We feel so fortunate to have stumbled across this special Harvest Host, unlike any we have visited before.

Bear Gulch is privately owned land that holds nearly 5,000 pictographs and petroglyphs encompassing more than 1,000 years of Blackfeet history. The family, who has owned the property since the early 1900s, now provides tours of these remarkably well-preserved native drawings.

We were familiar with Petroglyphs having visited newspaper rock in the Painted Desert (Arizona) and Three Rivers Petroglyph Site (New Mexico). Petroglyphs are images carved on stone.

However, Pictographs, which are drawings on rock using an applied pigment, were new to us. Being an applied material, pictographs are more affected by weather and tend to fade. Fortunately, software is available now that can improve the visibility of faded images. More on that a bit later.

Artists sometimes used both paint (pictograph) and etching (petroglyph) in the same drawing. Note how the carvings accentuate the pictograph in the photo below.

The Lundgren family traded a cow, a calf and two horses for the 40-acre property more than a 100 years ago. Three generations later, Lundgren descendants still own the land. The family has cared for the gulch and the pictographs ever since. In fact, Macie Ahlgren, whose grandfather made the trade for the land, provided a tour for us. It is her passion for the land that led to documentation of the pictographs and petroglyphs by the Oregon Archeological Society, and the establishment of a small on-site museum.

We spent a very quiet Montana night next to the visitor center the evening before our tour. That’s Bear Gulch in the photo above, just beyond the museum building.

Macie pulled up alongside our RV with her rescue dog, Blue, for the tour the next morning. Macie and her family partnered with Blackfeet geologist Souta Calling Last, the Blackfeet Nation, and local businesses to develop the visitor center and its educational programs and exhibits, with many more improvements planned.

Our hike into the gulch was replete with stories told by Macie of the path and the long history and development of the site. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day and the pictographs were fascinating and plentiful.

Sadly, many of the pictographs have faded over the decades. However, as mentioned above, software is available that will enhance the image. While visiting the American Prairie Headquarters in Lewistown, one of the staff members informed us about iDStretch enhancement software. The improvements were significant, as seen below.

What we enjoy most about the Harvest Host program is finding people who are passionate about their “calling”, whether it’s distilling spirits, brewing beer, or caring for a sacred site. Macie’s love for this land has inspired and brought many people together to help maintain and promote this special place.

Thankfully, BearGulch Pictographs allows Harvest Host tour takers to stay for 2 nights. Thus, we were able to rest from the hike and contemplate and process all that we had seen and experienced during the day. We left Bear Gulch with a profound appreciation and deep respect for both the land and the family who owns it. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to this family for their unwavering, years’-long, labor of love.

Thanks for following along.