leaders and their respective bands became known as the non-treaty Nez Perce.

In 1871, as the chief of the Wallowa band lay dying, he had this to say to his son:

"My son, my body is returning to my mother earth, and my spirit is going very soon to see the Great Spirit Chief. When I am gone, think of your country. You are the chief of these people. They look to you to guide them. Always remember that your father never sold his country. You must stop your ears whenever you are asked to sign a treaty selling your home. A few years more, and white men will be all around you. They have their eyes on this land. My son, never forget my dying words. This country holds your father's body. Never sell the bones of your father and your mother."

Six years later, these words and their influence on Chief Joseph, will lead to the greatest battle of the Indian Wars, the plight of the non-treaty Nez Perce. The battle will lead to many deaths and involve two divisions of the U.S. military, General McDowell's Division of the Pacific and General Sheridan's Division of Missouri. Eight different battle grounds will have blood shed on them.

I would love to start telling of these battles, but as of right now I am only as far as the Camas Meadow battles near Yellowstone Park, in my research. To have explained the Nez Perce and how they were treated, here in this blog, sets the tone for the battles to follow. The Non-Treaty Nez Perce have often been described as the most magnificent band of Indians to have ever been pursued by the U.S. Cavalry.

The debate over the lands in the Wallowa Valley led President Grant to recognize the nontreaty peoples and an executive order was issued on June 16th, 1873 that stated that parts of the Wallowa were to be withheld from entry and settlement as public land. The Presidential order, however, failed to evict the whites from the land. Another problem was the lack of understanding the movements of theWallowa band as they migrated each summer to cooler areas east of the Wallowa Valley. During the Nez Perce's absence each summer, more whites would move into the valley and challenge the tribe as they returned each winter, often resulting in fatal conflicts.

The agent of the Lapwai reservation, John B. Monteith, recommended to the nontreaty peoples that they should move onto the reservation in order to avoid further clashes with the whites in the Wallowa Valley. Monteith also recommended that the hunters of the band stop their buffalo hunts in Montana Territory, some of which kept the hunters away from the tribe for nearly a year. The traditions of the nontreaty Nez Perce painted them as a nomadic tribe and thus Oregon officials demanded that all Nez Perce land claims within the state boundaries be extingushed. On June 10th, 1875, President Grant revoked his executive order and restored the Wallowa Valley to white settlement.

The Wallowa band endured the conflicts with the white settlers, often losing members of the tribe to the hands of murderous settlers. In July of 1876, a delegation authorized by General Oliver O. Howard met with the various bands at the Lapwai reservation. The objective of this delegation was to "effect a just and amicable settlement for the murders." As well as seeking justice for the actions upon the Nez Perce, the delegation was also there to explain that the right to occupy the Wallowa Valley was null and void. Without resolve, General Howard himself, met with the nontreaty Nez Perce at Lapwai Agency in November of 1876 with the hopes of convincing the Wallowa band "to secure their settlement upon reservations and their early entrance upon a civilized life." Chief Joseph, a tall and eloquent man in his thirties, offered a forceful yet quietly dignified countenance to this request, recalling the words of his father on his death-bed to not sell the bones of his father and mother.

The delegation ended with the recommendation that the Indian Affairs Agent at Lapwai continue to settle the tribesmen onto the reservation, but if lacking the ability to do so the U.S. military would force them to comply. One commissioner recommended that the leaders of the various bands be removed to Oklahoma Indian Territory in order to curtail their Dreamer religion influence upon the nontreaty Nez Perce. The deadline for the move to the reservation, set by the commission, was April 1st, 1877.

In January of 1877, Agent Monteith sent emissaries to Wallowa Valley to urge Chief Joseph to comply with the commission. Chief Joseph simply replied that he would not leave the Wallowa country until he was compelled to do so. This led to the first actual involvement of the U.S. military. General Howard was ordered to send two companies of the 1st Cavalry to the Wallowa Valley to safely escort the nontreaties to the reservation.

The objective of these companies was to locate Chief Joseph's band in the Wallowa Valley, Chief White Bird's band on the Salmon River and the Palouse band on the North Snake River and to lead them to the reservation. Another band of interest for these companies was that of Chief Looking Glass'. Although his band was already located at the eastern edge of the reservation, Chief Looking Glass was concidered a Non-Treaty Nez Perce and caution was to be observed with this band.

