Montana
YouTube star and wagon wheel enthusiast opens western transportation museum in Joliet
JOLIET — A new western transportation themed museum has opened in Downtown Joliet at 110 South Main Street.
Treasures Out West celebrated its grand opening on Friday. The museum features several western transportation displays including a replica of an original wagon wheel.
To honor Montana culture, the museum also has a gift shop featuring local crafters and artists with handmade items, along with Wilcoxson’s Ice Cream.
The museum is open all weekend, and the owners hope to eventually expand the business to be open everyday.
See the video for this story below:
YouTube star and wagon wheel enthusiast opens western transportation museum in Joliet
All of the transportation-themed items in the museum belong to Dave Engel’s personal collection.
Engel, a YouTube star, has been restoring and recreating antique wagons since the 1970s. Engel told MTN on Friday he loves history about the Wild West, and that he hopes to honor Montana with the museum.
“This is a part of the American West. It’s the roots of America, how all the settlers moved from eastern areas, St. Joe, Missouri, to this country, all happened with what I work with. All the pioneers came out here, the whole country was opened up on wagons. And that’s just part of who we are,” said Engel.
Mack Carmack, MTN News
Since last summer, Engel has worked on opening the museum.
“This isn’t near big enough. I’m beginning to realize that fairly quickly. We could easily triple, or quadruple this room here,” he said.
The center of the museum is taken up by an original restored manure spreader from Engel’s personal collection. But, Engel says his favorite item in the entire museum is a large wagon wheel, which he created from scratch based off an original antique.
“This is a project that I got involved with the beginning of 2014, and it is a project that has never been done before. These wagons were built in the early 1880s, and no one has ever rebuilt these since,” he said.
Mack Carmack, MTN News
Just across the street from Engel’s museum is his workshop.
There, Engel restores and builds old wagons. It’s also where he films his YouTube videos.
Since 2015, Engel has been posting videos on his YouTube channel, Engel’s Coach Shop, where he demonstrates his craftsmanship.
Mack Carmack, MTN News
RELATED| Joliet man bringing history back to life with his horse-drawn wagon restorations
“People watch this project and then they can come and actually see it hands on, first hand, of what they watched on their television,” said Engel.
For almost as long as Engel has been working on wagons, his brother-in-law, Rich Bischoff, has been restoring carriage and early automobile lamps, which are also featured in the museum.
Mack Carmack, MTN News
“Just the fact that, well, some of this machinery that I’ve used, it’s really cool to see here that Dave got a special spot for, honoring me by doing that… It’s just real exciting” Bischoff said Friday.
Around 40 years ago, Engel and Bischoff worked together reproducing carriage lamps, before separating into their own interests.
“The only thing that isn’t represented here is hearse lamps. But everything from buggies, to small carriages, to large carriages… to early automobiles (is represented),” said Bischoff.
Because of their former working relationship, Engel devoted a portion of the museum to Bischoff’s lamp collection, which includes lamps from the 1850s to the 1920s.
“I never dreamed that this would be in a display like that for people to come and look at it,” he said.
Mack Carmack, MTN News
The museum is open on Saturday until 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
Montana
Montana Lottery Mega Millions, Big Sky Bonus results for July 10, 2026
The Montana Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 10, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from July 10 drawing
02-39-44-46-56, Mega Ball: 23
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Big Sky Bonus numbers from July 10 drawing
10-13-23-30, Bonus: 02
Check Big Sky Bonus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 10 drawing
14-42-46-47-57, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Montana Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 9 p.m. MT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky For Life: 8:38 p.m. MT daily.
- Lotto America: 9 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Big Sky Bonus: 7:30 p.m. MT daily.
- Powerball Double Play: 8:59 p.m. MT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Montana Cash: 8 p.m. MT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 9:15 p.m. MT daily.
Missed a draw? Peek at the past week’s winning numbers.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Great Falls Tribune editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Montana
Montana DEQ says Big Hole River impaired by low oxygen, excess nutrients
DILLON, Mont. — Low oxygen levels and excess nutrients led the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to officially determine that the Big Hole River is impaired, state officials said.
The conditions are affecting aquatic life and recreation along parts of the river. Officials said the nutrients can fuel algae and plant growth, especially during hot, low-water conditions.
The Big Hole has been the focus of water quality restoration efforts for decades, with more than $1.3 million in federal Clean Water Act funding invested since 1988.
The impairment will be included in DEQ’s next water quality report. Restoration work and funding for the watershed will continue.
Montana
8 Most Welcoming Towns In Montana’s Countryside
In these Montana towns a stranger rarely stays a stranger for long. Shopkeepers in Philipsburg know their regulars by name. Bigfork neighbors fill the same theater seats every summer. Livingston locals still swap trail tips with visitors over coffee. The welcome here comes from people who greet newcomers like they belong. These eight communities show what small-town Montana hospitality looks like up close.
Whitefish
Whitefish sits within an hour of Glacier National Park, and that proximity shapes everything about the town. Central Avenue runs on covered Old West walkways lined with local shops, restaurants, and galleries, and the crowd shifts with the seasons as skiers give way to summer hikers.
Glacier National Park draws visitors with hundreds of miles of hiking trails, alpine lakes, and the scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road. Closer to town, Whitefish Lake offers public beaches, boat rentals, paddleboarding, and fishing during the warmer months. When winter arrives, Whitefish Mountain Resort becomes the area’s main attraction, with ski runs, snowboarding terrain, and gondola rides overlooking the Flathead Valley. Even after a day outdoors, many visitors return to downtown Whitefish to browse local shops or settle in at the town’s restaurants and breweries.
Bigfork
Sitting on the northeastern shore of Flathead Lake, Bigfork pairs a working harbor with a downtown built around its artists. Galleries and studios cluster within a few walkable blocks, and the water is never out of sight for long.
Flathead Lake is the town’s biggest draw, with boating, kayaking, fishing, and swimming on the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River in the lower 48 states. Just offshore, Wild Horse Island State Park lets visitors hike among native wildlife, including wild horses, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, and mule deer. Theater lovers can catch a Broadway-style production at Bigfork Summer Playhouse, which has staged live performances for decades. Before leaving town, visitors can browse the independently owned galleries and studios showcasing paintings, sculptures, ceramics, and other work by Montana artists.
Philipsburg
Philipsburg made its money in silver, and the painted storefronts along Broadway Street date to those boom years. The old buildings now hold local businesses, and the mining past is easy to trace from one block to the next.
A visit to Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine lets visitors sift through mining gravel for Montana sapphires, many of which can be cut into finished gemstones. Just outside town, Granite Ghost Town State Park preserves the remains of a silver mining community, with abandoned buildings that mark the region’s boom years. Those interested in local history can stop at the Granite County Museum, where exhibits cover the area’s mining industry and early settlement. Before leaving, many visitors make time for The Sweet Palace, a candy store that has become one of the town’s signature stops.
Livingston
Livingston sits on the Yellowstone River and serves as a northern gateway to Yellowstone National Park. Restored commercial buildings house an active arts scene, and the Absaroka Range rises just south of the rooflines.
The historic downtown works as the town’s main visitor area, with independent bookstores, outfitters, cafes, and long-standing local businesses inside restored commercial buildings. At the Yellowstone Gateway Museum, exhibits trace the region’s history through Indigenous presence, railroad expansion, and early settlement in the Yellowstone Valley. Small galleries across the downtown core show work by regional artists whose subjects often reflect the river valley and the mountains around it.
Red Lodge
Red Lodge marks the start of the Beartooth Highway, one of the highest paved roads in the country. Its compact, walkable downtown keeps locally owned shops and restaurants busy in every season.
The Beartooth Highway climbs into the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and continues toward Yellowstone National Park, with steep mountain passes, alpine lakes, and long-range views. In winter, Red Lodge Mountain becomes a major recreation area for skiing and snowboarding, with terrain that draws residents and visitors alike. During the warmer months, hiking trails in the surrounding mountains open onto forests, ridgelines, and wildlife viewing areas. Downtown Red Lodge stays active year-round, with local businesses and historic buildings packed into a walkable core.
Choteau
Choteau sits where the prairie meets the Rocky Mountain Front, and dinosaurs put it on the map. Fossil beds nearby produced some of the most important dinosaur nesting discoveries in North America, and the town leans into that history.
At the Old Trail Museum, exhibits cover the region’s natural history, including fossil finds and artifacts tied to its prehistoric past. The surrounding country is known for wildlife viewing, with elk, deer, and many bird species in the foothills and open plains near town. Just outside Choteau, fossil sites linked to major dinosaur discoveries have built the area’s reputation in paleontology research. The Rocky Mountain Front opens onto hiking routes and wide viewpoints where the plains give way to the peaks.
Stevensville
Stevensville is the oldest permanent settlement in Montana, founded in 1841 as St. Mary’s Mission. It sits in the Bitterroot Valley between the Bitterroot and Sapphire mountains, and the town center still runs at a slower pace.
St. Mary’s Mission is the town’s most significant landmark, preserving the mission’s early buildings and marking the first permanent Euro-American settlement in what became Montana. The Bitterroot Valley around Stevensville is known for its orchards, farmland, and mountain views, and it serves as a corridor to nearby communities and recreation areas. Local boutiques and small shops fill a compact town center that reflects its long history. Hiking trails in the nearby foothills reach forested terrain, open meadows, and views of the Bitterroot Mountains, drawing the most traffic during the warmer months.
Virginia City
Virginia City boomed after an 1863 gold strike in Alder Gulch, and much of that town survived. Wooden boardwalks, original storefronts, and period buildings still line the Main Street, so a walk here doubles as a walk through the 1860s.
Historic structures throughout the town can be toured to see how miners, shopkeepers, and early settlers lived during the gold rush era. Several small museums and preserved buildings cover mining equipment, frontier life, and local governance during the 1800s. Costumed interpreters run seasonal reenactments as well, recreating daily routines and events from Virginia City’s early years.
Small Towns Worth the Detour
These eight towns show how much Montana packs into its smaller communities. Livingston and Whitefish put national parks within reach of a walkable downtown, while Philipsburg and Virginia City keep their mining-era streets intact and open to visitors. Choteau turns fossil country into a point of local pride, and Stevensville carries the state’s oldest roots. Anyone looking for genuine small-town hospitality will find plenty of it across these Montana communities.
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