2APRIL2013 @ Manhattan, MT -

At 0745 Stuart and I met at a bakery in Belgrade (and there it is - the opening line of a Country/Western song).  By 0800 I was hoofing east and Stuart was headed back to his home construction.  It is an extremely pleasant day with essentially no wind, lots of sun and temperature above 60.  Not having remembered my hat, I know I will be showing a red face soon but such is the nature of a shakedown cruise - or hike in this case.
Several miles out of Manhattan I crossed the Gallatin River and found a shady spot.  In 1974 I lived at Central Park for over a month until getting an apartment in Bozeman.  My residence was an abandoned Cheese Factory and now it is totally gone.  I wonder if the current house uses the same well; I did not knock to ask.  1974 ... that was 39 years ago, folks.  William Clark and his crew walked here 207 years ago.  Whew!  How is it that the 39 years seems so long and the 207 years so short?
Upon leaving Central Park the highway has been widened for a half mile or so.  Not only wider pavement, but side slopes are gentle and 50-feet wide ... much safer travel.  Grass is not established; the work was evidently completed in 2012.  On the south side are two white crosses, 40 feet off the pavement, bearing the names Melanie and Aeryn.   Melanie was a 17-year old mom-to-be and Aeryn was the "to be" of that duo.  How they came to die there I do not know, but clearly it was an automobile wreck.  The time was January 2010 and from what I could see the site was probably marked almost immediately.  Marked it is with two personalized metal crosses bearing each name as well as marked by the normal Montana-installed metal crosses.  How much time normally passes before the state's crosses get established I do not know ... a slight delay is what I expect.  Personalized crosses, though, are beyond what is normally seen at these type sites and from what I could see they probably went up in January 2010.  So what did I see?  My attention was drawn to the 4 crosses because they were surrounded by ungrassed soil; somebody had reestablished them after then recent highway work.  Why not the construction crew?  Perhaps, and maybe even probably, the crosses were indeed reestablished by those thoughtful folks.  What took loving attention, though, is the immense quantity of other items left around these crosses ... a raggedy ann doll, 2 wreaths, a scarecrow, a stuffed rabbit, a necklace, a plastic frog, 2 plastic butterflies, 5 stuffed bears, 2 stuffed dogs, and about 180 plastic flowers all situated on a quilt made in 2001 by Kathy Thompson and all lighted with two solar powered lights.  No, I doubt this was done by a construction crew, as wonderful as most construction folks are, this site has seen the loving attention that comes from the heart of relatives, relatives who three years after the wreck maintain a regular vigil and who will never allow the memory of Melanie and Aeryn to fade.  204 years before their dying here, 15-year old Sakakawea and baby Baptiste Charbonneau passed over the Gallatin River at essentially this same place.  If unseen caregivers have their way and if love's depth truly has no bounds, Melanie and Aeryn will be remembered equally as long.