Fort Missoula and the Carousel

We had planned quite a few things to do in Missoula.  It turned out to be a good thing since we ended up stranded there.  But we didn't know any of that was coming when we headed out to see Fort Missoula.

We stopped by Caras Park on the way to Fort Missoula. 

 They have  huge playground and an old restored carousel. 

This Dragon held rings that you try to grab as the carousel goes by. 

If you get the gold ring you win a free ride.

We took time for a picnic.

Then it was off to the Museum at Fort Museum

There is no fort really left here.  But there is a lot of history.  The Fort was used for a variety of things over the years including a detention center for Japanese and Italian men in the early 1940s, military training center in the 1920s, even a prison camp for people accused of military crimes.  But now the land mostly is a staging spot for a variety of historical buildings that have been brought here.  Buildings that are historical artifacts from when the area was settled all the way up through a more modern military history museum.  There was lots to see and we tried to see it all but it was hot, probably the hottest day of our vacation. And the forest fire smoke was making it very hard to breathe.  Here is some of what we had time to see.

Inside the museum there were hands on displays for the kids. 

Here is a bugle display that allows the children to hear different bugle calls.

There was a display of some of the items that were not allowed through the mail to the Japanese people who were detained here in 1941.  This little handmade doll was one of things considered "enemy mail" and never made it to the recipient.

A mock of an early Missoula store front included period clothes dress ups for guys and gals. 

This old lookout tower was built in the 1930s and moved here during the 1980s.  You can climb up and look out but only 2 of us were brave enough.

You can see Jacob and Clara waving from the right corner of the tower.

This is the guard cabin that was with the lookout tower.

Nothing to really say here other than- Look how small they look!

Inside of an old train station office.

Old schoolhouse

A couple of homesteads

A look back at the museum building on the way back to the van.

The van broke down about 10 minutes after we took this picture.