- [John] Coming up on "Backroads of Montana".

- Good morning.

- [John] Visit a one-room schoolhouse where there's lots to learn.

- It's so much fun.

(bright piano music) - [John] Listen to a different way to enjoy classical music amongst Montana's classic beauty.

- [Hunter] The music becomes a soundtrack to the place.

- [John] Travel to the smallest town in Montana, where the trikes cause the traffic jams.

- [Katie] Road rage at five years old.

- [John] And in North Central Montana, learn that no detail is too small for a determined group restoring the town's old depot.

- A cherry wood toilet seat in a depot, can you imagine?

- [John] Those stories coming up after this quick break.

(eggs cracking) - Oh!

- Oh, no!

How did he do?

- [Narrator] "Backroads of Montana" is made possible with production support from the Greater Montana Foundation, encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans, the Big Sky Film Grant, and the University of Montana.

♪ Home is where Montana is ♪ ♪ Montana is my home ♪ ♪ From mountain peaks to prairie lands ♪ ♪ The places I have known ♪ ♪ And I'm bound to ramble ♪ ♪ Yes, I'm bound to roam ♪ ♪ And when I'm in off the road now, boys ♪ ♪ Montana is my home ♪ (gentle music) - Welcome to "Back Roads of Montana", shining a light on the wonderful places and people across our state.

I'm John Twiggs.

And on this episode, we get to explore another small Montana town and learn the history of Hysham.

(gentle music) Sitting near the Yellowstone River, among the rolling hills and ranch land, Hysham is about halfway between Billings and Miles City.

The place was named after area rancher Charlie Hysham, who never actually lived here, but when he had supplies delivered to this spot, they would yell, "This is for Hysham," and the name stuck.

It officially became a town in 1916.

During the show, we'll explore architecture you wouldn't expect in Montana, learn the story behind these more traditional buildings, plus a visit to the Treasure County Museum to see some surprising pieces of history.

A big part of Montana's education history is the one-room schoolhouse.

Small rural schools hold a special place in our state.

We travel to South Central Montana to discover students are still learning big things inside a small school.

♪ Friday, Saturday, then we start again ♪ - Hello, I'm Annikka.

- [Student] I am 10.

- I'm in third grade.

- And more books.

- Then you have the silver crystal.

- [John] There, you've met the entire student body for Nye School.

- Having a good time?

- It goes sideways.

(upbeat music) - [Students] 28, 30.

- [Linda] What is the capital of our state?

- [Students] Helena!

- [Linda] Helena, good job.

♪ October, November, December ♪ ♪ These are the months of the year, wah, wah ♪ - Then we're going to do a horse.

- [Student] Basically, a fun learning experience.

- [John] The preparation starts early for Linda Wombolt.

She had almost 20 years teaching experience in schools big and small in Idaho and Wyoming before returning to her native Montana for something truly unique.

- Then I became a teacher of everything.

Teacher of all the subjects, all the students, all the ages, all the grades.

(laughs) Good morning.

Good morning.

- [John] Ramona and her husband, Randy, bring most of the student body when their three boys arrive.

- The size of my class now is five.

Two first graders, two third graders, and a fourth grader.

Ready?

Begin.

- [John] The teacher they call Miss W keeps all the grades going at the same time.

There's reading... - Books.

It's just, reading is so much fun.

- [Linda] Timer's on.

- [John] Math, and some new technology, in this old time setting.

- I like to do Stack the States.

It gives you questions about the states, and you have to get one correct.

- I also love geography.

Like.

I place all of, like, all of the states in one place without looking at a map one time.

- [John] These students are part of a long standing tradition in Montana.

(upbeat music) Set in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains, next to the tiny town of Nye, the schoolhouse was completed in 1931.

The builders used stones from the nearby Stillwater River after the previous school burned down.

In the 1900s, these small schoolhouses dotted the vast Montana landscape.

- [Linda] It just wasn't easy to get kids to bigger towns, so that's why a lot of these little one room school rooms cropped up.

- [John] As transportation improved and distances shrank, the need and the number of these schools declined.

That's why people are surprised to learn Montana has almost 50 of these small schools still operating.

That's the most in the nation.

- And let's get ready for recess.

All right, Gideon, we're leaving without you.

You need to hurry.

- [John] It's hard to get left behind in schools like these, where recess can be the traditional kind... - I'm higher!