General Howard displayed great patience in the nontreaties, for on April 2oth, 1877, long after the deadline, Chief Joseph's brother, Ollikot, along with several tribesmen met with General Howard at Fort Walla Walla, to discuss the Wallowa's intentions of staying in their homeland. General Howard agreed to meet with Agent Monteith at Lapwai in May to discuss this matter further.

The subject of this meeting on May 4th, 1877 was centered around the Nez Perce's spiritual attachment to the land that they were being asked to leave. Spiritual leader Toohoolhoolzote was jailed during these talks for his constant outbursts about the land. General Howard, however patient, still had no sympathy for the plight of the Nez Perce and in closing the meeting on May 15th asked; "Will the Indians come peaceably on the reservation, or do they want me to put them there by force?" They were given thirty days to comply or the Cavalry would drive them onto the reservation.

The seperate bands left the meeting to return to their respective homes and start the process of moving. Chief Looking Glass' band was already located on the reservation, but had to move from that area to another further up the Clearwater River.

General Howard returned to Lapwai on June 14th to observe the nontreaties' compliance, but unbeknownst to him the Non-Treaty Nez Perce had converged on Tolo Lake on June 3rd to hold a traditional pow wow and Dreamer ceremony in order to figure out what their future path should be. The ceremony, attended by 109 Nez Perce, was led by Toohoolhoolzote. On the evening of June 13th, during the ceremonies, a group of young Nez Perce lit out of camp towards the white settlements in the surrounding area. Upon their return, they announced that they had killed 4 settlers in the area. These actions electrified the assemblage of Nez Perce, fearing that they now had no choice in their future relations with the U.S. government, but to fight. They immediatly packed up their camp and started south towards White Bird Canyon, where White Bird Creek converges with the Salmon River.

The raiding on ranches in the area continued during this move towards White Bird Canyon. All of the aggression that had been pent up over the course of events was now unleashed on the settlers in the area. Killing ranchers and stealing their horses, the Nez Perce started a large herd of stolen horses that would be used during their flight out of Idaho. In all, eight ranches were raided and about 20 settlers were killed.

The attacks in the outbreak had come so swiftly that General Howard didn't receive word of them until June 15th. Also, during the opening of the war with the Nez Perce, Chief White Bird became the War Chief of the Non-Treaties, as his tactics as a warrior were superior to those of the other chiefs. In nearby Mount Idaho, a group of volunteers were gathered and armed to ward off any attack that the Nez Perce may commit on that town. Word was sent to General Howard, who in return sent some of his forces to Mount Idaho to protect the citizens there. The Cavalry there, realizing that Mount Idaho was out of danger, set out on the trail of the Nez Perce as they made there way to White Bird Canyon.

The first battle between the nontreaties and the Cavalry were here, at White Bird Canyon. The Nez Perce were camped on a flat piece of land at the mouth of the canyon where White Bird Creek meets the Salmon River. On June 17th the Cavalry attacked the Nez Perce camp in the early morning hours. The Nez Perce warriors, however, were already prepared for battle and actually sent 6 men with white flags, forward to ask for a truce before the battle even started. The soldiers denied the offer of a truce and attacked, only to find that warriors were already positioned in the hills around them. These warriors pushed the cavalry back and after many casualties and four hours of fighting, the out-flanked soldiers succeeded in a  retreat. The warriors returned to their camp where the women and non-warriors had already packed up the camp and were crossing the Salmon River. As these warriors rejoined the other villagers, they picked up many of the weapons and ammunition that had been used by the, now dead, soldiers. Over 30 soldiers and volunteers were killed in this, the battle of White Bird Canyon. There were three casualties on the Nez Perce.

Chief White Bird led the Nez Perce northwest, in the area between the Snake and Salmon Rivers, with the intention of recrossing the Salmon near the point where it converges with the Snake River. The remnants of the two companies that had attacked them, were heading northeast to the town of Grangeville to gain reinforcements. A small party was dispatched to follow the Nez Perce, to reconnoiter their intentions and movements.

Meanwhile, General Howard asked for reinforcements from the California Division (erroneous info was given in my last blog, California Division makes 3 divisions involved) and the remaining companies of his division. In all, 9 companies of Cavalry, 6 companies of infantry, and 5 batteries of artillery were to converge on Lapwai for a total of approximately 960 men.

On June 23rd General Howard left Lapwai with 227 men directly under his command. His intention was to make it to Grangeville. Along the way he passed near one of the ranches that had been ransacked by the Nez Perce during their run for White Bird Canyon, the Norton Ranch at Cottonwood. Upon witnessing the destruction at the ranch, General Howard stated that these savages must be dealt with, swiftly. On June 25th, Howard and his Cavalry reached Grangeville. Interestingly, it was only when Howard got to Grangeville, that a party was sent into White Bird Canyon to bury the dead soldiers.

