In which Moominmama explores eastern Montana, where dinosaurs once roamed...

Montana is larger than life. Entering from the east, the sweep of the landscape is immense. It is easy to imagine dinosaurs striding across the yellow grass and sagebrush. Occasionally, Moominmama saw herds of dark cattle in the distance,  gathered together like black olives in dish -- for all those dinosaur cocktail parties!

This is clearly dinosaur territory, with fossils still being discovered in the sedimentary rock. But the landscape then would not have featured dry grass and sagebrush (which smells wonderful, lemony!) as it does now. 

This area was part of the Western Interior Seaway that divided North America, providing a shallow body of water connecting the Gulf of Mexico with the Arctic Sea during the middle to late Cretaceous period. Water levels rose and fell, but in the process, some of the largest dinosaurs to walk the earth left evidence of their existence.

The fossils found in Montana include beasts like Tyrannosaurus Rex, lots of Triceratops, ankylosaurs as well as hadrosaurs, featured in the photo here. This Anatotitan Copei, at 30-feet long, is one of the most well-preserved hadrosaur fossils of its type and is featured in the Carter County Museum in Ekalaka, Montana, discovered in 1938 by the founding director of the museum.

Other findings from the area include triceratops full-grown and infant shown here. (Infant triceratops?!)

The museum -- and the region -- continue to draw paleontologists and dinosaur enthusiasts. In August of 2020, a group of 8th and 9th graders helped scientists dig out fossilized mosasaur bones, a marine reptile from the Cretaceous period. 

The predators have alligator-like heads on long bodies and two rows of teeth like certain sharks. An annual dinosaur "shindig" at the museum (preparations busily underway when I arrived) allows kids and scientists to share their enthusiasm and knowledge.

Fossils from early mammals have also been found in the area, including this Plesiadapid reimagined, which has some characteristics of a rodent and some of a small primate. Scientists have yet to agree on its classification.

Besides the museum, started by amateur paleontologists inspired by what they and local ranchers were finding, Ekalaka is home to an unusual rock formation known as the Medicine Rocks.

The rocks are made of sandstone, compressed under water and gradually revealed as the climate dried. But they have weathered in an unusual way.

Some of them stand straight up like the heads from Easter Island. Others are in groups. But the unusual weathering makes it easy to see a face or an animal in their shapes.

The unusual erosion results from the fragility of the sandstone combined with wind and water. But scientists aren't entirely sure why the holes. It's possible fallen trees were trapped in the sand as the stone formed, eventually rotting away, leaving holes behind.

An earlier theory suggests large marine worms created these holes during the formation of the sandstone. This theory is somewhat out of favor, but I was assured it was still under consideration.

Medicine Rocks goes by that name because the area was sacred to Native Americans, dating back to the paleo-Indians who left behind petroglyphs on the surfaces. 

For the Lakota, Cheyenne, Crow and other tribes, the location was a place for vision quests or other religious ceremonies. 

Unfortunately, the rock markings Moominmama found were hardly ancient -- lots of initials and who loves who 4ever. This is now illegal but also difficult to police.

The drive back from Ekalaka took Moominmama across long dirt roads, unfurling over the bleached-out hills at sunset. The drought here is bad, and people talk about it constantly. It's the go-to conversation standing in line at the supermarket. Ranchers have been unable to harvest enough hay from their land to feed their cattle. 

The Powder River is exactly that, and the Yellowstone River is more stone than river, though its fast-moving water remains vital, greening the low-lying fields in this picture below, seen from horseback. Moominmama has not been on a horse since she was a teen, but it's definitely the best way to traverse this landscape. I know you are getting plenty of rain back east and wish you could send some here!