- I'm higher!

- I'm higher!

- [John] Or the special Montana kind.

- Yeah, we saw a bear.

That was the first time I've ever saw a bear.

- [Linda] So remember, you're supposed to be working while you have your snack.

- [John] Back in the classroom, Miss W does have helpers, but the students work together.

- She uses her back feet.

- [John] And it's a place where the third graders can help the first graders.

- You could do this.

Kobey, Kobey, Kobey.

- [John] Most are ahead of grade level in their schoolwork.

Heck, first grader Kobey isn't even thinking about second grade.

- Then when I turn nine, I am going to be in the third grade, which is probably going to be kinda...

Wait, is it easy at the third grade?

- [Linda] A parallelogram.

Say that really fast.

- [Students] Parallelogram.

- [Linda] Say it faster.

- [Students] Parallelogram.

- Okay, all you guys are pretty good at it.

Good job.

Got 'em all?

I think that that one-on-one is so important with the kids.

"Because, boy, you sure tried to confuse me, didn't you?"

- "I acted, though he did that."

- One room schoolhouse.

The teacher is able to teach them.

She knows them really well.

She doesn't have a lot of kids.

She can focus on ours.

- [Linda] Get some sleep tonight, my goodness.

I saw your tonsils there.

- With Miss W, it's like a family, versus an educator.

She's pouring into our children just immensely personal, social, emotional, one-on-one attention.

- "It's the last night."

- [Linda] Like a dinosaur!

- Oh.

(chuckles) "It's the last night."

- [Linda] Okay, so go get your lunches.

- [John] There are challenges at the small school.

There's no cafeteria, just a spot in the basement.

PE class can be tricky when you wanna play baseball with just five kids.

(students yelling) But no matter how small the school, certain things remain the same.

- Why is Paul winning?

- [Student] That's when the chaos happens.

- Counting down from five, be at your desk.

Five.

Four.

(whimsical music) Three.

Two.

Kobey, Kobey, Kobey.

Kobey.

This is quiet working time.

The kids think I have eyes in the back of my head, the side of my head.

I quite often get, "How did you know that?"

(laughs) "How did you see that?"

Let me see what you've got here.

- [John] By the end of the day, it's clear the connections are what make these schools memorable, because even when you're having a really, really bad day, there is somebody there for you.

- Look at me.

You can do it, okay?

I know you can.

(gentle music) - [Linda] For over a century, the teachers, the students, and the communities keep this small school tradition going.

- [Linda] And I would have to say this is probably the best teaching job I've ever had.

- These small schools in Montana could not survive without strong community support.

Each year, folks in and around the town of Nye hold a pie auction to raise money for school field trips and special supplies for the students.

(whimsical music) When visitors drive into the town of Hysham, this theater's unique architecture certainly grabs their attention.

The Yucca Theater was built in 1931 by Jim and David Manning to help spice up the town during the Great Depression.

David, who served in the state legislature for over 50 years, was a champion of Montana's rural communities.

He liked the Spanish mission style, and at one point, converted the backstage of the theater into his home.

It was the first building in Treasure County listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Today, it's once again being used as a theater, and workers are helping refurbish the exterior, trying to keep this community resource looking beautiful.

Natural beauty is everywhere here in Eastern Montana and all across the state.

It almost has a classical feel to it.

Which made it a perfect match for a unique outdoor classical music performance.

We're off to Western Montana and the Bitterroot Valley, where a concert pianist helps his audience become active listeners of the music he loves.

(upbeat piano music) - I grew up hunting, fishing, you know, backpacking, and I just love being outside.

And I also love this music, and so this was a way for me to bring those two things that I love together.

Basically, that truck pulling that 16 foot trailer, and the piano lives on that trailer.

That transforms into a stage.

It's a nine foot Steinway, so it's the biggest piano that Steinway makes.

It's the same piano that's in Carnegie Hall and in most major halls around the world.

"IN A LANDSCAPE" is a outdoor classical music concert series.

This is part of also an event for the Bitterroot Land Trust.

- Their mission really aligns with what the Bitterroot Land Trust does, and that is really connecting people to conservation and the natural world.

(upbeat piano music) - For about a third of our audience, this is their very first experience with live classical music.

(gentle piano music) And we give the audience wireless headphones, so they can listen to the music and wander through the landscape.

