In early June of 1805, the Corps of Discovery - the Lewis and Clark Expedition - reached the confluence of the Marias and Missouri Rivers. The Marias was a sizable river, formed when Cut Bank Creek flows into the Two Medicine River. Just before it flows into the Missouri, it is joined by the Teton River. The expedition came to a standstill and a disagreement. While Captains Lewis and Clark were convinced that the southern river was the Missouri, most of the other participants of the expedition thought that the northern river was the one to follow. Their travel information, received primarily from Hidatsa tribal members the previous winter, didn’t mention a Y in the river with a choice to be made. The next landmark of which they knew was the great waterfall.

Lewis named the tributary the Marias River in honor of his cousin Maria Wood. Later, on their return journey, he would lead his half of the expedition on an exploration of part of the Marias, including a nearly fatal encounter with the Blackfoot people. West bound, however, the entire expedition was together and Lewis and Clark stood on top of a hill in a place they named “Decision Point.” The could see mountains off to the south - probably the Highwoods near Fort Benton. Although the high country of Glacier Park was off to the northwest, it was far enough away that they couldn’t see those high peaks. Their choice was to go with the southern branch. They made the correct choice and continued up the Missouri River towards Great Falls.

I imagine that the rivers were near flood stage at the time. In early June the snows are really melting in the high country and the Marias and Teton Rivers would have been swelled with fresh runoff. I also imagine that the land around the area was green - the way it looks in the spring. The grasses are lush and productive. Later in the summer all of that land turns gold and then brown as the heat of summer matures the prairie stretching off to the North and the East. It is dry land wheat country these days with a few hay fields around the edges. A lot of hard red winter wheat has just been harvested from those fields that stretch deep into Alberta and Saskatchewan.

I spent two summers of my life working in the wheat fields a bit south of Decision Point. We cut hay at Loma, not far from where Lewis and Clark stood. I’ve driven on the gravel back roads north towards US 2 - the road known as the high line in Montana because of its proximity to Canada. I’ve driven the road between Havre and Shelby in the heat of the summer and the chill of winter. It is empty country. There are a few small towns, named by the railroad people: Fresno and Kremlin and Rudyard. The only intersection with a paved road is at Chester. The highway runs right next to the railroad tracks all through Blaine, Hill, Liberty and Toole Counties.

I love that country up there. I love its emptiness. I love the way the wind sweeps across the prairie. I love the clear air and the blue skies. I love the starry nights when the universe seems to stretch on forever above your head. But I know how the dust can sting your eyes and I know how you can change a flat tire without seeing another car coming in either direction. It is empty country.

Up there, near the town of Joplin, the west-bound Amtrack Empire Builder - a name that has been associated with the rail line since the Great Northern Railroad was completed - went off the tracks yesterday afternoon. Crews had been working on the tracks up there, but no one expected what happened. A couple of cars tipped over. About 50 people were injured. Three died as a result of their injuries.

One of the anomalies of Amtrack scheduling is that the train, which runs from New York to Seattle, arrives at Glacier National Park during the night. Some of the most scenic and beautiful parts of the trip are when the passengers are sleeping. Those who are awake can’t see the scope of the vistas in the dark. The Empire Builder didn’t make it to Browning or to Glacier yesterday, however.

Most of those small towns have an ambulance and a group of volunteers who are on call to respond to farm accidents and highway accidents. They are not set up for mass casualty events because there aren’t that many masses of people up there. There are hospitals at Havre and Shelby and a small clinic and emergency center at Chester, but none of those facilities are capable of handling 50 patients at the same time. The nearest trauma center is at Great Falls and patients are transported there by helicopter one at a time when care is needed.

It has been hard to get much news about what happened. Train derailments are rare but not unheard of. Passenger train accidents most commonly occur in populated areas with lots of emergency services. I imagine that those on the train had to wait a long time for first responders to arrive and when they came, those who arrived first were in no way set up to handle the size of the emergency. Area high schools probably were the best places to take a group of people evacuated from the train. The nearest busses would have been the school buses generally parked for the weekend except the activity buses taking football teams to games in nearby towns. The Hill County Sheriff must have quickly exhausted his list of officials to muster and started to call on everyday citizens to come and assist. Montanans are a hearty lot and quick to offer help when needed. You might have to wait for another car to come along if you’re broken down on the highway up there, but you can count on that car stopping and helping.

The survivors of the train wreck will all have stories to tell for the rest of their lives. Among those stories, I’m sure, will be tales of how few people there are in that part of the world - and of how good those few people are.