Montana Secondary 435

Highway 435 tosses about somewhat fitfully as it finds a way through the ranches and ICBM missile sites where the Great Plains greet the Rocky Mountains.  The missiles—tipped with nuclear warheads—were planted deep underground in the rolling grasslands and aimed at the Soviet Union during the peak of the Cold War.

In a sense, the highway straddles two worlds.

Montana 435 is the line of demarcation between the Rocky Mountain Front and the Great Plains, which continue on for nearly 1000 miles more before bumping into the Great Lakes region.  The Mountains virtually erupt from the prairie here.  And just beyond the first overthrust wall of stony peaks lies the Bob Marshall wilderness, one of the most pristine roadless areas in the lower 48 states.

As you swing through the scarps and swales and gentle rises, you occasion upon small squares of land fenced by chain-link and devoid of flora within.  There, under the gravel and dust cover,  lie the missiles.

On a rare day, you might chance upon a herd of elk spilling across the prairie and skirting around a missile site.

Two worlds meet.   

                                                            Rear View (Great Plains)

Front Range of the Rocky Mountains

Missle Site (photo: JJ Richey)

 

--Mitchell Hegman