Anaconda Smoke Stack State Park [MT]

Description

The old Anaconda Copper Company smelter stack, completed in 1919, is one of the tallest free-standing brick structures in the world at 585 feet. The inside diameter is 75 feet at bottom, tapering to 60 feet at the top. In comparison, the Washington Monument is 555 feet tall. The stack dominates the landscape like the Company once dominated the area's economic life. Since the smelter closed in 1980, the stack has become a symbol of the challenges that face communities dependent on finite resources.

The site is open to the public.

Website does not specify any interpretive services beyond signage available at the site.

Madison Buffalo Jump [MT]

Description

Visitors to this site can imagine how the area might have looked when prehistoric people "called" bison to jump to their death below the cliffs. Interpretive displays help visitors understand the dramatic events that took place here for nearly 2,000 years.

The site is open to the public.

Website does not specify any interpretive services beyond signage available at the site.

Trails to Utah and the Pacific: Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869

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Annotation

Diaries documenting the westward treks of 45 men and four women during the period of the California Gold Rush and the westward migration of Mormonism are presented in this site. Although most of these travelers took either the California or Mormon trails, a few diaries provide accounts describing life on trails to Oregon and Montana.

The diaries are complemented by 82 photographs and illustrations in addition to 43 maps, including an interactive map displaying trails, cities, rivers, and landmarks. There are seven published guides, two essays on the Mormon and California trails, brief biographies of most of the diarists, and a list of suggested readings. This is an excellent collection of materials that documents 49 individual perspectives on a movement that encompassed an estimated 500,000 people.