with Maud & Me
Gates of the Mountains means more to me than just a fascinating boat tour that encompasses Lewis & Clark history, Indian history, commemoration of beyond brave fire fighters of the Mann Gulch fire, and unique geology. To me it also includes family history.
It was in this area, just a few short miles away, that two of my great great aunts and uncles ran the tollgate through the mountains in Prickly Pear Valley. The road was built on the route of an ancient Indian trail. It was initially constructed in 1865 but purchased by King & Gillette the following year. The tollgate was opened to fund and maintain the road. It became a gate through the mountains.
Floating on the Missouri River through the canyon is breathtaking. I try to imagine the first time those in the Lewis & Clark expedition saw that view. We walked in the area in which they camped. The formations along the canyon walls are much the same as they were all those years ago. Caves and holes are exposed in the limestone cliffs. Some of the strata seen in the walls are horizontal. Other areas of the walls were thrust into an almost vertical position due to pressure from lava beneath. We saw Indian hieroglyphics on the canyon wall, bald eagles on trees near the top of the canyon, unique formations in the shapes of animals, an osprey nest atop an 800 foot pinnacle, and the site of the Mann Gulch Fire. Our river guide was very informative of the history of the area.
Later that afternoon, we took Sieben Road and drove through Prickly Pear Valley to Silver City, the little place where my grandmother was born. We made a couple of photo stops through the valley where it is guessed the location of the tollgate stood. The valley is absolutely gorgeous. It was described in The Montana Post,
“All new comers to the Territory, via Benton, remark upon the surpassing beauty of the Little Prickly Pear Canyon, that enchanted spot, so long one of nature’s inner temples, and but recently entered by man. To the admiration which the scenery calls forth is added the pleasurable surprise which is elicited by finding it after traveling over one hundred miles of so uninteresting a wagon tract as the Benton road. At a time when they expected it not they seem to have “passed through Switzerland”, as some of them have pointedly expressed it. Gibson’s ranch at its mouth a combination of neatness and good cheer offers a convenient stopping place for all who would enjoy the pleasure of hunting and fishing amidst the grand towers and groves of this mountain nook.”
That is the same scenery Maud & Me saw. We stopped alongside the road and took some pictures of the canyon walls and scenery all around. Thinking back to another time, we could almost hear the echoes of freight wagons rolling through the valley and see passengers in coaches waving as they passed by on their way to Helena. I felt the same sentiments as those from years ago as given in The Montana Post article. Much as they looked back then, cliffs rise from the valley floor reaching for the sky. The road runs along the river that sings a mountain song as it leaps from rock to rock. The road rises out of the valley into flat land with expansive views in all directions. I can picture the Brannin exodus from New Mexico coming to an end as wagons, herds of goats, and other stock arrive at their Montana destination where my grandmother and another great uncle would be born. It was special to be able to share that vision and this fascinating land with Maud.