And the idea is that the music becomes a soundtrack to the place.

There are certain pieces where I'll tell people to get up and wander.

Like, "This is a great piece to wander around."

- I've never been a part of any kinda concert venue where you had to have the headphones on to be able listen to the music.

(audience applauding) You could walk around, explore it all, and then listen to music at the same time.

So, that was pretty cool.

(upbeat piano music) - [Hunter] Other pieces where I invite people up onto the stage to listen from underneath the piano, my favorite place to listen to the piano.

- When you're under there and the stage sort of reverberates and the piano reverberates and the sound, you feel it rather than just sort of having it on your ears, it's sort of in your bones.

- [Hunter] You know, we have some smoke from nearby fires.

There's a beauty to this haze, and there's also something to learn from it.

(upbeat piano music) My hope when people walk away from this is that they feel a connection with the other people that are here, that they feel a connection with this music and with me.

(audience applauding) - Hunter Noack and his team perform more than 50 concerts each year in scenic locations typically in the Pacific Northwest.

They've already had return engagements in Montana, and are planning more, where the spectacular scenery will complement the classical music.

(gentle music) This unassuming storefront in Downtown Hysham actually holds many gems.

The Treasure County Museum took over the building in 1989.

One of the previous owners was a business called Queeny's, and her soda fountain is now one of the many displays.

There's also a harsh reminder of western justice, as Treasure County is believed to be the site of Montana's last hanging in 1923.

Area residents are also represented, like saddle bronc champion, J.C. Bonine, and one of Hysham's most famous part-time residents, astronaut Frank Borman.

Frank was one of the first men to orbit the Moon on the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.

- And it's just donations that people have given from their families.

This is, "Comes from here", and this is, "Oh, I remember this," so people can know what it was like in the past and to preserve history.

- Treasure County is one of the least populated counties in the state.

Our next story takes us to an even smaller place, and we're not talking population.

Safety Town is a small scale, two stoplight town.

This tiny spot in North Central Montana is designed for soon to be kindergartners to get hands-on experience, to stay safe in all sorts of situations down the road.

- Beep, beep!

The light is green!

Watch where you're going, girl!

- [Veronica] Safety Town is a mini village with a purpose.

Are there any cars coming?

- [Ryan] These are skills that all kids, and even adults, need to know- How does that feel?

As they navigate a community.

- Practice your phone number.

We all have a different cell phone number, so choose the one number that you want your child to know.

It's not just kids learning their ABCs.

We're talking about potentially saving a child's life.

All right, I'm so glad you're taking part.

Thanks for being here.

Rain or shine, we have Safety Town.

- [Teacher] Woo-hoo!

It's very cold!

- The first day is a lot of deer in the headlights look.

- We don't go inside the buildings.

Good question, Audrey.

- [Veronica] They're not aware of what a stop sign is, or a yield sign.

They don't know what side of the road they're supposed to be on or what direction they're supposed to travel.

- This way.

Around and around and around.

- When Bridger got invited, I realized he's a very reckless kid, and Safety Town might be really good for him.

(chuckles) - I'm a huge safety nut.

I'm really big on safety.

So finding out that they have a program here that teaches kids safety, like, at such an early age, I thought it was a phenomenal thing.

- [Veronica] It's amazing how quickly they catch on in the short time that we have 'em.

- We have to watch out for wild deers.

(upbeat music) - Safety Town was started back in the late 1930s by a police officer when a child was hit by a car and killed walking to school.

And so I was introduced to it years ago when my children were young.

- That means it's poison in there.

Do you take it?

- [Veronica] And so I was very surprised when I came back to Montana that we didn't have one here.

- [Teacher] Look, you ran a stop sign.

- [Veronica] Because it had such an impact on my children.

- Stop, you gotta look both ways, okay?

- Everybody look right.

Look left.

We not only cover traffic safety, but we cover water safety and fire safety and weapon safety.

- Why is yours bigger than hers?

- [Ryan] We have a police department day, we have a Great Falls firefighter day.

- You wanna be safe.

You don't wanna get hurt.

- [Ryan] We have an emergency service day with the ambulance.

- My heart is going, like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

- [Veronica] It's nice that their first experience with an ambulance or the EMTs is a positive one, and their first experience with a police officer is a positive one.

- Watch your step.

- Never stick your hand anywhere in the tractor.

