Example Article for Montana Roadtrip
Road trip around Montana - Fort Benton
 | Author:
Brenda Phillips
Brenda Phillips: MT43 News Office Administrator |
Road trip around Montana - Fort Benton
Brenda Phillips
The weekend of June 23 – 25 was Summer Celebration in Fort Benton, MT. The three-day event included music, art and crafts vendors in the park, a parade, a car show, a street dance, fireworks and a lot of history.
Fort Benton is about a 3-hour drive from Townsend (@165 miles) but there are lots of historical treasures to be found in Fort Benton all year around. We bought a ticket at the Historical Museum on Front Street. The price included admission to that museum, the Historic Fort Benton and the Ag Museum. There were so many artifacts and antiques to see that it is hard to remember it all. We reminisced about items we saw and the memories that our parents and grandparents had told us about. We often remarked, “grandma had one like that”! There were a lot of art and sculpture pieces throughout the museums.
The Ag Museum had really great displays of the agriculture and history of early Montana. They had antiques to show early home life. It is hard to believe that they got all those old cars, combines and other farm equipment in one building.
Outside there is a replica of a frontier town. As we wandered the streets we found the barn and outbuildings were filled with well-preserved wagons, buggies, sleighs, stagecoaches and hearses.
Standing on the street we could hear the church bell ring as an occasional tourist would dare to ring it.
My 1st thought was farming stuff could be boring – but there is absolutely everything you can imagine, to interest anyone. We spent over 2 hours there and have decided we’ll go back again to find things we may have missed.
There is also the Missouri Breaks Interpretive Center that we’ll see on our next trip. We ran out of time on this trip.
We also visited the Grand Union Hotel and the Shep Memorial on the river levy. Shep’s story of loyalty has always brought a tear to my eye, since I first heard it, on a field trip to Fort Benton as a kid.
We walked across the Old Bridge which was built in 1888 and was restored by the community.
After a day of walking around town, we took a break at The Freeze for an ice cream treat. This eatery is not as old as the rest of the town but after 60 years it has become a ” must-stop” when you are in Fort Benton.
Brenda and Kurt Phillips are from Townsend and enjoy visiting Montana scenery and historic sites.
Written by Brenda Phillips
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PhotoCredit: Brenda Phillips
Image 1 Caption: Lewis and Clark Statues
Photo Credit: Brenda Phillips
Image 2 Caption: "Frontier Town" - Barn
Photo Credit: Brenda Phillips
Image 3 Caption: Statue of Shep the ever loyal dog
Photo Credit: Brenda Phillips
Image 4 Caption: A big Tractor on display at the Fort Benton AG Museum
Photo Credit: Brenda Phillips