On June 29th, word was recieved that Chief Looking Glass, who had said that he would not support Chief Joseph and the other bands, was actually threatening to do just that. General Howard dispatched a force under Captain Stephen G. Whipple to the Clearwater Valley to keep Looking Glass from joining the fray.

On July 1st, General Howard had repositioned his forces to the other side of the Salmon River at the point where it angles west (just north of White Bird Canyon) to join the Snake River. On this same day, the Nez Perce crossed back to the eastern side of the Salmon at Craig's Ferry with the intention to loop back towards Norton's Ranch at Cottonwood. Howard, learning of this on July 4th, attempted to recross the Salmon to no avail. The swift current in the area where he attempted to cross thwarted his efforts to get back onto the same side as the Nez Perce. This led Howard to start out on a "Horrible retrograde march" south, back to his original fording spot on the Salmon.

Also on July 1st, Captain Whipple reached an area between Clear Creek and the South Fork of the Clearwater River, near where the Middle and South Forks of the Clearwater converge. Whipple's intentions were to attack Looking Glass' village of eight lodges, in this area, and to arrest the Chief. This area near the confluence of the Middle and South Forks of the Clearwater River were within the boundaries of the reservation.

Upon arriving at the village, Whipple was met by one of Looking Glass' men, Peopeo Tholekt. Whipple demanded to speak with Looking Glass and Tholekt demanded that Whipple and his men leave, as they did not want any war. Whipple charged across Clear Creek towards Looking Glass' tipi with 3 other men, however, there was a shot fired into the village from the one of his troops on the otherside of the creek.  At the sound of the shot, Whipple and the other officers wheeled their horses around to rejoin the rest of their compliment, back across the creek and upon a hill. Soldiers fired from their position on the hill into the village, killing many women and children. As a line of mounted skirmishers advanced down the hill towards the village, they spotted a herd of horses to their right and took the opportunity to capture these horses, however, they soon realized that they had travelled a dangerous distance from the rest of the soldiers and were effectually cut off from them. The rest of the detachment advanced into the village and attempted to burn all of the tipiis, however, only two where reported to have been burned. Many of the band, including Looking Glass, escaped the rampage at the village. The only "prisoners" captured in the melee were the horses. In the aftermath of the Attack on Looking Glass, there were 4 Nez Perce killed and several wounded, while there were no casualties on the Calvalry.

The attack galvanized Looking Glass' idea to join the other Non-Treaty Nez Perce in their flight from the U.S. government.

There are three more battles within Idaho as the Nez Perce flee towards Montana. The next battle is again at Norton's Ranch at Cottonwood on July 4th, where  Whipple's forces end up after their attack on Looking Glass. This battle is with White Bird and Joseph as they travel east towards the Clearwater River. One noteworthy aspect of this battle is that the first officer-casualty of the war occurs here with the death of Lieutenant Rains. The Nez Perce leave this battle field and head east towards the South Fork of the Clearwater River, attacking farms and ranches all along the way and burning many of the structures that they encounter.

The Clearwater Battle on July 11th and 12th was fought by the combined bands of nontreaties as Looking Glass joins White Bird and Joseph. The Clearwater Battle was the first time that artillery is used in the war against the Nez Perce. Three Howitzers and two Gatlings, of General Howard's artillery batteries (having finally crossed the Salmon River to fight the Nez Perce for the first time) were used from a bluff above the Nez Perce camp, located where Cottonwood Creek converges with South Fork of the Clearwater River.  Also, Captain Evan Miles joins the fray during this battle. The casualties on the U.S. side were 15 dead and 25 wounded, as the casualties on the Nez Perce side numbered 4 dead and 6 wounded. The Nez Perce warriors, after overrunning the artillery, escaped to the north to join up with the rest of the Nez Perce who had already struck camp and headed north. The massive battle was an utter failure for the U.S. military.

The last battle within Idaho was on the Weippe Prairies at Kamiah, Idaho. Howard and his men had caught up to the fleeing Nez Perce on July 13th as the Nez Perce decended a bluff leading out onto the Weippe Prairies. Howard ordered artillery to advance and open fire on the tribesmen as he decended the bluff with his cavalry. This maneuver drew the first shots from the Nez Perce. In the midst of the battle, it was impairetive that the cavalry cross the Middle Fork of the Clearwater, but could not do so. The running battle across the Weippe Prairie ended without casualties on either side. The Nez Perce were now on their way to Montana via Lolo Pass.

