Historic Fort Connah near St. Ignatius, Montana B&B

Hudson's Bay Company Historic Fort Connah

Fort Connah was a trading outpost established in 1846 by the Hudson's Bay Company. Despite it name, it was never a military station. Fort Connah, a few miles north of St. Ignatius, MT, offers a beautiful opportunity for travelers to get a brief glimpse of early history in Montana. It is the oldest wooden building still standing in Montana - a hand-hewn, 375 square-foot log building that is the only survive structure of a once bustling fur trading post build in 1846 & operated until 1871.

Massive 10-inch-square, hand-hewn timber posts support the corners. Timber beams run horizontally to form the walls. Each beam is cut at its ends to fit into a notch carved out of the post - a type of construction used often by Hudson's Bay Co. for its trading posts, called "post on the sill" construction. In 1975, volunteers of the Fort Connah Restoration Society took the structure apart log by log & poured a new foundation. Then they reconstructed the building just as it stood in the 1850s.

Fort Connah is significant for a variety of reasons. It is an example of the fur trade, one of the earliest industries in western Montana. It preserves the heritage of two cultures, white settlers & Indians, who came together in good faith for commerce & interacted with goodwill.  "The Indians would bring in their buffalo robes & their beaver pelts," said George Knapp, the President & a strong moving force behind the Fort Connah Restoration Society. "They would trade for goods like weapons, pots, pans & blankets."

The Hudson's Bay Company sent Scotsman fur trader Angus McDonald to Fort Connah with his wife of Nez Perce/Mohawk/French descent & their family. In 1847, McDonald completed construction of Fort Connah, which has the distinction of being  the last Hudson's Bay Company post to be constructed in what is now the United States. In 1871, Fort Connah was closed by Duncan McDonald, son of old Angus who had opened it 25 years before. Angus was very well educated in Scotland, & as a young man, moved to Canada to work, & eventually to the Northwest. 

He was particularly a great reader & "student" of Shakespeare, as reflected in his writing style in his personal journals. He, his wife & 13 children moved from Washington to Montana, & back to Washington. In his later years, he moved back to Montana, bought land, & ranched 2,000 head of cattle in Mission Valley near Post Creek. He has many descendants that live in Mission Valley & the Flathead Reservation, including Dr. Joe McDonald, founder & President of Salish Kootenai College until his recent retirement. 

A family cemetery near Post Creek is a few hundred yards away from Fort Connah. It contains the graves of Angus McDonald & his wife, Catherine.

The Fort Connah Restoration Society invites people to Rendezvous to visit & participate in living history demonstrations & storytelling twice a year. The next Rendezvous at Fort Connah will be in mid-August 2012. 

Come stay with us at Bear Spirit Lodge B&B & experience the Mission Valley!

Bed & Breakfast St. Ignatius, MT near National Bison Range & Bitterroot Flowers

Long before explorers Lewis & Clark wrote about the beautiful purplish-pink flower of the bitterroot, Native Americans were using its roots for food and trade. Tribes dug up the roots and dried them, so they could be kept and used for months. The root was too bitter to eat unless it was cooked and usually mixed with huckleberries, other berries, or meat.

An Indian story tells how the bitterroot came to be. It says the sun heard a mother crying, because she couldn't find food for her family. The sun changed her tears into the bitterroot, so she would always have food for her children. Native Americans, particularly the Flathead Indians, treasured this precious flower and used its roots for food and trade.

The bitterroot was selected to be the Montana State Flower on February 27, 1895. A perennial, the bitterroot has an exquisite pink blossom which grows close tot he ground. Its delicate shadings offer the eye one of the loveliest of wildflowers.

The Flathead Indians used bitterroot as an important part of their diet. Tribes timed their spring migrations with the blooming of the bitterroot on the gravel river bars and hillsides. Dug, cleaned, and dried, the root provided a lightweight, nutritious supplement to a wild-game diet.

At major trading centers like The Dalles, the root was an item of barter and exchange. A sackful commanded a substantial price such as a horse.

