Helena IR - 06/30/02

River, bluffs offer scenery, solitude in southeast Montana.

MOORHEAD -- But for a twist of fate, Ray Christianson could have had a lake next to his property in southeastern Montana.

In the 1940s, the Bureau of Reclamation considered damming the Powder River between two canyon walls just upstream from Christianson's ranch. The agency even built a small town while workers surveyed the site.

The earthen dam would have provided irrigation water, flood control and recreation, but the plan was shot down. It seems that because the Powder River carries so much silt, the reservoir would have filled with dirt in 30 years, but it would have taken 100 years to pay off the cost of constructing the dam.

So Christianson, bundled up against a cool wind with three sweatshirts, must be content with the occasional rains to green up his grazing lands. And recreationists are just a few anglers seeking catfish out of the Powder River or the crush of deer hunters who come in the fall.

Otherwise, this section of the state is little visited.

"The majority of the use out there is deer hunters in the fall," says David Squires with the BLM office in Miles City.

"There's a little seasonal use in the summer by people passing through," says Dan Bricco, BLM recreation planner in Miles City. But most of the people go down in October and November to hunt trophy mule deer."

Antelope, mule deer, whitetails and turkeys stand attentive in the foothills or loaf in the Powder River valley. The river cuts a meandering curve across the broad, green basin as it flows north from Wyoming into Montana and past the county seat of Broadus. Black angus cows strike a contrast with the deep green as they move in unison across the fertile floodplain like a flock of large, lazy birds.

The BLM has a campground near the old town of Moorhead, named after the family that settled there and established a post office. The campground has concrete picnic tables and vault toilets. A spring bubbles from the earth within the camping area, although the BLM warns the water shouldn't be considered clean enough to drink.

"It's kind of a neat place," Bricco says. "The serious hunters look for remote areas with public lands." And this area certainly qualifies in both respects.

Because of the large amounts of private lands, and the large deer herds, this section of Montana is probably one of the most intensely outfitted in Eastern Montana.

"Outfitting is big business here in Eastern Montana," Bricco says.

Just northeast of the campground and upriver is the Buffalo Creek Wilderness Study Area. Although removed from consideration as wilderness, the area remains closed to motorized traffic. I t offers lots of room to roam for hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riding.

"The whole thing is gorgeous," Bricco says. "It's only accessible by one little trail. The whole thing is kind of a big uplift bisected by canyons."

Ponderosa pine, juniper, sagebrush and bunch grass inhabit the hills. Gold clay blocks of rocks tumble from hilltops that rise 700 feet above the river. Red clay streaks horizontally across exposed bluffs.

"It's kind of remote. Kind of rugged," Bricco says.

Area rancher George Fulton says Buffalo Creek was once one of the Plains Indians' main east-west routes from the Black Hills area to the prairies and buffalo of Montana.

This region was given to Indian tribes in the treaty of 1868. But a vote of Congress revoked the treaty in 1874 when gold was found in the nearby Black Hills.

Although the area's tough for ranching (Fulton said it takes about 40 to 50 acres for one cow), he likes the country. After growing up in Gillette, Wyo., Fulton said the Powder River country is pretty lush.

"Moorhead had trees, water in the river, rocks and hills," Fulton said. "I didn't have any of that in Gillette."