To have simply named this article "Fort Assiniboine" would have been too ambiguous, as there is another Fort Assiniboine further north in Canada. This is the story of the U.S. Ft. Assiniboine near Havre, Montana. Most of my research is simply looking for articles and references to Fort Assiniboine and my realization of the two different forts occurred to me when reading an entry in Father Pierre Jean DeSmet's journals about his description of Ft. Assiniboine and it didn't describe the one near Havre. Father DeSmet (of historical importance to the Bitterroot Valley) was describing lakes and streams and large mountains....describing the second oldest fort in Alberta, Canada.

The namesake of Fort Assiniboine is a quite remarkable tribe of the Great Sioux Nation. Some times referred to as the Assnipaw, the Ojibwa word for Stone Sioux, primarily because they would use fire-heated stones to boil water for cooking meat . The Assiniboine were found in the vast Great Northern Prairies of North America.

 They were allies and trading partners with the Cree, often warring alongside the Cree in their battles against the Gros Ventre (pronounced gro-von) and later the Blackfeet. Ironically, the Assiniboine now share Fort Belknap Reservation with the Gros Ventre in North Central Montana.

During the expedition, Corp of Discovery, led by Lewis and Clark, there were rumors that the Assiniboine were a hostile people and the Corp made every effort to avoid these people, and never encountered them during their expedition. Later in history, it was discovered that the Assiniboine were not as hostile as once believed and became great trading partners with the Europeans that were moving into the area.

The following is the story of the large fort that was named in their honor, Fort Assiniboine.

During railroad expansion in the 1870s many Lakota Sioux fought the survey and construction crews that were found in the Black Hills area of the Dakotas. The Lakota had defeated the Cheynne in 1776 and had taken the land known as the Black Hills. The Black Hills were very sacred ground for the Lakota and the "white man's" trespasses were not welcome.

During the economic Panic of 1873, the U.S. Government sent General George A. Custer and the U.S. 7th Cavalry to the Dakotas as a deterrent to the Lakota attacks. The first clash in what would become the Black Hills War occurred on August 4th, 1873. This is were history gets a little fuzzy, because it was Gen. Custer that discovered gold in the Black Hills, in 1874, during an expedition and while under different auspices. This discovery led the U.S. to attempt a purchase of the Black Hills, which the Lakota refused and this was the beginning of the Black Hills War.

General Custer and the U.S. 7th Cavalry were completely defeated by the Lakota at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25th, 1876.

The following year, near the Milk River in North Central Montana, a massive fort "rose out of the ground."

Fort Assiniboine was constructed as a result of the devastating loss at the Battle of The Little Bighorn.

Chief Sitting Bull, the spiritual leader of the Lakota Sioux that led the attack at Little Bighorn, had fled to the Cypress Hills just over the Canadian border, to hide from the repercussions that were sure to follow the defeat of the 7th Cavalry. The U.S. Cavalry needed to construct a large fort to thwart any attack that Sitting Bull may engage in. The fort was also part of General William Sherman's vision of a line of forts along the Northern and Southern borders of the United States.

The fort was constructed on the edge of what is now The Rocky Boy Reservation (Chippewa Cree). Indians in the area were so impressed by the speed with which the soldiers, led by Colonal Broadwater, were fabricating bricks on the spot to building the structures, that they described it as the fort "that rose out of the ground." Over a four year period, 104 buildings were constructed on Fort Assiniboine, under the direction of L.K. Devlin, a civilian architect hired by the U.S. Government.

Fort Assiniboine was the largest post in the U.S. at the time of its construction. It also was constructed without a perimeter wall, unlike the other frontier posts. The reason for this was that Fort Assiniboine was an Offensive fort and not a Defensive fort. At it's peak, Fort Assiniboine was home to 36 officers and 720 enlisted.

Of those enlisted men of the fort, were two units of the 10th Cavalry, known as the "Buffalo Soldiers". The 24th and 25th units were stationed at Fort Assiniboine between 1895 and 1897. These "black" soldiers had been given their name by local Indians who referred to their curly hair and likened their fighting abilities to that of the sacred buffalo.

The First Lieutenant in charge of the Buffalo Soldiers was also the most famous military man to ever serve at Fort Assiniboine, John J. Pershing, also known as "Black Jack", a nickname given to him later while teaching at West Point, it is a softer version of the more bigoted moniker that he was originally given.

