Blog entries for NoRtHeRnLiGhT

Nez Perce.

NoRtHeRnLiGhT

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, bett [...]

The Plight of the Nez Perce. (The opening battles)

NoRtHeRnLiGhT

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 [...]

Fort Assiniboine (Montana)

NoRtHeRnLiGhT

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 did [...]

Big Bud 16-V 747 and Biodiesel.

NoRtHeRnLiGhT

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 power [...]

Wahkpa Chu'gn (walk-pa-chew-gun)

NoRtHeRnLiGhT

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 Americ [...]

BNSF and Havre.

NoRtHeRnLiGhT

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, [...]

Life on the Hi-Line.

NoRtHeRnLiGhT

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.

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