Dreams, Dust and
Depression Tour
presented by
HISTORY MONTANA
TOURING COMPANY

This is a 2 day tour originating in Malta, Montana and traveling 100 miles to the east to Fort Peck Dam, the largest hydraulically filled earth dam in the world. We begin in Malta with the Cattle industry in 1890. We discuss railroad history, cattle history, and general transportation history as it progressed through the Depression years. We will highlight the many different things that people undertook to survive those hard times commonly referred to as "The Dirty Thirties."

Malta was once a major junction on the Hi-Line of Montana where cattle were brought to the rail head to be shipped to the Midwest and to the west coast. We will travel down the old Highway 2 and to the old town of Bowdoin, Montana where a great round house was built in 1917 and operated until 1921 when it was moved to Havre, Montana. The town completely collapsed and disappeared in a mere 6 years. It went from a population of 2900 to 200 during the course of one and a half years. We will visit the site where foundations and concrete platforms, the remains of the Bowdoin round house, can still be seen.

We then travel to the Sleeping Buffalo Resort and natural hot springs which has a rich history. Hot water was discovered when oil companies began to drilling. The oil companies abandoned their drilling efforts after trying two different wells because they could not get past all the hot water. They left the holes in the ground where hot water steamed all day long. It was discovered that the water was high in minerals and was great for the treatment of arthritis pain. Eventually a resort was built around the mineral waters, flourishing through the early 1990’s when the cost of maintenance became too high for the operation to continue to fully operate.

We then go down the road to coal ponds where rock and fill material were excavated for use in building the great Fort Peck Dam, the largest hydraulically filled earth dam in the world. This material was moved by rail 75 miles to the dam site. The coal ponds were a hustle and bustle of activity in the 1930s.

Next we will progress through Saco, Hindale, and Glasgow and arrive at the small town of Fort Peck where we will stay the night at the Fort Peck Hotel that was built to house dignitaries such as President Roosevelt and others who inspected the progress of the dam or simply visited family and friends in the area. Some things still remain of that era but most are gone. We will spend the next day going through the dam complex and the brand new interpretive center and museum. We will view the spill way that, at the time it was built, was the largest concrete structure built my man. It graced the cover of the very first Time magazine and was instantly famous world wide.

We believe that you will enjoy this tour and that it will give you a very good chunk of history of the great state of Montana – The Big Sky Country.

Contact History Montana by email.

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