While at Fort Assiniboine it has been written that Pershing showed his superior marksmanship while on many hunting expeditions in the region, taking impossible shots at the local Prong Horn (antelop) and killing them with one shot. During his orders at the fort, Pershing's only expedition in the Indian Wars was to round up a renegade band of Chippewa Cree that had been spotted in the area of Great Falls, Montana and leading them back to Canada. In June 1897, Pershing was assigned to West Point as an assistant instructor in Tactics. He was not a popular officer there because the cadets thought his discipline was too strict. John J. Pershing went on to become the highest ranking officer in U.S. military history. His appointment to General of The Armed Forces during World War I was a specially designed rank, a Gold Five Star which has never been achieved before or since.

Another important reason for the construction of Fort Assiniboine was the Nez Perce. The Nez Perce, led by Chief Joseph, were trekking their way across Oregon, Idaho and Montana to escape to Canada after the Battle of Canyon Creek, where they had defeated Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis.

On September 30th, 1877, the same year that construction started on Fort Assiniboine, The Nez Perce, camped out in the Bears Paw Mountains near Fort Assiniboine, spotted their pursuer, Colonel Nelson Miles. Without enough time to retreat, but enough time to fortify, the Nez Perce prepared to battle Miles' forces. The outcome of this battle, The Battle of the Bears Paw, was Chief Joseph's surrender and Chief White Bird's fleeing with 50 Nez Perce to Canada.

At the end of this battle, Chief Joseph handed his Winchester rifle to Colonel Miles and is quoted as saying: "I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

After the Surrender of Chief Joseph and a majority of the Nez Perce, Fort Assiniboine's mission included, not only the threat from Chief Sitting Bull, but also the threat of Chief White Bird and a hand-full of Nez Perce.

Today there isn't much left of Fort Assiniboine. In 1916 a portion of it was ceded to the Rocky Boy Reservation and its buildings were torn down. A larger portion was ceded to Hill County Montana as part of the 10,000 acre Beaver Creek Park, the nation's largest county park. The few remaining buildings on the post are under the use of the Montana State University system as an agriculture experimentation facility. Tours are rare, but I am planning to see those buildings someday.

The plight of the Nez Perce is an excellent segway to my next blog which will also tie my Bitterroot heritage to that of Havre. Be on the look out for my Nez Perce blog.

This week's blog is about bringing back a piece of history to the forefront of Montana's agriculture.

The idea of this blog came from the rising costs of diesel fuel.

Travelling downthe highways and interstates of Montana, motorists will notice a lot of diesel powered pick-ups in this state. The diesel engine has finally come into its own, with advances in turbos and electronic control. The diesel engine is also a more efficient, more powerful and longer lasting engine than its gasser counterparts. The efficiency comes from its combustion type, compression (no spark), thus burning the fuel under optimum conditions. The power comes from that same reason, more efficient. The longevity comes from the fact that these engines produce their power and torque at lower RPMs, lessening the wear and tear on the moving parts. Diesel fuel is also a positive reason to buy a diesel powered vehicle. Diesel fuel is obtained after the first step in the process towards making regular gas, thus it is often cheaper than regular gas. There are two types of diesel fuels available at the pump, diesel #1 and diesel #2. Normally it is fine to run on diesel #2, as it is cheaper and does provide plenty of cetane for power. However, in the winter months, when the temperatures fall below freezing, diesel #2 tends to gel and cannot be picked up by the fuel pump. In mid-autumn, manufactures begin mixing #1 and #2 to eliminate this phenomenon and the prices tend to rise for the winter months. We have started to see that increase in the prices of our diesel fuel here in Montana.

Because of this increase, I decided that I needed to resurrect my gasser Bronco in Helena this last weekend. I towed it back to Havre using my Powerstroke, because if I had reversed the roles of tower and towee, my Bronco would have died along that 200 mile journey. Before I even got back to Havre, I made the decision to take this opportunity to have a photo-op with the greatest diesel-powered machine in the state of Montana (and if this blogger program is good, you'll see that machine in the photo above).

This titan of the ag world is the largest tractor ever built for ag purposes, the Big Bud 16-V 747. The "16-V" comes from the two V-8 Detroit Diesel engines that have been bolted together for the power plant in this behemoth. It was built by the Big Bud farm equipment manufacturer, subsidiary of Wagner Equipment,  in Havre in 1978 for the Rossi Vineyards in California. It entered the record books on the day it started to pull it's 100 foot ripper plow to depths of 4 feet in the hills of California. It's 900 horses and "power-shift" transmission, made short work of the ripping that it did all throughout the '80s. In 1992 the world's largest ag tractor was retired and came home to Montana, only to be put out to pasture along with many of its counterparts from the Big Bud Tractors Inc.

