The southeastern corner of Montana is where you'll find Carter County. Formed in 1917 with land taken from the southern portion of newly formed Fallon County (# 39), Carter County was named for Senator Thomas H. Carter, the first U.S. Representative from the State of Montana (1889-1891) and later two term Senator (1895-1901 and 1905-1911). The county covers 3,348 square miles and as of the 2010 U.S. Census, 1.160 people called it home, giving it a population density of .3 people per square mile. The 2013 census estimate revised the count upward by fourteen, the first increase in population the county has shown since 1930 when, at its height, the county boasted 4,136 residents.
The story goes that Claude Carter (and I haven't been able to establish any relationship between Claude and Thomas H.) was driving a wagon load of logs into Montana Territory, and bogged down in a creek. In order to get his wagon out of the muck, he had to unload the logs. While he probably used plenty of expletives in the process, he allegedly said, "Any place in Montana is good enough to build a saloon," and that's what he did. In time, other businesses grew up around his saloon and the location was called Puptown. When in 1885, the town's post office was created, the Postal Service assigned it the name Ekalaka, after the wife of a prominent local resident, Ijkalaka Russell. Ijkalaka was an Oglala Sioux woman, and her husband, David Russell was a scout who settled in the area near Carter's saloon, becoming one of the first homesteaders in the region.
The Carter County Court House
Ekalaka, Montana
When Fallon County was created in 1913, Ekalaka was chosen over Baker to be county seat. With the creation of Carter County, Ekalaka, the only town of any size in the new county, took the honor again. The white clapboard two-story court house was built in 1920. It's a pretty building that I found almost impossible to photograph. For one thing, it faces north, so you're always shooting into the sun under good conditions. For another, the grounds are beautifully landscaped with large trees hiding most of the structure, as you can see in my photograph above. The Missoulian, Lee Enterprises' newspaper for western Montana, recently did an extensive story on Ekalaka as part of their Montana A to Z series. E is for, what else, Ekalaka. The writer spent a lot of time with the Church of Hank Williams, a social group that meets in the garage of Ekalaka resident Duane McCord. Number one in their collection of twenty photographs of the area is of Montana Highway 7 looking north from town. Until recently, Highway 7 was the only paved highway leading to Ekalaka, and it ends right before the court house. No one drove to Ekalaka by accident (except, apparently, Claude Carter). Today, a paved road connects the town to the only other "town" of any size in the county, Alzada (2010 census count 29).
Founded in 1936, the Carter County Museum is the oldest county museum in the State of Montana. Located in downtown Ekalaka, it is definitely worth a visit. One more stop on the Montana Dinosaur Trail, the Museum has many paleontological exhibits, including a 6'6" tricerotops skull and a complete skeleton of an Anatotitan copei. That's duck-billed dinosaur to the rest of us--one of only five discovered to date in the US. Of course 75 million years ago, they ruled southeastern Montana. The Museum also has geological, natural history, and early settlers (including Native American) exhibits.
Driving down Montana Highway 7 toward town
Ekalaka, Montana
Eleven miles north of Ekalaka is one of the most fascinating landscapes in the state. Medicine Rocks has an interesting history as a state park. Originally land sacred to the Sioux nation who lived in the area, the "rocks" became part of a working cattle ranch in the 1880s. Carter County seized the land for back taxes during the dust bowl years of the 1930s, and turned 330 acres over to the State of Montana in 1957. The State has lost several battles with the people of Carter County in the years since. In 1991, for example, the State tried to close the park at night, but the people wouldn't have it. Then again in 1991, the state imposed a $3 entrance fee, which the locals successfully fought. The State responded by declaring the park "Primitive," which meant the State didn't have to do any maintenance. In the end, we all won as Montana license plates now have an opt-out State Parks fee included in the cost of our plates, and any Montanan has free access to any state park simply by being in a car that is so licensed. (And since it's an opt-out fee, most people don't bother.) An early white visitor to the region declared it to be "as fantastically beautiful a place as I have ever seen." That visitor later got, among other things, a Montana county named for him, a Nobel Peace Prize, and the Presidency of the United States. Yep, you know him as Teddy Roosevelt. Today there are picnic tables, twelve camp sites, and many, many rock formations to explore. Just please, don't carve your initials in the sandstone.
One of the sandstone formation in the park
Medicine Rocks State Park
BOYES is a roadside store, gas station, and post office in the southern part of Carter County. It was named for a Mr. Boyes, a resident of the area. The post office was established in 1910.Visit Montana has a bit more to say about the place, including Mr. Boyes' first name, Henry, and dates the post office from 1906. Nowhere have I been able to find a population for the community. And if you want to send them a note, the zip code for Boyes is 59316. Six miles further down the road you'll pass Hammond, "a cluster of cabins and a general store," again according to Chaney. I can't say I remember anything about Hammond either, and Visit Montana doesn't give us any more information. Finally, just before you leave Montana and cross into northeastern Wyoming, you'll go through the town of Alzada. Alzada I do remember, although with a population of 29, there's not much to note there other than the Sinclair Station on the north side of the highway and the Stoneyville Saloon on the south side. The saloon proudly offers "Cheap Drinks" and "Lousy Food." Don't ask me, they put it on their sign. Alzada was originally named Stoneyville, but when they got their post office, it turned out that there was already a Stoneyville, Montana, so the town was renamed for the wife of one of the residents. You can turn north at Alzada and follow Montana Highway 323 for seventy-one miles to get back to Ekalaka--a long way to go to pay your taxes or license your truck. If you turn south, on the other hand, onto Montana 326, you're less than two miles from Wyoming, and only 41 miles from Devil's Tower. But if you do that, you're definitely leaving Montana.
Wyoming State Line on US 212
Southeast of Alzada, Montana
No comments:
Post a Comment