One Park, One Museum, One Stamp at a Time
July 28, 2018 was finally the big day: our wedding! My wife and I got married in the University Chapel on campus of my alma mater, Gonzaga University. We had a beautiful reception in an old flour mill on the Spokane River. It was an amazing day and am opportunity to celebrate and catch up with friends and family.
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In July, I helped a friend move from the Ventura, CA area to Spokane. He took me to lunch at a restaurant in the Ventura harbor which happened to be right next to the Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center at Channel Islands National Park. I popped in to check out their exhibits and pick up their stamp. I didn't really visit the park itself so I did not do a full right up, but it did count toward my quest for 25 units this year so I am including my stop here. New Units Visited: 1
Channel Islands National Park Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 24 Total Units: 32 Bitterroot Valley, MontanaFollowing a nice morning at Big Hole National Battlefield, we hit the road for the final stretch of our adventure to our new home and lives in Spokane, WA. There were a few stops in Montana that were on my National Parks passport list but timing was not on our side. The Ravalli County Museum in Hamilton has passport stamps for 3 different National Historic Trails and looked really interesting on their website. Time was not on our side though, they are closed on Sundays and that happened to be the day we made our way through the area. There were also a couple of stamping locations near and in Missoula but we decided to pass on these as well. We had been on the road for almost a week at this point and were close enough to home that we made the choice to push to the finish line with just a few quick stops. I went to Catholic school my entire education, including Gonzaga University. This back ground has led to an interest in the history of early Catholic missionaries in the west and, in particular, the early Jesuits missionaries. St. Mary's Mission in Stevensville was just a 5 minute detour from our path so we stopped for a brief visit. The mission was founded by Father Pierre De Smet, for whom a building at Gonzaga is named. The mission is a quaint and beautiful little area nestled against a mountain backdrop. We took a quick walking tour of the historic buildings and displays they have up for guests. The mission was one of the earliest white settlements in Montana and the west. The mission worked with many of the native tribes of the area and still offers some services today. We next stopped in Missoula for lunch and a beer at Highlander Brewing. My fiance and I love to visit small breweries anywhere we travel and Missoula is a great beer town. Montana has a brewery passport program for anyone that plans on visiting the many breweries in the Big Sky State. Idaho Panhandle and SpokaneAfter lunch, we hit I-90 west in Missoula and headed for home. The drive between Missoula and Spokane features a brief visit to the Idaho panhandle. We stopped to stretch our legs and visit another brewery, Wallace Brewing Company. Wallace, ID, the self-proclaimed "Center of the Universe" is a historic mining town resting between the mountains in the Silver Valley. We had visited Wallace once years ago but were excited to wander the streets and visit WBC. Breweries in eastern Washington and north Idaho have a passport program called the Inland Northwest Ale Trail. I had started collecting these stamps during various visits to Spokane over the last few years and wanted to get the Wallace Brewing stamp as something of a welcome home present to myself. Home at lastA little over an hour later we were finally in Spokane and our new home! June and July were going to be major moments in our lives as we moved, looked for jobs, started school, and got married. I went to college in Spokane and my fiance had grown up there. We were excited to get to town and start our new lives and adventures together.
Our road trip north continued in the morning as we headed up US 93 from Salmon into the mountains and Montana. Lost Trail Pass marks the border between Idaho and Montana and the turnoff for Big Hole National Battlefield. I found the history of the battle and the Nez Perce Flight of 1877 fascinating. I have always felt that Native American history is ignored in most history classes and in our culture. I will detail a brief history of Big Hole as I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and learning the tragic history of the Nez Perce. In August of 1877, over 800 nimí·pu (Nez Perce) were camping along the Big Hole River in the Bitterroot Valley. The Nez Perce had crossed into Montana in hopes that the US military would not pursue them. The government had begun to force the Nez Perce out of their ancestral lands and the group at Big Hole had hoped to avoid being relocated to a reservation. The battle began when the US Army fired upon the sleeping camp, killing a number of women and children. The battle raged for 2 days with the nimí·pu having some success, they captured an Army Howitzer and attacked the soldiers. When the battle had ended, 60-90 nimí·pu had been killed along with over 30 soldiers. This was a major turning point for the Nez Perce. They no longer believed that peace could be reached with the Americans and they continued to flee the Army until October of 1877 when Chief Joseph surrendered. Big Hole NB was a beautiful place to visit. We stopped at the park early in the morning, just as it was opening for the day. The visitor center has great sweeping views of the river and the valley. The center had some nice displays and we watched a bit of the video (although I soon realized that it was the same video I had watch on YouTube the week before). From there, we decided to check out the hiking trails. They have a few trails at Big Hole and we walked 2 of them during our visit. The Siege Area Trail takes you up into the hills where the warriors besieged the soldiers. There is a monument to the Infantry soldiers and a nice little trail to an overlook that gives a great view of the valley and the camp area. We ran into out old nemesis, bees, so my fiance skipped the overlook and we decided not to risk the Howitzer site. We had a little more time so we also walked the Nez Perce Camp Trail. This was a peaceful, flat, hike along the river to the camp site. They have a number of tent poles recreated to show what the camp might have looked like at the time of the battle. Overall, Big Hole is a beautiful place and experience. I could really feel the sacred quality of the land and the spirits of those that died there. It is important to understand our history, especially the parts that are ugly and difficult to talk about. Big Hole is a must visit to help us all understand the loss and sacrifice peoples and cultures made while the US expanded west. New Units Visited: 3*
Big Hole NB - Nez Perce NHT - Lewis & Clark NHT Total Affiliated Areas This Year: 18 Total Units: 28 |
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