Big Bud started in 1961 and was strictly designed for customizing tractors and building full custom tractors. Big Bud tractors were shipped as far away as South Africa, Australia and Iran. The company went bankrupt in the early 1980s and was purchased by the Messner Brothers of Havre. However, the company still faltered and shut it's doors in 1992. Today, Big Buds can still be seen at work in the fields because of the Big Equipment company that refurbishes them, cannibalizing the older ones to keep the others operating. 16-V 747 was restored by them in the late 1990s and sits on their lot just outside of Havre.

The question is; what do you do with a piece of Montana agricultural history? It is far too impressive to be put in a museum and far too important to the people of Montana to be shipped away to any ag museum, as there aren't any in Montana. Well, the 16-V 747 may once again become a living piece of history and may gain the national recognition that it deserves. The word around Havre is that this record-setting tractor may regain it's glory through the industry of Biodiesel. What better "poster-child" for Biodiesel, than the world's largest ag tractor?

The biodiesel industry is already making great strides in this state. There are plans for the largest biodiesel facility to be constructed in Big Sandy and marketing for that company is already looking at 16-V 747 (747) to be used in promoting the use of biodiesel. 747 has a 1000 gallon capacity and can produce 900 horsepower. If it can be put back to work, running on the renewable resource of biodiesel, it would be very impressive and become another record setter. I see it as the greatest opportunity for the greatest ag tractor to stay in Montana and promote biodiesel and the new outlook on biodiesel powered machinery.

It will be nice when biodiesel becomes mainstream, as it is cheaper and friendlier to the environment and 747 will be there to show how great this fuel is.

I started writing about the Wahkpa Chu'gn buffalo jump to my niece in Huson who loves this archaeological site (she also loves CSI, so archaeology and anthropology are right up her alley). As I was researching the buffalo jump, I realized that it really is quite extraordinary and I should blog about it as well to explain the Hi-line, before the railroad.

Archaeologists have surmisedthat Wahkpa Chu'gn had been used as far back as 2000 years ago as a buffalo jump and Native American camp site.

The Milk River basin has cut a 50-100 foot deep ravine through the prairies of Northern Montana over its 65 million years of existence. The Milk River gets it's name from the "rock flour" that flows within it. Rock flour is formed from glacial erosion as glaciers crush rock into a fine clay-like consistency. In the journals of Lewis and Clark, Meriwether Lewis writes: "the water of this river possesses a perculiar whiteness, being about the colour of a cup of tea with the admixture of a tablespoonfull of milk. From the colour of its water we called it Milk river."

Along the Milk River there are many different types of rock formations. Among the most common formations are the Hoodoo formations. Hoodoos are created by differential resistance to erosion, different hardness values of the rock or sandstone being eroded. Hoodoos resemble the natural bridge formations of the Moab in Utah. Eye of the Needle and Table Rock are Hoodoos. There are many cliffs, overhangs and natural bridges along the Milk River basin due, in part, to the Hoodoo formations.

The Great Plains of North America are the backdrop for the Milk River. Interestingly, in Canada the vast grass lands are called prairies, whereas in the U.S. they are called plains. Northern Montana shares a similarity with Canada in calling them prairies, as well. Some of the largest wild prairies can be found in Northern Montana.

The Great Plains extend from Western Texas, north, into Canada. Eastern Montana is, essentially, all plain and prairie. On these prairies roamed vast numbers of wild bovine known as bison. In North America there are two species of bison, the Woods Bison, found in parts of Oregon and Washington, and the Plains Bison. The Plains Bison is the smaller of the two and, as the name suggests, roamed the Great Plains. It is widely believed that the current North American bison replaced a much larger cousin, the Long-horned Bison, 10,000 years ago. The Long-horned Bison became extinct due to changes in the ecosystem along with the advent of a new hunting technology in the form of the Clovis point spear. Clovis points were discovered in near the town of Clovis, New Mexico in 1929 and gave rise to the notion that this spear led to the extinction of the long-horned bison.

Though its cousin had become extinct, the Plains Bison lived on, prosperously. Native Americans had learned to use fire to fertilize the plains and thus the bison thrived. Before the introduction of horses, the Native Americans would group together and force herds of bison through hand-built rock chutes towards cliffs to harvest the valuable meat, hide and bones. The bison has often been referred to as the "Indian's supermarket".

