Red Lodge Sunday

Pollard Hotel

Red Lodge, on this Sunday morning, is quiet. The tourists in the Pollard started to rouse up about 7:30 and trickle into the dinning room for complimentary breakfast. I was up by 6:30 and walked up and down Main Street. The Red Lodge Cafe was open, nothing else. There was only one motor cycle on the street; probably left over from last night. The bikers and other Saturday revelers quit early. The street was quiet last night even before we went to sleep about 11PM. This is not how I remember Red Lodge.

Breakfast was blueberry pancakes, good.

The History Room at the Pollard has several vintage pictures of the Pollard and the adjacent Distillery building. I got interested in the history of the abandoned distillery. Turns out that the building began life after WW I as a theater. The story goes like this: After World War I, Red Lodge was really hopping. The new Carnegie library had just opened, the coal mines were in full swing, and the town was bursting with optimism. A team of investors created this grand three-story structure in 1920 at a cost of $140,000 (roughly the cost of the Moss Mansion we saw yesterday in Billings). The building had a seating capacity of 1,000 people for traveling shows, vaudeville and local productions. There was also a dance hall in the basement. The inside was fantastical, with marble statues imported from Italy, as well as decorative columns, arches and cornices in the style of Louis XVI.

After the Westside Mine closed in 1924, the distillery building was used only occasionally. In the 1930s it was converted to a distillery. The garage bays in the front of the existing building date from its post-World War II use as an automobile body shop. Though the interior has been gutted, the whimsical façade ornamentation including the the theater muses, gargoyle-like figures and theatrical cartouches are unmatched by any theater in the state.

The garage was in operation when I lived in Red Lodge just after WW II, but it was closed when I returned to Red Lodge for High School. The side windows were boarded up but one was broken-- we used to sneak into the building at night. Why? Mostly because it was a scary place and we were kids.

Hogan School, 1-room and bell.

After breakfast we drove onto the West Bench and out towards Luther to see a one-room school I remember. Hogan School served the kids in the area well until 1969--closed now but still in good condition. The yard is well kept and the school bell is there. Steffen climbed the fence to ring the bell; nice sound. These kids used to come to Red Lodge High School after their education in the one-room school; we always thought they were a little wild, like they weren't used to being cooped up all day. They probably thought we were strange too. We turned the car around at the school and came back to the airport and bench. Later we drove up West Fork to have lunch at Wild Bill Lake-- lots of people there fishing and enjoying the Sunday.

Dodie's Cadillac Garage

Back to town and onto the East Bench, past the Smith Mine and into Bearcreek. There is no new housing here in contrast to the extensive development on the West Bench. Makes a difference being closer to the mountains, ski run and other rich folk. Bearcreek looks to be disappearing, but it looked that way 50 years ago. It's a slow process. Back in town we drove by Dora Cutrone's house and took this photo of her garage. I remember her pristine black '39 Cadillac that was always housed there--the car was almost the same size as the garage.

We're back at the hotel and ready for siesta. The sun is out and it's getting warm.

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Mixed Images of Montana

The day started with a typical Montana breakfast--coffee, juice and French toast--followed by packing and check-out from the Dude Rancher. We then set off to find the two Catholic schools I attended while living in Billings. We found our way blocked by a Gay Pride parade complete with road blocks and police escort. The were practically no observers and the parade went along with no incidents that we could see.

We found the Fratt School, now converted to an middle school and renamed St. Francis. However, the founder Kate Fratt's name is still carved over the front entrance. The building looks good, but my memories of this school could be better.

Moss Mansion, Billings.

Leaving Fratt we went to the nearby Moss Mansion. Not knowing any better I drove right into the driveway we found ourselves in the midst of a garden party. I quickly exited to park on the street. The women giving tours of the restored house were very amiable and agreed to let us start the tour late. One of them gave us a quick catch-up tour of the spaces we missed and we were soon with the group. This house is the best preserved early 20th century mansion that I know of. The Moss family lived there until the last heir died in 1986 and then the estate sold the house to Billings.

The final living member of the family lived in a few rooms on the main floor and the city trustees found the mansion well preserved. Many of the facilities and furnishing were original, and the original wall coverings were preserved. The non-profit that maintains the building restored the upper floor for water damage, but little else was changed. They discovered personal photos of the family and found the actual clothes they were worn; both are on display. Amazing.

We left Billings for our next stop, Red Lodge. We stopped briefly at Joliet (to check out the Joliet Bar where I did a short bartender stint for mom--it is now J-Bar) and at Roberts to look at the High School where I graduated. The original school is being replaced by a new school and gym. Entering Red Lodge we stopped at the Carnegie Library--still a library and checked in to our room at the Pollard Hotel. There were two beds only so they installed a gigantic air mattress. Ethan is sleeping there.

View from Pollard Hotel.

We have a great view of the mountains and overlook main street. The photo was taken from our window and shows a building built in 1900, the year after the hotel. For dinner we went to the Red Lodge cafe. The now historic cafe features Montana cuisine--mostly beef. Desert was strawberry shortcake, the beef was prime rib.

Red Lodge is filling with Harley Davidison bikers coming early for their festivities in July. They expect 3500 bikers for the celebration--they will fill the whole street. Willie Nelson comes in August; they're expecting another huge crowd. What a day. What fun, lots of mixed images to process.

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