Road Trip To The West; Part IX; Driving East On U.S. Route 2 Across Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota

The Minisdah Presbyterian Church in Chelsea, Montana.  This church, like other buildings along
U.S. Route 2, was sitting in the middle of nowhere.  Next to it is a Native American cemetery
with some unusual graves.  I couldn't tell whether or not this church is still in use.  It appears that
there has been some activity at the church but it looks to be abandoned. I like the monochrome
version of this image better.  I’ll post it when Monochrome Monday returns.
 (click any image to enlarge)

This post is a continuation of my 2024 road trip out to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks primarily to photograph grizzly bears and other large mammals.  However, along the way out and back, I planned my adventure to be able to stop at various places and photograph.  You can find Part I here, Part II here, Part III here, Part IV here, Part V here, Part VI here, Part VII here, Part VIII here, and a post about what gear I took and why here.

As we continued to drive in eastern Montana, we spotted this old church off to our north.  It was about a quarter mile from the highway, sitting in the middle of nowhere.  As we drove the dirt and gravel road to get closer to the church, we also saw a cemetery at the top of the hill beyond and to the right of the church.  We visited that first.

It turns out the cemetery is one with (mostly?) Native American graves.  On the many pf the headstones were Native American names, words and phrases along with anglicized names.  I suspect, however, everyone buried in the cemetery was Native American since the land is on a Native American reservation, the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.

In the southwestern United States, during my visits to various cemeteries, I found decorating graves for loved ones with artificial flowers and such a normal cultural tradition.  However, at this cemetery, I found the decorations to go far beyond just artificial flowers.  I found toys, colorful toy windmills, beer cans, books as well as other items left for the dead.  This has to be the most unusual cemetery I've ever visited across the United States.

Here are a couple of examples.

I thought this handmade headstone quite unique. I've never seen
anything quite like it.  Unfortunately, the name of the deceased
is not noted on the headstone but the dates of birth and death are.

This was a very sad grave.  The closer one is that of a 2-year-old boy.  You can see
his loved ones have left him toys of various types as well as a Bible to bring comfort.  Sad.

Along with the elaborately decorated graves, there were some that
were completely neglected, even without any type of identifier
of the individual resting below.

There was one grave that is the most unusual I've ever seen.  I am not writing about it here nor posting any images of it as it deserves its own post in the near future.  Stay tuned.

There is a well 'groomed' gravel road to the church from Route 2.  I suspect it is more to service
the cemetery than the church, which I'm not sure is used any longer.  The cemetery is up the hill
in the background.  I'll be writing another post highlighting the most unusual grave I've ever
encountered which was in this cemetery.  

Toward the end of our first day driving east it was getting to be late so we decided to find a hotel.  Finding a nice hotel can be a challenge on Route 2 as the towns are very small and not many hotel chains have properties in such small towns.  That said, we spent the evening and night in Glasgow, Montana and stayed at the Cottonwood Inn.  Very nice.  Recommended, if you are in eastern Montana.  They were reasonably priced and conveniently have a nice restaurant on the premises.  

The next morning we left Montana and proceeded east across North Dakota.  Both states have numerous small towns along U.S. Route 2 but, for the most part, the landscape is pretty flat and dotted with ranches and farms.  Very boring if you are looking for landscape images to make.

One of the things I noted was that there was a strong, persistent westerly wind that lasted from the time we left Bozeman until we reached Duluth three days later.  Did I mention a strong wind?  I thought about a wind like that in the winter during a snowstorm.  I can't imagine living there during a blizzard.  I admire those who deal with blizzard conditions.

We stopped in Williston, North Dakota for lunch.  Williston seems to be the center of the fracking industry.  However, it looks like most all of the companies that frack as well as support the industry are idle.  Approaching the city from the west on Route 2 had many, many companies with facilities but no one seemed to be working.   There was a lot of heavy equipment and work trucks idle.  I'm not sure why but I suspect the cost of fracking exceeds the potential profits of selling the products.  

Later that day we stopped in Minot to spend the night.  It is Minot that is the home of legendary Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe.  However, I believe Michigan and Maine both claim him and the legend as well.  You can decide where the old man and his ox are from.  You can read the Minot version on Wikipedia here.  I made few images of the display and we stayed nearby in probably the nicest Hampton Inn at which I have ever stayed.  It was right on the lake and had two restaurants on the property.  The food was excellent and the view was even better.  Best of all, the staff was better than any I can remember!  This was a good choice.

In downtown Minot, North Dakota, there is the famous Paul Bunyan and Babe The Blue Ox display.
Very cool!

The view from the hotel room.  Not bad.  This is an iPhone 14 Pro Max image.

From Minot we continued on Route 2 east.  We made a stop in Minnesota, however.  We drove south at Devil's Lake, MN to visit Fort Totten.  Fort Totten is an old, 19th century fort that in the early 20th century, was converted to a school for Native American children.  It remains largely intact as it was when it still was an operating school.  I thought it was very interesting and a comment on our historical treatment of indigenous peoples.  The school didn't seem bad and the effort seemed have been deemed helpful at the time, but I believe it could have been handled better.  But that was then and we think differently (and better) now.  But that is just me.

After returning to Route 2, we made a stop in Duluth.  It was in Duluth, at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant by the name of Uncle Louie's Cafe, that I felt I had my best meal of the entire trip.  Breakfast was excellent.  The coffee was excellent.  The staff was excellent and the prices were reasonable.  After breakfast, we drove to the waterfront and harbor area where we spent a few hours watching a few giant ships leave.

Uncle Loui's Cafe.  Kind of a "Hole-in-the-Wall" place from the outside,
but the food is the best so far on the entire trip.  The place was packed but
the wait staff were friendly, the service fast and everyone seemed to be
enjoying their breakfasts.  I normally don't buy mementos but I did buy
a mug from Uncle Louie's as a reminder of the place.

The Presque Isle leaves Duluth harbor traversing under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge constructed
between 1901 and 1905.  

These Great Lakes freighters are as long as U.S. Navy aircraft carriers!

A portion of the Duluth waterfront.  I enjoyed spending several hours in Duluth.

The next post will be the last highlighting the actual road trip.  From Duluth we traveled to Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP).  I found the UP a very desolate place with forest land everywhere yet the people were some of the nicest I have met in my journeys across the United States.  Next time.

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook  

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