Mine Pits and Battlefields
Montana is rich in Silver, Gold, Sapphires, Garnets, Amethyst and other minerals. There are mines scattered everywhere. On our way to Butte we passed a small town called Anaconda. I thought that maybe there might be a few snakes in the area? But I wasn't going to be getting out of the truck to find out. Far off in the hills to the south of Anaconda you could see a very tall black sinister looking smoke stack. It is the smoke stack from a retired copper smelter. The locals refer to it as "the stack" (because that is what it looks like). The stack was constructed in 1918 for the Anaconda Copper mine. It stands 582.56 feet and is the tallest free standing masonry structure in the world!
As we arrived in Butte where we were spending the night, we were shocked to see a huge open mine pit right at the edge of town. In fact it looked like you could drive down main street and fall right into it, that is how close it looked. We spent the night at the KOA campground where the clerk confirmed with us that we were well over a mile high. My lungs could sure tell and I had to use my oxygen the whole time we were there. More interesting was what he told us when we asked about the mine pit. The mine is called the Berkley Pit and is 2000 feet deep and more than a mile wide. It has been closed for a few years, according to this young man, because of the toxic waste. So of course I had to google this to find out some more dirt on the whole dirty mine business in Butte. I found this on a site called www.slate.com I tried to shorten it up a bit but decided to just copy and paste the whole thing so you can understand the magnitude of the problem.
" The Berkeley Pit is a former open-pit copper mine in Butte, Montana—and one of the few places in the world where you can pay to see toxic waste.If you choose to pay the $2 admission to enter the viewing platform, you'll see a one-mile-long, half-mile-wide, 1780-foot-deep hole. Operating as a mine from 1955 to 1982, the pit is now filled with acidic water. Lurking within that water is a plethora of heavy metals and toxic chemicals, including copper, iron, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid. The iron-rich water near the surface is reddish, yielding to a vibrant lime-green hue not far below the surface, where copper concentrations are higher.The water level in the pit is constantly rising at the rate of roughly 0.7 feet per month. As of April 2012, the water level was 5,301.13 feet above sea level. At 5,410, the critical water level, pit water would contaminate the nearby ground water of the Butte valley, home to more than 30,000 people. Through ground water flows, such contamination could potentially spread down the Clark Fork River, the largest drainage in western Montana.
A water treatment plant was built in 2003 to prevent the Berkeley Pit water from ever reaching that critical level. The plant, which is visible next to the waterfall on the northeast rim of the pit, will begin to pump and treat pit water before it reaches the critical level, currently projected around 2022. Treated pit water will then either be used in Montana Resources' nearby mining operations, or discharged to Silver Bow Creek, the primary headwater creek of the Clark Fork River. Currently, the plant is used to capture and treat surface water flowing from the north of the pit, thus slowing the rate of rise. Interestingly enough, new fungal and bacterial species have been found to have adapted to the harsh conditions inside the pit. Intense competition for the limited resources caused these species to evolve the production of highly toxic compounds to improve survivability, some of which have been isolated from these organisms and show selective activity against cancer cell lines. Research into their potentially cancer-fighting powers continues."
Needless to say we did not go and tour or view the open pit. But the clerk was right when he said it was an interesting situation. I did not get any photos in Butte but can say that the KOA RV park was great as most of the KOA's are.
Custer's Last Stand
The next morning we took off with the destination of Hardin Montana in our plans. I was hoping to get down to some lower elevations. But there are so many hills and valleys in that part of Montana, that it really was hard to find somewhere less then 3000 feet. When planning for this trip I had suggested to Ray that we will be travelling so close to the Little Bighorn Battleground (AKA: Custer's Last Stand), that we rally should stop and check it out. He didn't sound interested or disinterested. But I kept bringing up the subject anyway. I had been there in 1989 and remembered it as a peaceful place. and somewhat "interesting" if you are into American History. Hardin is about 20 miles to the north of Crow Agency (where the battlefield is) so we had decided to go a bit closer to the battleground, so ended up camping in one of the nicest campgrounds yet, in Garryowen which is 5 minutes south. The couple who ran the campground were so friendly and everything was new and pin neat. They had RV or tenting spots and also some tiny cabins you could rent. We had no idea that this weekend (25th of June to be exact) is the 143 rd year anniversary of the Little Bighorn Battle. We were lucky that we were only spending one night or we would not have been able to get a site. As we were heading up to our spot, she gave us each a free ice cream bar. Apparently part of the celebration! All the campers were talking about the celebrations and reenactment of the great battle.
7th Ranch RV Campground
Once we were all settle in we took off back up the road to see what all the celebration was about. The site of the battle is on top of a hill and as you come up to it there is a gate. $25 a carload was the fee to get through the gate. I thought that Ray was not going to be happy about that, but this is the new Ray. He didn't bat an eye. LOL! I don't think that you want me to go into explaining the whole history of the Little Bighorn battle or not. Let's just say that, Lt Col Custer and about 260 of his men lost their lives in the battle on June 25, 1876. The battle was between United States Seventh Cavalry Regiment led by Custer, and the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes who were being lead by Chief Sitting Bull. The Lakota and other Plains Indians (yes that is what they are called down here,,,,not First Nations, Aboriginals or Indigenous) refer to the battle as the "Battle of the Greasy Grass". Weird name, but whatever. The battle took place over a five mile area with the "last stand" being at the top of the hill overlooking the valley. The grave markers in the below photo indicate where the bodies of Custer and some of his men were found. They are scattered here and there.
The last stand (and that storm brewing)
Custer's marker is the one with the black markings
Monument marking the last stand
On the grounds of National Memorial site is the Custer National Cemetery. This cemetery is not just for this particular battle. There are graves of known and unknown veterans of United States wars, including women and children from isolated frontier posts, Indian scouts, and Medal of Honor recipients. With the wind blowing over the grass, it was very peaceful there. Until the thunder, lightening and hail hit!
Custer National Cemetery
Yours truly beside monument in the cemetery
There was a museum and of course a gift shop as well at the site. I visited both. I didn't walk up to the area of the last stand as it was quite a hill up, and we all know how well I do on the hills and I had left my oxygen in the trailer. By the time we got back to our trailer (within half an hour) the rains had moved on and the sun came out. Strange weather here in Montana. Here is the last pic for this post. Ray with his phone on wifi, I bet he is looking up on the internet all the information on the Battle of Little Bighorn. What do you think?
Until next post.
Lori and Ray
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