One ounce of dried root provided sufficient nourishment for a meal, but the plant was seldom eaten raw, for its bitter taste and resultant swelling caused great discomfort. More traditionally, Indian women boiled the root, then mixed it with meat or berries. Pulverized and seasoned with deer fat and moss, the cooked root could be molded into patties and carried on hunting expeditions.

One of the loveliest of wildflowers, the bitterroot is a most appropriate floral symbol of Montana - "The Last Best Place." The bitterroot grows in the summer on the National Bison Range near Bear Spirit Lodge B&B, near St. Ignatius, Montana.

St. Ignatius, Montana Bed and Breakfast in the Winter

                     

     The Amish-Finnish Sauna House 

    at Bear Spirit Lodge B&B

Beautiful winter days & a great time to sit in the hot tub on the deck. Then enjoy a refreshing sauna experience! Our sauna house is a one-of-a-kind design.

 I bought the Amish storage barn at the Amish auction held every July in St. Ignatius. The proceeds help to fund their school for the Amish children. I always do business with the local businesses in Mission Valley as much as possible to support our rural community.

I thought that this 10'x16' well-built barn would be a great asset to have here at Bear Spirit Lodge B&B. Creativity set in, and I designed it into a Finnish sauna house. I hired the Amish craftsmen to do the interior finish work. The interior of the sauna part (10'x8') is lined with clean, clear cedar, so there are no knot holes that would "heat up" and melt liquid sap on your skin. Cedar benches, insulation, vinyl flooring & carpeting, & the cedar paneling make the interior pretty & cozy. The outer room, a dressing area, is 10'x8' also, and sometimes is used for a sleeping area when we hold workshops here in the summers. 

Even in the winter, Bear Spirit Lodge is definitely a place for rejuvenation & recharging your spirit! Come rest your aching muscles, & relax in the Mission Mountains of Montana!

Snowy Owls near Bed & Breakfast, St. Ignatius, Montana

Photo by Eugene Beckes

Snowy Owls are here in Mission Valley and the Flathead Valley! They arrive on silent wings, visitors from the Arctic. Called an irruption, these periodic blessings occur when the birds come in large numbers to our region. There are so many birds reliant on the Arctic that we see here. They are a great reminder that these places are all connected.

They are circumpolar birds, usually living in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other sites north of Alaska's Brooks Range, as well as in Scandinavia, Russia, Greenland, Siberia and other Arctic lands. Snowy owls have been spotted across the country this winter from Seattle to the Northern Plains and New England.
What marvels they are: Gliding on silent wings, snowies are among the largest owls, with a wingspan that can reach nearly 5 feet and among the heaviest, weighing in at 5 pounds.
Their direct, yellow-eyed gaze and sharp talons help create a commanding presence. Their immaculate feathers gleam in the long, lush winter light.
“It's not unusual for the big white predators to fly south from the Arctic in search of food, especially yearling males,” said Denver Holt of the Owl Research Institute in Charlo. “What is different this year is the widespread sightings of the birds.”

They will be here until about March, feasting mostly on voles and other small mammals, resting and fattening before returning to the Arctic for the breeding season.  Come stay with us here at Bear Spirit Lodge for a winter wonderland full of all kinds of magic!

Visit Bed & Breakfast Montana on Your Way to Glacier National Park

"Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes - every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impression upon the soul of man." Orison Swett Marden (1850-1924) Founder, Success Magazine

Glacier National Park is one of the most magnificent parts of the Crown of the Continent ecosystem in Montana & Canada. Less than 3 hours northeast of Bear Spirit Lodge B&B, Glacier Park is visited by thousands of people every year. From snowshoeing and skiing in the winter to hiking and camping in the summer, Glacier Park provides an awesome wonderland of nature’s best.

With more than 1,000,000 acres of lakes, forests, meadows, rugged peaks and glacial-carved valleys in the Northern Rocky Mountains, Glacier Park is a hiker’s paradise that is traversed by more than 740 miles of maintained trails. The Park’s diverse habitats are home to nearly 70 species of mammals including the gray wolf, lynx, wolverine, and grizzly bear. Over 270 species of birds visit or reside in the park, including varied species from harlequin ducks to golden eagles.

