Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Dave’s Boonies Trek # 11

Reed Point to Stockade School & Rock Cairns

This trek is about a six-hour round trip drive from Billings. The roads are mainly graded dirt & gravel; and are suitable for rainy weather. A 4-wheel drive vehicle; however, is recommended. The entire trek is on public access roads. There are three rock cairns to be seen, plus the old Reedpoint Siding, Old PO’s at Merrill & Springtime, and the Stockade School. [Note: the coordinates provided are from the Post Offices of Montana & GPS sightings. These may vary slightly from NGIS data.] Note also that the Spring Creek School[1] is about one mile south of the Stockade School; but isn’t covered in this trek. Also, please be sure to obtain the proper BLM maps, or equivalent, before traveling, as the road contours can be quite tricky. The landscape views are quite awesome.

NGIS DD.DDDDD

GPS DD MM.MM, DD MMMM OR DD MM SSS

Directions:

Starting from Billings, take the I90 Freeway towards Butte, and get off at Exit 400 and circle through Reed Point, cross the Stillwater River, north to the Stockade School and two cairns, and then cross back south to observe another cairn.

Part 1 – Merrill & Stillwater Post Offices.

The Merrill PO opened in 1890 and operated until 1910. It was then closed and eventually it and the local town merged with Springtime. The Springtime PO operated from 1917 until 1932. They were about ¼ mile apart. To reach Springtime, pass under the I90 Freeway, turn left and go east about 200 yards.

http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/g.cgi?fid=1726885&state=MT&ftype=po provides an aerial image of Merrill PO’s location.

http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/g.cgi?fid=1726985&state=MT&ftype=po provides an aerial image of Springtime PO’s location.

Note: Use the ZOOM control to get a real close picture of the above locations.

Part 2 – Reed Point Grain Elevators

Turn around on the frontage road at Stillwater PO location and head west on the I-90 to Reed Point [Exit 392]. Reed Point carried various names, and at the time the railroad siding was in operation, it was generally referred to as Reedpoint Siding in some personal communications. For variations on the name, consult the POLK City Directories for a complete listing.

Very little has changed since 1923, excepting that the siding track has been removed.

Part 3 – Travel to Stockade School and two Rock Cairns.

Take MT Road 12 south. It will join up with Absarokee. Watch the road pathways very carefully.

The road passes through Section 35 and jogs about until joining Stockade Road. Enroute it has these names: Rd 12, Jackstone Rd (Small segment), Cow Face Hill Rd, Stockade Rd, and finally Stillwater Road that joins Absarokee after crossing the Stillwater River.

When you reach Section 27, R17E Tp 2S in Sweetgrass County you will see a rock cairn on private land that has a wooden cross on top. To the south are the remains of a former stone cabin. Surrounding the cairn is a circle of rocks buried in the soil that are about 50-75 feet distant from the cairn. The landowner is the Cain Ranch Company. Permission is required before visiting the site.

Rd 12 (Jack Stone Rd) passes to the west of the site.

The Rock base is about seven feet high, and carved into the front face is the date “Aug 19, 1817” taken by telephoto lens.

This is the Cairn with the cross.

At the junction with Stockade Rd are the schoolhouse and a rock cairn, cemented in place. The cairn carries a date of 1896.

Aerial view at: http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/g.cgi?fid=777223&state=MT&ftype=school

After visiting this site, take the Stockade Road to the east. It joins with Stillwater Road, which leads into Absarokee.

At 45 34.029 & 109 39.539 off to the east of Stockade Road is an interesting old cabin (shown on the right). Who says that Montana doesn’t have luxurious accommodations? The one on the left (without snow) is for city folks.

Part 4 – Rock Cairn on MT Road 71

After leaving Absarokee take Hwy 78 NW to Columbus, and connect with Joliet Road (Hwy 71) going SE. About halfway to Joliet you will pas from Stillwater County into Carbon County. The Cairn is in the NW ¼ of Section 35 Rn21E Tp2S, and sits on the “Brastrup” S Ranch LLC Property.

[1] http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/g.cgi?fid=777071&state=MT&ftype=school