Helena National Forest Celebrates Bicentennial and Centennial

July 14 – 17, 2005 – Helena, Montana - The Fiddlin’ Foresters joined the Helena National Forest for four days of festivities celebrating the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and the Forest Service Centennial. The activities included concerts, dedications, picnics, boat trips, hikes, and community and family gatherings.

First was a Centennial celebration at the historic newly restored Moose Creek Ranger Station, located about eight miles west of Helena. The Helena National Forest and the Montana Discovery Foundation sponsored the event. Boy Scouts raised the flag over the 1908 ranger station, dedication remarks and history were given by Ranger Dwain Harp all were treated to a BBQ dinner with families and friends. The Fiddlin’ Foresters provided old-fashioned music, Forest Service songs and stories.

A beautiful 100-year birthday cake marked the celebration and re-dedication of the historic Moose Creek Ranger Station.

On Friday, July 15, the Fiddlin’ Forests played a short concert at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds preceding a reunion concert by the popular Mission Mountain Wood Band. The event was part of Helena’s Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Gathering, which was cosponsored by the Helena National Forest.

Helena National Forest Partnership Coordinator Amy Teegarden and her family were the perfect hosts and organizers for four-day event.

On Saturday morning the Fiddlin’ Foresters had the rare opportunity to hike Mann Gulch near the Missouri River, the site of the tragic loss of 13 firefighters in 1949 and the subject of the Fiddlin’ Forester’s DVD and recording of “Cold Missouri Waters.”

The several-mile hike was conducted and interpreted by retired Helena NF employee and Mann Gulch expert Dave Turner. Ranger Dwain Harp also helped conduct the hike.

“Having been to the site gives the compelling “Cold Missouri Waters” new meaning,” said Jim Maxwell. “I will never play the song again without thinking of the power of the visit to Mann Gulch. I now understand what happened and can better relate to the tragedy of the song. What a great experience.”

After the hike the Fiddlin’ Foresters took a short boat ride to Meriwether Picnic Area beach where they performed a concert as part of the unique “Musical Currents,” a Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Concert in the Gates of the Mountains on the Missouri River. Musicians were staged at various river locations blending the performing arts with the natural and historic values of the Missouri River corridor. The public enjoyed the music from their private boats and tour boats. “Musical Currents” included Native American drum groups, string bands, fiddlers, Celtic music, jazz, and Lewis and Clark re-enactors. In addition to the Fiddlin’ Foresters evening concert, “Musical Currents” featured Rob Quist and Jack Gladstone in “ Odyssey West.”

The Fiddlin’ Foresters join Ranger Dwain Harp while Dave Turner interprets the events of August 5, 1949 at a site where one of the 12 crosses and a Star of David mark the locations of the 13 firefighters that lost their lives at Mann Gulch.

On Sunday evening Townsend District Ranger Mike Cole hosted a concert featuring the Fiddlin’ Foresters at Townsend, Montana’s Heritage Park. The event celebrated 100 years of connection between community and conservation. Virtually the whole community turned out to enjoy food, artists, displays and programs, including a local band and the Townsend Fiddlers Association. The community enjoyed the concert while the Fiddlin’ Foresters gave blood to the huge mosquito population.

A great crowd gathered on the shore of the Missouri River to listen to the Fiddlin’ Foresters and Odyssey West as part of “Musical Currents.” Hundreds of others listened from boats anchored in the river.