The Park is named for its prominent glacier-carved terrain and remnant glaciers descended from the Ice Ages of 10,000 years past. Bedrock and deposited materials exposed by receding glaciers tell a story of ancient seas, geologic faults and uplifting, and the movement of giant slabs of the earth's ancient crust overlaying younger strata. The result of these combined forces is some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet.

It has been estimated that there were approximately 150 glaciers present in 1850. Most glaciers were still present in 1910 when the park was established. In 2011, the scientists estimate that there are only 25 glaciers larger than 25 acres remaining in Glacier National Park. A computer-based climate model predicts that some of the park’s largest glaciers will vanish by 2030. It is a premier living laboratory for worldwide studies on climate change and global warming.

You will want to visit Glacier National Park before it becomes UnGlacier Park! Some friends of friends in Florida came to Bear Spirit Lodge for a few days and got acclimatized to higher altitudes before a big hiking trip in Glacier National Park and Waterton Park in Canada.

 Rainbow Over the Montana Mission Mountains, the Northern Rockies

The Crown of the Continent is a territory of 10 million international acres ranging from Montana to Canada. Bear Spirit Lodge B&B in Montana is located deep in this magnificent natural wildland. The Crown contains some of the wildest country remaining in the lower 48 states - one of the only intact ecosystems of North America!

Directly north of Missoula, Montana, lie the scenic peaks, glaciated valleys and postcard-perfect scenery that constitute the Crown of the Continent ecosystem. Some call it “The Backbone of the World.” The landscape serves as a living laboratory for climate change, a stage for urban-wildland interface issues, and a rich tapestry of history.

According to Rick Graetz, University of Montana Geography Professor, the North America ecosystem includes the 1.1-million-acre Glacier National Park and the 1.5-million-acre Bob Marshall Wilderness complex at its core on the U.S. side of the border. The Crown is one of the last two remaining wildland ecosystems that has entirely escaped post-industrial extinction of species — only one of 12 places in the hemisphere. This remarkable area provides one of the most promising opportunities for visionary conservation in the West.

The Crown of the Continent is truly a globally significant climate-change refuge, where native plants and animals and the ecosystems that support them remain largely intact, and the human communities that have co-existed with them for hundreds of years still flourish. The Crown is considered by many climate scientists and biologists is one of the best hopes in North America for preserving wildlands, wildlife and the myriad of cultures and communities that they support in the face of a rapidly changing environment.

Come stay at Bear Spirit Lodge B&B near St. Ignatius, Montana & enjoy the comforts of home while exploring the vast, incredible, spectacular,  & the wildlands of the Crown of the Continent!

Sheep's Head Peak near Bed and Breakfast St. Ignatius, Montana

          Sheep's Head Peak & Glacier

The Mission Mountains of Montana are not only beautiful, but they also offer challenging, great adventures for hikers and backpackers. This prominent peak of the Missions with its wonderful west ridge and spectacular, possibly unclimbed north face, is officially an unnamed peak of 9,417 feet.

It is commonly known locally as the Sheep's Head, Sheepshead, Sheepshead Glacier, or West McDonald Peak. The peak rises over 6,800 feet from the valley floor! The peak in front on the right of McDonald, is Sheep's Head Peak.

At certain times of the year, viewing from the northwest, people can see the outline of a ram's head in the north face and glacier, hence the name Sheep’s Head. After the first snowfall on the Mission Mountains a week ago, the snow "dusting" on the Sheep's Head dramatically brought the peak to life at sunset. It is a beautiful peak and a worthy mountaineering objective that is too often overlooked and bypassed in favor of its higher neighbor to the east, McDonald Peak. 

Sheep's Head peak is on the Flathead Indian Reservation within the Tribal Mission Mountain Wilderness. A hiking permit is required, and can be purchased at most sporting goods stores in Western Montana, or through the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Recreation Department in Pablo, MT (Phone: (406) 675-2700). The permit is currently $15.00 per season expiring every year on the last day of February.

In addition, it is located within the Special Grizzly Bear Conservation Zone that is closed to all human access from July 15 to October 1 each year unless posted otherwise. Come stay with us at Bear Spirit Lodge B&B, and enjoy the spectacular hiking opportunities waiting for you in the Mission Mountains of Montana.