Bob Marshall ride 1998
Marie Monroe celebrated her 77th birthday in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, fulfilling a lifetime dream of seeing it from the back of a horse.
“Big Sky County”, also known as Montana, is where Marie grew up. She lived half her life there, managing life as rancher, horse breeder and trainer. As you might imagine she didn’t always have time to pursue her desire for adventure and travel even though living in Cut Bank placed her in close proximity to many of Montana’s spectacular parks. The one that most sparked her interest was the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Many times she expressed a desire to visit and experience the “China Wall” but before she could find the time she moved. She ended up leaving Montana and moving herself and her horses to Yakima, Washington in pursuit of better weather and a location closer to the racing tracks. She always regretted never making it to the “Bob” while living in Montana.
As they do, the years flew by living and working in Yakima but then in the spring of 1999 she received a phone call from longtime friends John and Bob Tomaskie. They asked her if she’d be interested in packing into the Bob Marshall Wilderness with them. Wow, she was going to see the “China Wall” on horseback after all. Included in the trip was Marie’s niece and a close friend Dianne Lukenbill. Her niece didn’t have a horse to ride so she had made arrangements with her friend and vet, Tony Smith, to borrow his Morgan “Doc” for the trip.
Bob, John and Jim outfitted the group with 6 big pack mules for the 7 day ride. They provided the provisions but Marie and company brought their own horses. In preparation for the ride Marie sent her horse out to get “fit” before the ride. When she climbed into the saddle the first day she hadn’t ridden for over a year! We joked about it by saying to her it would be so much easier if Ringo, her horse, was shorter. She responded by saying she didn’t need a log to mount a horse!
Every day was an immersion in the beauty of the “Bob”. It is known as a rare place where one can truly experience Montana wilderness and it didn’t disappoint. High mountain meadows blanketed with wildflowers and views that go on forever were a common site while riding 17 to 28 miles every other day. Marie was the only one who could walk when we got off to make camp in the afternoons! We thought this a testament to all the hours she had spent in the saddle working cattle, barrel racing and ponying.
Everyone had morning and evening chores. We were a group of friends sharing the labor of packing and fire side stories in the evening. All under a blazing star filled night sky. On the evening of Maries’ 77th birthday, Gail and Marie were out staking the electric horse fence for the evening. Bob and Dianne made a pineapple upside down cake over the camp fire in his Dutch oven. While it was cooling Marie and Gail came back into camp and Marie remarked, “I must be hungry, I can smell cake”! What a birthday we celebrated that evening; cake, candles and friends around the camp fire plus a good game of pinnacle. Marie beat the pants off all us; a night to remember and celebrate your 77th birthday.
We crossed the Continental Divide twice, going east and west taking in the iconic China Wall. It is a thousand foot high cliff that extends for twenty miles in the heart of remote wilderness; truly beautiful.
One day we sited Grizzly bears so we rode a good 8 hours before setting up camp. Marie didn’t show a sign of being tired in spite of the long day. That evening we placed our tent along a bluff overlooking the river and watched the skies cloud over. At about midnight the skies crackled with thunder and lightning. As usual in the morning we broke camp and headed out. Our next stop would include a layover day coupled with a short afternoon ride..
On the ride out John took us to see the view of a valley he thought we would like. Heading back to camp we hit a ridge and started to take a right turn, but Marie said no, that’s not the way, it’s this path here! She still had keen skills of observation and an uncanny sense of direction. It didn’t matter we were on a tree lined ridge, she knew the way back our camp.
The trip was everything you can imagine, an adventure of a life time, for her and the entire party. Sharing the camaraderie on horseback under the Big Blue Skies of Montana was priceless in itself. However, sharing in Maries’ gift of adventure and her tenacious was a treasure she gave to us all. She will be greatly missed.
Notes:John and Bobbie Tomaski are dear friends who live in Montana. Dianne Lukenbill has been a close friend of Maries for over 30 years. Gail Pimlott is Maries niece and she and Gail would take a weeks’ vacation every August in celebration of her birthday. I must say this was the best birthday she ever had!
