Golis: On the road where the bison and the antelope play

“When you get to the four mailboxes, turn left and go six miles …” — Directions from a Montana rancher

MEDORA, North Dakota

Back in March, I worried a shortage of electric vehicle chargers would keep us from visiting North Dakota. But here we are in Medora, the town that bumps up against Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

OK, so we cheated. We drove our EV to Missoula, Montana, and then rented a gas-powered car to take us into the far reaches of northeastern Montana and then to neighboring North Dakota.

You can drive a long way in northeastern Montana and parts of North Dakota without seeing another person, much less an electric vehicle charging station. (In EV sales, North Dakota ranks second to last among the states.)

So, yeah, we cheated.

The (many) miles of wheat fields, beef cattle, wide-open prairie and the eroded formations that came to be called badlands and river breaks remind us that eastern Montana won’t be confused with the parts of Montana defined by big mountains and big trees.

Eastern Montana is beautiful, too, but it is different.

And there’s a lot happening, including celebrations of Lewis and Clark, the retelling of injustices committed against Native Americans, dinosaur museums, the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, the Missouri Breaks and the American Prairie Reserve, an ambitious conservation project that aims to “re-wild” large sections of the prairie. (Some ranchers are not fans.)

We began in Fort Benton, hard on the Missouri River. It happens to be the oldest town in Montana, and before the transcontinental railroad, it was the last stop for Missouri River commerce. The statue overlooking the river honors Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and Sacagawea for their contributions to the exploration of the West. Historian Stephen Ambrose wrote of their “undaunted courage,” and that seems about right. They came through these parts in 1805, 41 years before the founding of Fort Benton.

East of Big Sandy and south of Havre (pronounced have-er), we ventured into the confusion of unmarked gravel roads that pass through the Bear’s Paw Mountains and link to some sizable ranches. (The 66,000 acres of the IX Ranch were recently listed for $66 million.)

We drove 60 miles of bumpy roads, and we might still be wandering this picturesque landscape, save for the kindness of strangers.

“When you get to the four mailboxes, turn left and go 6 miles,” explained the rancher who has lived on this land for 51 years. “Then turn right at the old stage cabin.”

He seemed bemused that these city folks would be wanting to explore an area with fewer road signs than pronghorn antelope and pheasant.

“If you get lost, just ask someone for help,” counseled a grocery store clerk in Big Sandy, “you’ll find nice people out there.”

She was right. The grocery store clerk, the hotel clerk who called his hunting guide brother (not once but twice), the guy who happened to come by for a grocery store coffee, the squirrel hunters with their own relief map, the rancher who spent his life on this land — all were kind and generous with their time, eager to save us from the embarrassment of being lost.

Or more lost.

Back on Highway 2, known locally as the Hi-Line, we came to the “Middle of Nowhere,” the title now claimed by the citizens of Glasgow, Montana.

Using data gathered by researchers at Oxford University, the Washington Post sought to identify cities of more than 1,000 people found to be the farthest distance from cities of 75,000 or more people, and Glasgow was the winner.

Some cities might have bridled at being described as the Middle of Nowhere, but Glasgow — on Highway 2, not far from the Canadian border — put up signs celebrating its newly won recognition.

Like other towns along Highway 2, Glasgow (pop. 3,192) feels like its own world. To the west, it’s 69 miles to Malta (pop. 1,868), and to the east, 49 miles to Wolf Point (pop. 2,578).

We drove south from Glasgow to what is still the largest earthen dam in the country. Fort Peck Dam and Fort Peck Lake are astonishing in their scale. The dam is 4 miles long. The lakeshore is longer than the California coast. The dam contains 48 times as much water as Warm Springs Dam. At the height of the Depression, this Works Progress Administration project employed 10,500 people here.

Montanans are exercised right now about a run-up in property taxes. We even saw a sign blaming the conservative Republican governor, Greg Gianforte.