Visit to Crow Country: Day 2

– by Michael

The next morning we had breakfast at Stella’s, conveniently located next to the hotel. It’s a restaurant/bakery and a long-time fixture on the scene in Billings.

Buffalo Chips Art Gallery
It was a windy, snowy early spring day. We stopped at Buffalo Chips and visited Thommy and Debbie Meyers. It is an Indian art gallery and gold jewelry shop (Debbie is an accomplished goldsmith) on the western side of Billings, and everything was beautifully displayed. We had a nice visit with them and then took off and headed south to the Plenty Coups State Park Museum in Pryor, Montana.

Plenty Coups State Park Museum
We have been setting up at the museum for some years now and feel entirely comfortable having a visit with our friends there. Susan Stewart is the manager/curator, and she was leaving the next day for New Mexico and was fairly excited. I helped her and Ralene Pretty On Top pull items for the display she was going to have on her trip. Heywood and Mary Lou Big Day came in with their son Derek, and Mary Lou brought dolls and Derek brought in some wonderfully-finished parfleche containers. Ollie Costa was there with her exceptional earbobs.

A fun note: While I was helping the girls pull and pack items from the shop’s inventory, Dan was in the basement with the boys while Jonathan Pretty On Top finished a head roach. Judging from the gasping laughter coming from below, I think that he, Dan, Randy, and Jerome Hugs, Jr. (AKA Oly) were having entirely too much fun.

The museum is located within sight of the Pryor Mountains and just north of Pryor Gap, which has been a conduit for migration since prehistoric times. The Gap opens out onto the Wild Horse Range and then twists down Crooked Creek Canyon into Lovell, Wyoming.

A memorable experience: I drove down that canyon ONCE in a pickup and vowed that I would only EVER do it again on a bicycle. Yes sir. So we laughed our way out the door of the museum and laughed all the way back to Billings.

Read more about our Crow adventures
Visit to Crow Country (intro)
Visit to Crow Country: Day 1
Visit to Crow Country: Day 3