Montana Trip, Part 4: Virginia City

In Virginia City, we learned more about Montana's early history, visited shops and old buildings (including a 2-story outhouse), and enjoyed a production at the opera house. The kids practiced their own acting skills posing for an old-west picture in period costume.

The "cabbage patch" area of Virginia City

This magpie kept scolding us for poking around in his territory. The kids really enjoyed "conversing" with him.

After our big day of walking around, we decided to visit Ennis Lake for an evening swim. The water was warmer, shallower, and muckier than we expected, but we still had fun and enjoyed this striking view on our way back to our campsite.

The next day, as we traveled home, we picnicked in Bannack. We didn't have time for the walking tour, so that's on our "to-do list" for next time. We did walk into a few buildings and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the jail.

Our last stop was the Big Hole Battlefield. I was very disappointed in the presentation. The park service remodeled the facilities just this year and gutted the exhibit of almost all its artifacts. The Native outfits, the beautiful beadwork, the amazing headdresses - nearly all were gone, redistributed to other museums in other states. I don't know who is more disappointed - the kids who were promised an amazing display, or this history-loving mama.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our history vacation, and we have hopes to do it again in coming years, visiting different places each time. That's certainly something to look forward to!