In the area that became Havre, Montana, that "supermarket" came in the form of a cliff along the Milk River that goes by the name Wahkpa Chu'gn. Discovered in 1962 by an amature archaeologist, John Brumley, the Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump is the largest and most intact buffalo jump in North America. The site has been excavated by the Milk River Archaeological Society and has also become a major tourist stop in Havre. Evidence of mulitiple tribes and their camps have been discovered in the area, indicating that the buffalo jump had been used by three Indian nations, the Besant, Avonlea and Saddle Butte Peoples, over the course of hundreds of years.

To get to the site and museum, you have to drive through a shopping mall parking lot, around the back of the mall and down the banks of the Milk River. I find it rather ironic that the "white man" has built their shopping center on top of an ancient Native American "shopping center".  "Wahkpa Chu'gn, serving the needs of locals for 2000 years."

Most Montanans have heard of the term "The Hi-line", however some might not realize that it isn't just U.S. Highway 2 that designates where the Hi-line begins. Hwy. 2 also shares a path with an even more important road; the historical Great Northern Railroad, James J. Hill's vision of railway dominance.

An economic depression in the U.S. between 1873 and 1877 led to the bankruptcy of several railways including the St. Paul and Pacific railway. The tenacious James Hill, studied this railway for a couple of years before deciding that it would be a profitable venture to obtain the StP&P railroad. So, in 1879 James Hill, along with partners Norman Kittson, Donald Smith, George Stephen and John S. Kennedy, purchased the StP&P railroad. After obtaining trackage rights from Northern Pacific Railroad and a vast expansion, the new railway became St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Co. The first order of business for the new railroad was to expand and upgrade it even more.

Under the leadership of James Hill, the StPM&M prospered from a net worth of $728,000 in 1880 to a whopping $25,000,000 in 1885. By 1887, the StPM&M had expanding into Fargo, North Dakota with its own tracks, paralleling the Northern Pacific railway which it previously leased. By 1889 the StPM&M was into Montana with its own rails.

A decade prior to Hill's expansion across North Dakota, the NP railroad encountered hostile raids by Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne as the railway was expanding across their homelands in this region. The attacks on survey teams and construction crews were so prevalent that the company asked for assistance from the Army for protection. Between 1873 and 1875 George Custer was assigned to several posts in the Dakota Territory and charged with protecting these survey teams and construction crews. In 1876 General George Custer was defeated and killed by the Lakota at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in Montana.

Hill's expansion not only had to contend with these same attacks, but he had to contend with a congressional law that stated he could not build across reservations. A bill that would have allowed him land grants on Indian land was vetoed by President Grant. Grant's successor, Grover Cleveland, however overturned that veto and the bill went through and Hill continued his empire building and is quoted saying; "What we want is the best possible line, shortest distance, lowest grades and least curvature we can build. We do not care enough for Rocky Mountain scenery to spend a large sum of money developing it." This was 1889, when James Hill became known as the "Empire Builder" and decided that his railroad would become the first transcontinental railroad built without public funding and few land grants. The StPM&M had now become The Great Northern Railway.

Hill's decision to build his railway north of his competitor, Northern Pacific, proved to be the saving grace of the expedition. His promise for a cost effective "straight line, low gradient" railway came to fruition when principle engineer John F. Stevens, under the direction of Blackfeet guide, Coonsah, discovered and surveyed a pass over the mighty Continental Divide. This pass came to be known as Marias Pass. Marias Pass proved ideal for the construction of the railroad with its gentle grade and wide open valley. The railroad follows the North Fork of the Flathead River through this pass. The construction through the pass started August 1, 1890 from Fort Assiniboine near what would become Havre and didn't require much excavation and bridge construction as did the Northern Pacific line as it crossed the Continental Divide. By 1893 The Great Northern Railway was complete and stretched from Minneapolis to Seattle.

A short 6 months after the completion of The Great Northern Railway, the country was hit with another economic depression. Hill's business savvy saved his railroad from going bankrupt during this time and The Great Northern was the only transcontinental railroad to do so. Among the bankrupt railroads was Northern Pacific, which Hill purchased in 1901 with the help of his friend, J.P. Morgan. Another railroad that caught the eye of the "Empire Builder" was the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. Unfortunately this Midwestern railway also caught the eye of Union Pacific president, Edward Harriman who was financial backed by William Rockefeller. Harriman, quietly started buying up stock in Great Northern in hopes of acquiring the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. Hill discovered this and contacted Morgan who, in turn, told his men to buy "everything" sending Great Northern's stocks soaring to $1000 a share. This action nearly caused another stock market panic. In the end, Hill retained control of Great Northern lines, Northern Pacific lines and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy lines.