- [Veronica] We live in a place where agriculture is a big deal, and so we felt like farm safety was something we wanted to incorporate.

- That's why if we slip, we wanna be going backwards.

Right here.

So we can always have three points of contact.

- Having them hear it from someone that's not their parent, of, "Wear your helmet when you're doing these activities and look both ways before you cross the street and think about this," and I think kindergarten's a really ripe age for them to do that at.

- We do carry Band-Aids, we carry things to help- - You know, I can't have a fire engine pull up and have them tour it, or, you know, build a mini town in my backyard.

(upbeat music) - [Veronica] It's really amazing the transition that happens in the two weeks time.

- Slow down and look around.

- [Parent] Did we just have a collision here?

- They're always in a hurry, but it's amazing to see how they even help each other, because they'll even put their hand out and say, "We have to look before we cross the street."

- [Parent] Uh-oh, they see a bike coming.

(whistle blowing) - [Veronica] And most of the time, they're going the right direction and they're staying on the right side of the road.

- Did she look both ways?

And off she goes.

They haven't necessarily developed any distaste for school or being in the classroom yet that they might develop as they get older, and they love displaying their knowledge of the content area, especially on the celebration day for graduation.

- I've been told that they have the best backseat drivers they've ever had, because they now see the road from the driver's perspective.

- I get asked frequently how fast I'm going in the car.

I get told every sign that we pass by.

He wore a helmet while cleaning the bathroom yesterday.

- [Jordan] That awareness is something that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives, hopefully.

- [Veronica] And if it saves one life, it's worth doing.

- While Great Falls is the state's only Safety Town right now, the program has had a couple of past runs in Montana, the longest being in Dillon, from the 1970s to the 1990s.

(gentle music) Around the town of Hysham and Treasure County, curious visitors can find more examples of preserving history.

Just a few miles east, there used to be an even smaller town of Sanders, where they have a different style gymnasium.

This rustic structure was built in 1940.

While the town is gone, the building still works as a community center, and placed together thanks to dedicated local residents like Bob and Pat Miller.

Northwest of Hysham, there's what's believed to be the oldest public building in Treasure County.

The Rancher School actually predates Hysham becoming a town.

it's no longer a school, but now operates as an antique store and gathering place thanks to more hardworking preservation efforts.

Preservation is at the heart of our final story.

We're back to North central Montana, where the preservation of two distinctly different things happens to share one unusual common denominator.

Word's out on Geraldine.

- It wasn't just a drive-by on Highway 80.

They already knew it was here, and they made the effort to come out here to look around and see it.

- [John] And what they're coming to see is the town's 110-year-old Milwaukee Road Depot, thoroughly restored by Monica and Karen and a few of their close friends.

- And so then I got on the phone to Karen and Sally and Bev and Marcella, and her and I did it.

There was no men helping us.

(Karen laughs) - [John] Eventually, the men kicked in, putting up a new roof and a fresh coat of paint.

Wes Duce replaced the missing ticket window with an identical one he found in a cow pasture.

- I believe when we first started out redoing or recovering or re-homing, re-loving this building, that we wanted it to look like a working depot.

- [John] And that it does, right down to its 1914 policy requiring separate men's and women's waiting rooms.

Today, longtime depot agent HC Merkel would find everything he needed for work, from two sets of tracks to a telegraph.

To return the depot to its original design, Monica and Karen had to pull out a three room apartment and several false walls.

- That was fun though.

- Yeah, we had fun.

We were karate kicking the walls.

(laughs) - [John] And as with any big project, there were a couple of unexpected setbacks.

- And we walked in there, and the hardwood floor's all gone.

I said, "Goob, where the hell did the floor go?"

And he goes, "I don't know."

- [John] But it's not the floor that's of interest, it's the door, and what's carved into it.

- The name Tex, T-E-X, is in the door of the ladies' waiting room.

(upbeat music) - [John] In 2021, Mike and Charlie Wray were making a loop through Central Montana.

They were looking for names.

This father and son team are the founders and sole members of the Historic Graffiti Society, an organization that discovers and researches hobo era graffiti, generally from America's Great Depression.

Old graffiti, lightly scratched or in pencil, and often obscured by recent graffiti, is not easy to spot.

- Yeah, I think on a personal level, it's just the enjoyment of the hunt, or being out on a road trip, explore parts of the country that we would probably never get around to seeing otherwise.

