There is a lot of history in and near Fort MacLeod, Alberta. The town was named after the fort which was instrumental in gaining peace in the area in the late 1800s. The RCMP also got a start here as the North West Mounted Police.Saturday morning as Bob and I came out of the visitor center and got in the car, we started looking at some of the materials we had gathered. We didn't hear anything unusual.Then as Bob was ready to back out, he couldn't! Right behind us were horses and riders! We didn't hear them approach! They were cast members who were ready for a show at Fort MacLeod!
From the materials we gathered at the visitor center we decided to check out Head Smashed-In Buffalo Jump about 12 miles out of town.Of course, we stopped for a geocache on our way to Head Smashed-In.
When we first read about it, we thought Head Smashed-In referred to the buffalo, but no, it was the name given to a brave who wanted to watch the jump from under a ledge below the cliff. There were so many buffalo that 'jumped' the cliff that they fell on the brave and smashed his head!
We enjoyed our trip to the historic site as the weather was actually nice! The cliff behind us is the one the buffalo 'jumped.'
We changed positions and this is a view of the plains from the bottom of the cliff.
After 2 nights in Alberta it was time to move on to the lower 48. Yes, rain was going to catch us again! We left Fort MacLeod and drove the short distance to the border. This is the first sign for Montana that we was in a place we could get a picture! Two years ago, the sign was over the interstate on a curve from Idaho going into Montana. We are not in the picture as customs frowns on people getting out of their vehicles in this area.
Bob and I cleared customs in a record short amount of time and were on the road again--Glacier National Park was our destination. Only, the weather got ahead of us and when we arrived at the St. Mary visitor center we were once again in rain/sleet. They had snow flurries earlier in the day! There was no way we were staying at Glacier! We continued to move on down the road! Our new destination---Malmstrom AFB, Great Falls, MT.
Traveling from St. Mary we passed through Blackfoot Reservation. This is the entry sign for the reservation.
As we passed through Fairfield, MT we stopped to get a geocache that we couldn't get 2 years ago as there were too many people for us to pull over and park. This was the view on the other side of the road from the cache.
The cache was appropriately name: One hump or two?We arrived in Great Falls and decided to stay a week to rest and enjoy good weather (hopefully)!
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