Tour reveals Montana’s Flathead Valley history

Shouts and curses pierced the drizzly June morning as Teamsters unloaded a Flathead Lake steamer here Wednesday. Or was it 120 years ago?

With a little imagination, the distinction can be deliciously blurred. It’s one of the things Jerry Murphy of Bigfork and the energetic folks at HIP (History Is Posh) http://www.historyisposh.org/ were aiming for when they pieced together the Lower Valley Driving Tour in the Flathead.

In a matter of 62 miles and, say, half a day, the tour can take the history hungry to such off-the-21st-century radar spots as Holt, Jessup, Montford, Ashley and Demersville – all of which had their heydays and disappeared more than a century past.

The 29-page booklets, packed with photos, history and driving instructions, are available at various outlets in Kalispell, Somers and Bigfork. They take drivers on a counterclockwise route to a dozen historic sites, all but one of them south of U.S. Highway 2 in Kalispell.

By KIM BRIGGEMAN

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/territory/article_95ed1b5a-701a-11df-a1fe-001cc4c03286.html

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Howse House Bicentennial Celebration and
Mountain Man Rendezvous

Lawrence Park in Kalispell, Montana
Saturday, August 7th, 2010 – 9 AM to 5 PM http://matr.net/article-39676.html