The land is still the high plateau, varying between from 3,500 to 5,000 feet, with open fields of cattle, some goats and sheep, wheat and oat fields. There are buttes all along. I should look up the difference between a butte and a mesa, they look awfully similar, though the buttes in this part of Montana, at least this year, are mostly green with vegetative life. Once again, water is life.
A lone clump of trees
A typical scene for today
The Musselshell River which ran along our route most of the day
Horses
Entering Billings from the Zimmerman Trail
My sleeping nook at the nursery school
3 comments:
Morris Zimmerman has a trail named after him?? He's a real "yenkee" cowboy.. I never saw any western where they went on the Zimmerman Trail. I'll have to google it. Who knew?
Joseph Zimmerman was a local businessman who owned a boot and clothing store in downtown Billings. He also owned a ranch west of Billings. In the late 1800s, he raised sheep on his ranch. In the spring, herders drove his sheep along the face of the Rims to Alkali Creek and up Alkali Creek to their summer pastures. This was quite a long trip for the animals and drovers. The real problem wasn't the movement of the animals, but the need for good drinking water and supplies. The trip was 16 miles one way and took two days. Around 1890, Zimmerman hired his brother and others to build a trail up the Rims. Once the trail was blasted, hacked out, and shored up it saved 12 miles one way and could be completed in five hours.......this is educational.....I'm ready for Jeopardy when it comes up..... Jay on this and the comment above..
Did Joseph Zimmerman have a grandson, Bob, who changed his name to Bob Dylan?
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