It all started in Missoula, at the Festival of the Book. I had to sit through an hour of slam poetry, so it quickly became Festival of the Bar.
The next day, I saw the Emu burger.
Then, I entered Beef Country.
Beef Country is also Nuclear Warhead Country-- The United States keeps 500 Minutemen III thermonuclear warheads buried underground outside airforce bases in North Dakota, Wyoming, and Great Falls, Montana. The crazy thing? The silos are 1/4 mile off the road. I walked up. Apparently the fences have sensors that trigger a full aerial and ground response, if you shake them hard enough. I didn't.
Beef Country= Nuclear Warhead Country= Dinosaur Country. Montana is famous for its T.Rex fossils.
I crossed the Missouri River in Great Falls.
Inside Hoglund's Western Wear, I stared at the boots.
It started snowing in the high plains around Lewistown.
Lewistown, MT is the geographical center of the state.
Jordan, MT (population: 346) is the cultural center.
And the seat of Garfield County.
Creaky Old Red Barn, another namesake.
I've developed a real affection for cows and their social customs.
Little Bighorn Battlefield was named Custer National Battlefield until 1991, when a coalition of Native Americans made the National Park Services realize that naming a battlefield after the battle's loser didn't make much sense. This is a part of the Native American memorial at the battle site, which memorializes the Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapohoe warriors who died at the battle, as well as the numerous Crow and Arikara scouts employed by General Custer. 
I ended up in Bozeman, in the middle of a wind storm. There was snow later, on my way back to Bigfork.
