TO VIRGINIA CITY AND BEYOND
On November 20, 2018, Doug and I headed out for a short trip to the Madison and Gallatin River valleys some 200 miles to the west of Billings, Montana. The weather was good, and these were two of the twenty-four scenic trips in S.A. Snyder’s Scenic Driving MONTANA.
Considering how short the days are as you get into autumn and then winter in the northern states, we decided to make this a two-day trip by spending the night at the local Motel 6 in Bozeman, a smaller city (than Billings) but with a much more beautiful background of surrounding mountains. From Billings, it is a straight shot of about 135 miles, or two hours, westward down I-90 to the county seat of Gallatin County. Along the way, we passed the Beartooth and Absaroka Mountain ranges to the south, of the interstate, and the Crazy and Bridger Mountains to the north. As you enter the city named after John Bozeman, the pioneer of the Bozeman Trail, the Bridger mountains loom to the north, and the Gallatin Range stares down, upon the city, from the south.
IHOP provided dinner for us that first night, while Burger King quenched our hunger on the following morning and provided a springboard to a nice day’s journey through two spectacular river valleys in southwestern Montana.
From Bozeman, we traveled west on U.S. Highway 191, for about eight miles, to a place called Bozeman Hot Springs. At this juncture, US 191 turns south. If you continue straight, however, you now find yourself heading west on Montana State Route 84, or MT 84. A little over half an hour will see you pulling into the junction with US 287 at a small, unincorporated, town called Norris. From this waypoint, on the way to the place referred to as “the richest gold placer deposits ever discovered” on this planet, the Alder Gulch diggings, it is a little over thirty miles to Virginia City, Montana (not to be confused with the Virginia City, Nevada made famous by the television series, Bonanza starring Loren Green, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts and Michael Landen in the 1960s and 70s).
If you turn north, US 287 will take you to the town of Three Forks, Montana, which is where the headwaters, or beginning, of the Missouri River forms. This drive of little more than half an hour brings you to the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers to form the Missouri River, the longest river in the United States. Turning left, or south, on this US highway took us to Ennis, Montana, where we turned west on Montana 287 and continued our journey to Virginia City. I am writing a historical novel set during the mid-1860s, and Virginia City is a key part of the setting.
It took about twenty minutes, on US 287, to reach Ennis, a small town of about 1,100 citizens with lovely views of three lesser-known mountain ranges, the Gravelly and Tobacco Root mountains to the west and the Madison range to the east. The town’s claim to fame comes from the 1998 Steven Seagal film The Patriot which was filmed in Ennis and nearby Virginia City.
Virginia City, or Alder Gulch was founded when a party of six prospectors, who had missed their rendezvous with a larger party led by James Stuart, looking for gold along the Yellowstone River, were met and turned back by some hostile Crow warriors. On May 26, 1863, while General Ulysses S. Grant was besieging the city of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War, Bill Fairweather and Henry Edgar started panning for gold on an un-named creek some eighty miles east of Bannack, Idaho Territory. This area grew into modern-day Virginia City, Montana and is in what is now-called the Ruby River Valley.
Although Virginia City is not a ghost town, there are very few people that live there year-round. Most businesses that are thriving through the summer, have long since been shut down for the winter. However, I snapped a few pictures before we returned to the main highway. Back in Ennis, we once again, turned south on US 287 and proceeded toward West Yellowstone, Montana, the western entrance to the famed national park. In S. A. Snyder’s Scenic Driving MONTANA, this is Scenic Drive #9 Madison River Country: Missouri Headwaters State Park To West Yellowstone. Meriwether Lewis, of the famed Lewis & Clark Expedition of 1804-1806, named the river after Secretary of State James Madison, who in 1809 would become the fourth president of the United States of America. This ninety-mile scenic journey starts a few miles from the town of Three Forks and traverses the Madison River valley south between the Gravelly Range, to the west, and the Madison Mountains to the east, before turning east past Hebgen Lake and merging with US 191 just north of West Yellowstone. The journey from Ennis took an hour to cover the sixty-three miles to the juncture with US 191 and then another ten minutes saw us arriving in West Yellowstone.
Our stop at the western gateway to Yellowstone National Park ended the first of two scenic drives for the day. After a brief stay in the mostly boarded up town, we headed north on US 191 traversing the Gallatin Canyon. In S. A. Snyder’s Scenic Driving MONTANA, this is Scenic Drive #10 Gallatin Canyon: West Yellowstone To Bozeman. The beautiful drive, which is flanked by the Gallatin Mountains on the east and the Madison Range on the west is an eighty-three-mile jaunt through a narrow river valley. The mountain range as well as the river derived their name from Albert Gallatin, who was the Secretary of the Treasury under two presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The Gallatin River begins in the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park and ends at Three Forks, Montana. From Big Sky, Montana, there are several great views of Lone Mountain in the Madison Range. This peak is unique, as it stands alone and towers, over 11,000 feet.
Once we reached Bozeman, it was time to return home. Thanksgiving was just around the corner, and after that, winter would be arriving. But during those cold winter months, I was planning my mountain excursions for the following year.
