"As far as the recession, it hasn't really hit here because our recession hit back in the eighties when the smelter closed."
– Sally Ralston, co-director of the Copper Village Museum and Art Center and a 31-year resident of Anaconda, Montana
From Missoula to Butte, I decided to take Montana Highway 1 instead of Interstate 90.
Compared to many places in the country, it seemed almost unfairly beautiful – all the multi-colored (including
pink!) granite walls, water falls and sparkling Georgetown Lake.
Driving the route just before sunset, I finally felt like Montana smacked me in the face, as if to say: “Here you are, back in the garden, finally.”
Had I not just
spent the night in Phillipsburg, I’d have stopped
somewhere to camp.
But several miles down the highway, I got to Ananconda, and instantly fell in love… which sort of doesn’t make sense… The whole town — founded by copper magnate Marcus Daly — was constructed around a humongous smelter. Droves of working class families had their lives wrapped up in, hanging from a thread and sometimes destroyed by the profitability and work conditions at the plant, which was finally closed in 1980 because of dwindling copper ore.
There was a sort of depression and mass exit at that time. But in its heyday, Anaconda was quite the bustling city, with lots of cool buildings and its own silver screen theater.
As I drove through, I estimated based on the traffic, number of businesses, size of the public buildings and high school, there were
probably 40,000 or so in the city.
I was surprised to learn it’s now less than 8,000!
Another thing I noticed right away was the prominence of the Catholic cathedral and how tightly together all the houses are built. They were constructed by immigrants and migrants from the east coast who came to work at the processing plant, which explains why this rural Montana town has such a funky personality — as if it were a misplaced east coast city.
Only the stack remains from the smelting plant. At 585 feet, though, it’s a salient reminder.
In town, I went through a great exhibit of quotes and pictures that fleshed out the story of the miners’ lives.
This house is for sale:
And here’s one with some copper detailing:
The cathedral (one of several cool looking churches I didn’t make it inside):
And to keep things thematic, a little Americana action:
It could easily have become a ghost town as several former mining cities around it, but a handful of fortuitous circumstances, including being named the seat of Granite County, have saved it.
Nearby ghost town Granite was once the largest silver-producing mine in the States. I drove my RV up the twisting, muddy mountain road and probably made it at least 3/4 of the way there, but I didn't have a map or cell phone service and it was raining and darkness was approaching, so I turned around. Part of me wanted to camp there for the night, but how creepy would it be to be stranded in or near a ghost town?
The layout of Phillipsburg reminds me of some small European towns I've been to.
This is the Episcopal church, built by one of four 'dueling' denominations that erected buildings within years (and blocks) of each other during the mining days.
This window is inside the courthouse.
In town there is a huge tourist-friendly candy store.
View of the old bi-metallic mill, seen from the small ghost town of Kirkville.
To get a sense of the permanence of any civilization, one could sit here in complete silence and watch the clouds go by over the lifeless towers, as they have for more than a hundred years, now.
Headed back to town from Kirkville.
My first taste of Idaho was on a family vacation to Orofino in July, 1990.
My dad took us here in his blue two-ton van without AC to visit a church that had asked him to consider becoming the pastor.
I remember the town in warm dusty colors, with a rustic feel, kind people, gravel roads that teetered on the edge of ravines, deer, snakes and howling coyotes.
Soon we headed back to our lives on a different planet in Seattle and the trip became a hazy memory.
I decided to journey back to to see if my memories were still accurate.
For the most part, they are.
My next trek, just an hour or so later, was up a steeper, scarier grade — eight miles of tight twists and turns that really put Rocinante to the test.
I arrived in the small, seemingly forlorn town of Weippe ("Wee-IPE") in time for its Camas Festival – a small but lively celebration of the blue flowered plant that has long been a staple of the Nez Perce diet.
There weren't any plants to eat at the festival, but plenty of native dance demonstrations, speeches and a play.
In Weippe, I also visited my fifth Idaho museum!
They've all focused on Nez Perce culture and the Lewis and Clark expedition, and each has been excellently kept and curated.
Weippe's stood out for its outdoor murals and a walkway detailing native plants (which makes the trip worth it whether or not you arrive by closing time).
I'm getting a kick out of how closely I've mirrored the Lewis and Clark trail.
When they arrived here in the mid-1800s and saw the field of camas flowers, which blooms for just a couple weeks at the end of May, they nearly mistook it for a sea.
Wishful thinking, probably.
When I get on Highway 12, I'll be paralleling part of the Nez Perce retreat of 1877, another terrifying and poignant journey.
"We need to get back to our grass roots and be thankful that we are American in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We need to get unified and put a lot of thought into that because there are a lot of people that died for us."
— LaLisa Thomason, city clerk and lifelong resident of Craigmont, Idaho, population 556.
This weekend in Colbert, Wash. (about 15 miles north of Spokane), I spent a few minutes talking with Ann Kirk about horse behavior. Kirk, a horse trainer and Elk resident, is working with 30 quarter horses for an upcoming event at a ranch in Colbert.
Her method focuses on teaching a horse to control its emotions so it will pause and face what it is afraid of rather than running away.
"From as far back as I remember, I always heard horses were just a money pit. I wanted to learn to make enough money working with them, to keep them," she says of getting into the trade.
The horse industry has been hit particularly hard in recent years, with increasing feed prices, among other things.
It's nice to see horse lovers can still make a living.
"Most of the kids I hang out with and am around confuse being American with what the administration is doing. And that's not really what being American is. You can question your administration without being unAmerican."
Adam Miller, 23, at Miller's One Stop convenience store in Elk, Wash.
For picturesque Americana, you've come to the right place.
Just make sure you can handle the wind!
Here's a "Where's Waldo" shot for you guys:
Can you spot my RV?
What about all the flags?
They're part of a 'just 'cause' program that runs May through September, explains Mary Graves, Ritzville Chamber of Commerce administrator.
Graves and her husband, Terry Kaas, moved from Bremerton, Wash. to this town of less than 2,000 residents, three years ago. Their goal was to retire, but they ended up taking jobs in the community.
A former marketing professional, Graves sees a future of increased tourism for Ritzville due to its proximity to Interstate 90 and role as eastern Washington's wheat and grain transport hub.
"I think it is on the verge of itself. I think in the next few years it's just going to blossom," she says.