Welcome to the Wisdom Montana Picture Tour

If you like rustic log cabins you need to visit the Big Hole Valley.  Riding west on Highway 43 each town gets better and better. There are the Twin Barns in Dewey, Montana and the ranch buildings near Wise River.    As you ride into Wisdom, Montana you will find a fantastic collection of log cabins that have endured one hundred Montana winters.

Two Types Of Stagecoach Stations

The first Wisdom area cabin was built in in 1877. The dirt floor structure was located near a ford on the Big Hole River and  served as a “swing” stage station. I recently learned there were two types of stations — “swing” and “home.”  The larger stations, called “Home Stations,” generally ran by a couple or family, were usually situated about 50 miles apart and provided meager meals and overnight lodging to passengers. These stations also included stables where the horses could be changed and often, a blacksmith and repair shop. Here, drivers were usually switched. A good example is the Shambo Stage Station down by Lakeview, Montana. The more numerous “swing” stations, were smaller and usually consisted of little more than a small cabin and barn or corral.  Here the coach would stop only about ten minutes to change the team and allow passengers to stretch before the coach was on its way again.

Got Bug Spray?

The Big Hole River becomes an accessible river near Wisdom, Montana. The slow moving stream between Wisdom and Jackson is lined with thick stands of willow and privately owned ranches. Below Wisdom, the North Fork of the Big Hole River joins to create a meandering meadow stream. It’s here you will find rainbows and cutthroat trout mixed in with grayling and brook trout.  If you are a first time visitor to the Big Hole Valley, be forewarned that the valley is usually flooded to irrigate the farmer’s crops. That means during the months of June to mid-August you will be eaten alive by the biggest and most persistent mosquitoes in the world. No wonder, the Big Hole has the Boone and Crockett Record for largest the mosquito.  The thundering insect was wounded in 1958 with a twelve-gauge shotgun.  It almost got away but was finally wrestled to the ground by three men and a dog.