Snow Holes: Revealing the Past
During a recent snow storm, I took my 35mm camera for an afternoon walk around the stately Fort Missoula grounds. On one end of the property is an eclectic mix of antique logging equipment, a scattering of log cabins, a steam locomotive, and a historical museum housed in the old quartermaster's building. On the other end are elegant looking buildings arranged neatly on streets lined with 100 year old elm trees. It's quite beautiful. This prettier side of the property seems out of place for shabby Missoula, Montana, and with their red clay roof tiles and white plastered walls, the old barracks might be a better fit for the Presidio of San Francisco.
Despite all the beauty Fort Missoula offers, there's an ugly side too. It was the site of an internment camp for a 1000 Japanese "enemy aliens" and 1200 Italian POWs during WWII. It has a quirky side too. in the late 1800's this site housed the Buffalo Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Regiment who at one point experimented using a bicycle corp, riding with all their gear to and from Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. Imagining a bunch of soldiers riding bikes is humorous to me for some reason.
With lots of history comes lots of interpretive signage on the property. I walked around to each one, picked a random spot on the sign and cleared the snow away. Whatever was revealed was what I photographed. It was a fun little activity, and at times it felt a little like gambling. It was like playing one of those scratch-off lottery tickets — sometimes I would just reveal a line or a word, and once in a while I would hit the jackpot with a historical photo of prisoners working in a field, or a line of police officers mugging for the camera.
