This town is located on Interstate 90, the main highway that stretches across Montana, that takes you clear across the state, and is situated between Bozeman and Butte. It is historically significant because it is where Lewis and Clark landed in 1805 on their expedition on July 27th. I happened to land there on July 27th-200 years later in 2005.
The three forks are the three branches of rivers that come together there. The men were moving upstream the entire way from Missouri by the Missouri river until they reached Three Forks, and the branches prevented them from continuing. From there they had to portage across mountains to reach the Pacific Northwest and another river that would take them south to the Pacific.
I was pitching my tent in a campground right outside of Three Forks, MT and found a friendly couple with three kids parking their RV in the campsite next to mine. We became instant friends mainly because the husband was so gregarious, and soon discovered that we had wandered into the same place where a reenactment was taking place the next day by the historical society. They had organized some men who were taking the same route that Lewis and Clark had taken. A descendant of Clark was also doing a reenactment with a few men, staying true to the details of the clothing and all equipment used in the period.
The couple was really fun. The husband was a riot - a half Jewish man who loved to have beer and bread dipped in olive oil over a campfire at night. We roared with laughter by the campfire. They really loved their kids.
The next day I went for a swim in the river. I found the descendant of Clark with his men on the other side of the river and made some joke about how men of the period would respond to a woman bathing in the river. They responded with the appropriate restraint for the men they were portraying. I then joined the couple and their kids who went to join the festivities arranged by the historical society's reenactment group.
Me and the couple and their kids then moved to a new campground, after taking a route through the country and stopping at a country spot that someone told us about for a great dinner. The campground was near some caves that were interesting to see though I didn't go see the caves. The caves were along a route to the historical Virginia City, a ghost town and tourist attraction.
At the campground, the historical group was doing a presentation including food and beverages at one of the covered picnic areas. They talked about the wild animals that still inhabit the area including bobcats. They had skins from the animals.
The men were dressed authentically according to how the men had been dressed at the time when they arrived in the area. Because their western clothing had worn out on them, they now wore clothing the native Americans had helped them put together. They received much help from the natives. I have photos of the men, but they are in a tiff format and blogger won't publish them.
Of course, Sacajawea traveled with them in real life, the Native American woman who was married to the Frenchman who was on the expedition, but they had no woman traveling in the reenactment.
The next two nights, we laughed and laughed again around the campfire. There was a rather feisty man who was rather mean to us who managed the camp, but I felt he must be just jealous of us as he heard us out there enjoying ourselves to the hilt. We were so loud.
It was very dry, so dry that I couldn't keep my tent pitched in the dirt because the winds were also strong and would come and blow it away. So, I had to pull up my tent and all my belongings for the day, go and do sightseeing and return at night to pitch my tent again. We had done that on our first day there, and all went well. I returned to find the couple at the site and I pitched my tent again and hung out with them. But the day after that, they were getting restless and needed to continue on their trip West to see more. I had pulled up all my things and gone for the day sightseeing. I returned expecting to find the couple but they were gone, leaving only a note underneath something that I had left behind at the site, saying that they were continuing on to a campground nearby and if I wanted to join them I could. By the time I got there it was too late for me to go join them.
I was taken aback. The hollow of being left alone after all the fun of being with the couple was overwhelming. It was the first time I felt alone while traveling. Otherwise I had peace having my two cats and communing with God along with meeting people as I went from place to place.
I thought back to things that were said. I had heard the couple making love in the RV on the first night in the caves campground and the next day I made some jokes about it indirectly. I asked them what they do when they want to make love and if they just go ahead and do it with their kids in the RV. They said "yes" and I reacted to it as sort of strange. I wondered if I had been making them feel uncomfortable.
Because the husband was half Jewish, I later sent him my essay by e-mail on why I extol the Jew. Then I think I discarded his business card. I regretted losing that card later. I only was careless because, as I told them, since they were so brazen about just up and disappearing, I didn't know if I trusted them. In retrospect I think I over-reacted. Besides, they didn't know Christ, not that I know of. But they were sweet people.
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