Even though James Hill owned both railways, Great Northern and Northern Pacific tried to merge 3 times without success until their final attempt, starting in 1955, long after Hill was laid to rest in 1912,  the U.S. Supreme Court approved the the merger in 1970. The merger became Burlington Northern. The Burlington Northern Railroad merged again with Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railway in 1995 creating the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. By 2005, the railway's name was official shortened to the acronym BNSF Railway Co. that now exists today. 

BNSF's crown jewel rail line is Hill's legacy, the northern most transcontinental railroad in the U.S. affectionately known as the Hi-Line. This is still the express railway from the port in Seattle to the Eastern U.S.  At the midway point of this line is the city of Havre, eighth largest city in Montana. James Hill wanted people living along his railway, thus he sold immigrants land along the Hi-Line. Havre sprang up as a result, although the community was formerly known as Bullhook Bottoms, the community was renamed after a town in France, Le Havre. Havre is now the largest city in northern Montana and serves as the medical and business center for the Montana Hi-Line. The rail line that started it all is also the largest employer in the region and its Montana Division repair facility is located in Havre.

There is a buzz here in Havre that says that congress may pass a bill taking control of the trackage rights and opening up the Hi-line to any and all traffic that may wish to use it. The wokers at the rail yard say that there already is too much traffic and too many delays in transcontinental shipments to allow any more. There is talk of building a parallel line to handle the projected increase in rail traffic. Some of the reasons for the need to increase rail traffic is the increase in coal mining and wheat harvesting. There is just not enough trasportation for either product.

 An interesting story that I ran across tells of an 18 mile spur line that runs from Havre down to Big Sandy. The headline read "Critics Wonder About Future of Line." In it, rancher, Jon Tester (shortly before becoming Senator) talks about his concern over the line that seems to have become a storage for thousands of flat cars. Tester says "When you start pulling out infrastructure that has been there for over a hundred years, thats a negative direction to be heading."

There has been talk of building an ethanol plant near Big Sandy and the spur line there should be seen as a positive reason to build the plant. Again, the buzz word at MSU-Northern is that this plant will be the largest of its kind to also produce Biodiesel. Which would also benefit BNSF if they see the potential in operating there locomotives with biodiesel, as they are already the single largest consumer of fuel in the U.S. (the U.S. Navy is the highest consumer of fuel when fully deployed during wartime.)

That is the beginning of Havre and the Hi-line and the railroad that started it all. What the future brings to the area is up to state and federal government. The potential for economic gains as well as "green" fuel and rail commerce are tremendous. These are exciting times for the Hi-Line.

Having only been a resident of Havre for a couple of months I find this agrarian community rather homey. I am very pleased with my decision to attend "Harvard on the Hill" a.k.a. MSU-Northern. Living in this proletariat community is like stepping back in time. I'm not saying that to be critical, but to show my amorous respect of the simply life. Everyone here smiles and looksyou in the eye and those are traits that are not seen much anymore in other parts of the state.

Several years ago, I would have never put much thought to obtaining a degree in Montana. After all, there are better schools out there for Business and Diesel Technology. The most important thing to me was the prestige of the school that I would attend. Now I realize that prestige is not everything. I probably wouldn't have been as comfortable at schools such as Pepperdine or the University of Fresno as I am in Havre.

Havre also offers me an opportunity of reversion to my linage in Montana. My great-grandfather homesteaded to Havre along with many other Honyockers that were inticed into the area by James Hill's railroad, the railroad that gave the Northern tier of the U.S. its moniker, Hi-Line. Havre is the central point for the rail line that runs from Minnepolis to Seattle. My great-grandfather immigrated from Germany to Minnesota and from there to Havre in the 1920s, where he purchased 3 sections of land to raise ovis aries, widely known as "praire maggots" or Suffolk Sheep.

As I become more involved in my reversion, I will post more blogs about this unique Montana city and my involvement in it. For now I will end this edition with a couple of interesting facts about Havre.

Havre's original name was Bullhook Bottoms. There was a literal underground community in Bullhook Bottoms that played host to Havre's seedy past including speak-easys from the prohibition and an opium den.

General John "Black Jack" Pershing spent one year at Fort Assiniboine (just south of Havre) as a Lieutenant. Pershing went on to become the highest ranking Army officer in history. Fort Assiniboine was also the largest Army post in the U.S. at the time of its construction, just after the surrender of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce.