Billings

Billings, nestled in the Yellowstone River Valley, has been a thriving metropolis since its 1882 founding as a Northern Pacific Railway head. Instead of suffering the decline typical of railway towns at the close of the homesteading era, Billings just hummed along. Its population grew with the times, working in oil refineries and a variety of other industries. Today Billings is Montana’s most populous city, boasting upwards of 100,000 residents.

Billings heartily embraces the cowboy ethos. Some $150 million in livestock is sold annually at the city’s Public Auction Yards.

Except for some leafy residential areas bordering the river, Billings is not a pretty city. The refineries west of town sprout bulbous structures and nasty spewing stacks. Downtown is a grey forest of highrises. The rimrocks are somewhat dramatic and the view of the city from that eminence is worth the uphill drive.

Bedroom developments have long since spilled out of the valley onto the tablelands topping the 300- to 500-foot-high rimrocks north and east of town. I-90 runs along the southern edge of downtown, veering off toward Hardin and the Crow Indian Reservation east of the city. I-94 jump-starts where I-90 leaves off, zipping eastward to the North Dakota line.

Billings is an easy city to get around in. The one-way streets follow logic and are more of a help than an annoyance. A handsome Visitor Center, just north of Exit 450 off I-90, serves as a foil for a huge bronze mounted cowboy urging on two bronze Longhorn steers. The statues commemorate the Great Centennial Cattle Drive of 1989 and celebrate the importance of cattle to Montana history.

The Visitor Center is on 27th Street, the main artery through down- town, affording easy access to museums and the rimrock area. Friendly and knowledgeable Visitor Center/Chamber of Commerce personnel will steer you where you wish to go. Pick up a Billings Scenic Drive brochure. The Visitor Center is open daily in summer, 8:30-6. Winter hours: weekdays, 8:30-5.

Ride a Billings Trolley for a guided a tour of the city. Reserve a seat by calling 888-618-4FUN or 406-254-7180 or fax to 406-245-5699.

The amount of time you ought to spend in Billings is largely dependent on your interest in museum-hopping. Billings has a bunch. The Peter Yegen, Jr. Yellowstone County Museum is on the rimrock north of downtown, adjacent to the Billings Logan International Airport. Housed in a circa 1893 log cabin, the museum displays a collection of Native American artifacts, cowboy memorabilia, dinosaur bones, old photographs, antique clothing and other artifacts reflecting area history. An assortment of horsedrawn vehicles is also on display. Free admission. The museum is open Mon.-Sat., 10:30-5, 406-256-6811.

Pick up the rimrock-edge Black Otter Trail east of the museum, following it about four miles to Boothill Cemetery and Kelly Mountain.

In-town museums include the Yellowstone Art Museum, at 401 N. 27th St., exhibiting Western and contemporary art. Call 406-256-6804 for current hours. The Western Heritage Center, at 2822 Montana Ave., offers changing exhibits reflective of the Western ethos. Open Tues.-Sat., 10-5 and Sun. 1-5. 406-256-6809. The Moss Mansion, the elegant turn-of-the-century home of a prominent Billings family and a filming site for the movie, Son of the Lonesome Dove, offers tours year-round. 914 Division St. % 406-256-5100 for current hours.

Two museums, west and east of downtown respectively, offer a fix on the Yellowstone Valley’s homesteading era and the agricultural machinery that drove it. Oscar’s Dreamland, a private museum at 3100 Harrow Dr., displays over 500 units of steam, gas and horse drawn farm machinery and some 5,000 other antiques and artifacts. A “pioneer town” includes several original structures. You can spend an entire day here, revisiting the “good old days” of sweat and toil. Modest admittance fee. Open daily, 9-6, May 1-Sept. Take I-90 west from downtown to Exit 446, then drive west on S. Frontage Road. 406-656-0966 or 245-4598 for further information.

The Huntley Project Museum of Irrigated Agriculture, three miles east of the homesteading-cum-bedroom town of Huntley on US 312 (take Exit 6 off I-94), is another nostalgic showcase of homesteading tools and memorabilia. Open daily, 9-4, Memorial Day-Labor Day. 406-967-2680 (evenings).

Billings residents, proud of the Alberta Bair Theatre for the Performing Arts, are quick to inform visitors that it’s the largest performing arts theatre between Minneapolis and Spokane. You might catch a Broadway musical, a ballet or a Billings Symphony performance. 406-256-6052 for schedule information.

Nearby Pictograph Caves State Park preserves three caves containing over 100 pictographs drawn some 10,000 years ago by prehistoric hunters. Archaeologists excavated the caves’ floors to reveal over 30,000 artifacts from four distinct prehistoric time periods. The remarkably well preserved pictographs, reflecting several painting methods and dyes, may record successful hunts or raids, or may relate to certain ceremonies. Images of shields may have been painted on rocks before battles by warriors wishing to gain rock-like strength. Your conjecture is as good as anyone’s. A visit to the Pictograph Caves can be deeply moving as you place the caves and yourself in perspective with those long ago artists. Bring your binoculars. Steep paved trails link the three caves. A pleasant picnic area is provided.

The park is seven miles south of Billings by way of Coburn Road. The first four miles are paved, but the final three miles are gravel with no turnarounds and may be too hilly and winding for large RVs and vehicles towing trailers. My 24-foot RV had no problem. The park is open daily, 8-8, April 15-Oct. 15. Snow or heavy rain may shorten the season. For further information, 406-245-0227 in season, 406-247-2940 out of season.

Small riverside and/or railroad towns, some worth a look-see, others little more than dusty has-beens with post offices, pop up at intervals along I-94.