It's a good feeling.

But yeah, in general, for me, it's just the treasure hunt.

- [John] So far, their hunt had been a bust.

Then they got to Geraldine.

- It was pretty wonderful to open the door there at Geraldine and find a mark from Tex K.T.

- [John] Arguably, Tex K.T.

might be America's second most famous tramp.

- Probably well known in the niche of hobos, and I think that's who he cared about being known amongst.

- [John] Tex was famous because of the widespread presence of his moniker, or road name.

And it's the addition of K.T., King of Tramps, that distinguishes him as a tramp.

There is a difference.

Hobos travel, usually looking for seasonal work.

A tramp also travels, but doesn't work, instead relying on his wits for a free meal, dry shelter, and occasionally getting clean, all while dodging railroad cops and the law.

Mike and Charlie estimate that Tex carved or painted his moniker in close to 20,000 locations, sometimes leaving a date, with an arrow indicating his next direction of travel.

That's how tramps communicated with one another.

The idea of a secret hobo code has never been verified.

Probably a myth popularized in newspapers.

- We generally believe that they're greatly exaggerated and may never have really been used at all in any meaningful way.

- [John] To be honest, hobos and tramps did their fair share of mythmaking.

Fanciful stories and downright lies were held in high regard.

- Another activity around the campfire would be story telling, and that was a life skill for tramps.

Something really respected, if you could tell a good story.

- [John] Ironically, it was a 1931 story in the Billings Gazette that provides most of the info on Tex K.T.

In it, Tex claimed that he was arrested while, "Using the moonlight and liquid shoe polish to leave my mark."

He told the Gazette that he was born in Panama, French-Canadian ancestry, that he was 14 when he left home in 1915, and then he had tramped all over the world, so far, leaving his mark in over 7,000 locations.

He promised the paper and the police that he would never do it again.

A lie, as he ambitiously carved or painted his moniker for another 30 years until the 1960s.

That's when Charlie and Mike lost track of Tex.

There were no arrests in Geraldine over the missing floorboards.

It was a simple misunderstanding.

Wes, who replaced the ticket window, replaced the floor too, leaving Monica free for other repairs.

- For me personally, the proudest that I am is of the toilet seat.

(Karen laughs) Because it's a wooden toilet seat, and so I stripped it and sanded it.

It's cherry wood.

(toilet flushes) And so that's the original toilet seat.

- [John] The fixtures and the floor aside, everyone involved knows the real value of the old depot.

- It's kind of like the soul, of the, yeah, the community.

'Cause like you say, when you come into town, it's the first thing you see.

(train horn blaring) - [John] After 15 years of hard work, the Geraldine depot is ready to go back into service.

Excursions, a museum, an event center, Monica, Karen, and the depot board are weighing the possibilities.

- I think our most proud thing is that we were able to get it back to what it looked like in the heyday.

- [John] Whatever its future, the Geraldine Depot stands prepared, patiently waiting for the next inbound freight, maybe with Tex on board, or someone just like him, hopping a free ride.

- There's definitely still a pretty close knit group of people out doing it.

I mean, I'd say these days more than ever, we need to give them consideration and treat them like human beings.

- If you spot what might be hobo graffiti, Mike and Charlie have three recommendations.

First, take a photo, even if it's using your cell phone.

Second, be careful who you share the information with.

And third, if you have questions, you can contact them at the Historic Graffiti Society.

Well, that's all the time we have for this episode.

We'd like to thank everyone here for their hospitality in Hysham.

They want travelers to know they're open for business, and encourage visitors to what they call Montana's Hidden Treasure.

We're always encouraging you to send us a great story idea.

If you have one, drop us a message on our Facebook page, or you can write to us at Backroads of Montana, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, 59812.

We've got more great stories to share and two lanes to travel.

I'm John Twiggs, and we hope to see you out on the "Backroads of Montana".

♪ Montana is my home ♪ ♪ From mountain peaks to prairie lands ♪ ♪ The places I have known ♪ ♪ And I'm bound to ramble ♪ ♪ Yes, I'm bound to roam ♪ ♪ And when I'm in off the road now, boys ♪ ♪ Montana is my home ♪ ♪ Coming I'm in off the road now, boys ♪ ♪ You know I'm heading home ♪ (gentle music)