Saturday, August 13, 2011

Traveling on the Back Roads

Why am I taking pictures of Post Offices in Montana?  It started when I posted a couple of pictures of Post Offices on Facebook and a friend suggested it would be cool to take pictures of all the post offices in Montana.  I counted 351 Montana zip codes in the phone book.  The US Postal Service wants to close 85 in Montana and 37 in Wyoming.





It sounded like a fun idea.  I just wish she had thought about it earlier.  I was over on the western side of the state in June.  Oh well.  Dan loved the idea of "Road Trips".  We have been driving some of the "Back Roads of Montana"  looking for Post Offices.  Yesterday we stopped in 8 communities and took pictures.

Yesterday the first Post Office was at Pryor, Montana; a small town on the Crow Reservation.  Pryor, Montana is in Big Horn County.  According to the 2000 census there were 628 people in the Pryor community in 2000.

Pryor, MT 59066
Attractions in the area are the gorgeous Pryor Mountains.  There are bands of wild horses still living in the mountains.  There are also Ice Caves in the Pryors.  Chief Plenty Coups State Park and museum.


The area was named for Nathaniel Hale Pryor, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  The Crow call the Pryor Mountains "Baahpuuo Isawaxaawuua (Hitting the Rock Mountains)"




The land and people of this area are dear  to my heart.  I had the opportunity to be on the board of the  "Friends of Chief Plenty Coups State Park" for many years.  Chief Plenty Coups built the first two story log home in the community.  I was very blessed to learn about him and his leadership.


Chief Plenty Coups State Park is on Pryor Creek

Chief Plenty Coups home in Pryor, Montana







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5 comments:

  1. Linda BAugust 13, 2011 at 10:51 PM

    It's a great idea, & adding information about each is good, too. Maybe you could interview the postmaster or mistress to get their 'story'. love the pictures!

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  2. LibraryDragon/StorykeeperAugust 14, 2011 at 6:55 AM

    That's a good idea. I will be at a new school this year and I thought I would connect some of these stories to learning how to use a map.

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  3. Donna SmithAugust 15, 2011 at 7:47 AM

    I had to check and see how many we have in Maine. 438 post offices and 34 are slated to close. Maybe I should at least visit the ones that may be closing! We are probably seeing the last days of the post office...

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  4. LibraryDragon/StorykeeperAugust 15, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    Some of the Post offices have such history. They truly are at the center of a community. I hate the idea that they might all go away.

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  5. Postmarks from MontanaOctober 1, 2011 at 8:44 AM

    After many years of wandering around Montana, I actually have made it to all of Montana's post offices, with the exception of the post office at Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls. You will meet some wonderful people working at these post offices, especially in the smaller communities. It's very sad that the Postal Service feels they need to close so many of these post offices.

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