This brand new tour highlighted some of Ed Bearss' favorite historic sites in his beautiful home state of Montana.  We visited ghost towns, walked abandoned mining towns, and soaked in the spectacular scenery of two stunning National Parks--Glacier & Yellowstone.  We visited the outlaw haunt of Robbers Roost, and the gold rush towns of Nevada City and Virginia City.   The tour included historic sites pertaining to Lewis and Clark's Expedition and the flight of the Nez Perce Indians. We also followed Custer's Route from the Rosebud to the mouth of Reno Creek and spent a day interpreting the Battle of Little Big Horn. Participants raved about our Montana tour and rated it with a string of "10s," "10++s", a "12," one "100"(!) and several "9's." Ed Bearss, who has led countless history tours for the last four decades, declared that our Montana tour was the best tour he's ever led and it has become his new favorite tour of all time! 

Participants were effusive with their comments!  Here's what they thought of the trip in their own words...

“10- Excellent tour! I don’t know how it could have been any better! I can’t think of one thing that could have been improved upon. Nothing went wrong, everything was superb!  ..the red bus tour at Glacier was a fun way to see the park. The smokejumpers visit was different and very interesting..and the fun I had with all the other people on the tour.  The surprise steam train ride in Nevada City, the added stop at the Berkeley Pit in Butte and the photo CD show that Marty is constantly thinking of how to make a tour even better than it's itinerary. There isn’t a more personable tour manager in the U.S.!  ”

-- Paul Weber

“10-This was the best organized, most enjoyable tour I’ve ever taken. Better than Maupintour, Tauck, or History America for content, accommodation, food and enjoyment. I loved the content of the tour with so many themes and eras intertwined; every day was full of interest. I also very much appreciated the friendly, low-key way in which Marty Gane kept things on schedule…the meals were all excellent…thank you, thank you for the great array of choices at both lunch and dinner.”                                                                                             -- Gail Stephens

“100 plus! - We have done a lot of touring and a great deal of traveling on our own and this was our favorite trip ever (so far)!! We loved the variety of it – history, spectacular scenery, wildlife, museums, ghost towns, battlefields, smokejumpers, river cruises, lovely walks, challenging hikes, jammer rides, cowboys, Indians, Lewis & Clark, thermal features, history, history, history, a wonderful sample of and introduction to all of the BEST of Montana!!  A Marty Gane South Mountain Expeditions tour is to other tours as a sundae is to a bowl of ice cream!!  The research she does to find the most interesting and enjoyable places to tour, and the worthwhile and fun DVDs she shows on the bus to add to the experience, definitely put her tours in a class by themselves (thanks for the whipped cream, hot fudge & cherries, Marty!)”

      --Ken & Linda O’Bannon

“10! - We had a fantastic experience! We learned more than we imagined we could in such a short time,…Ed is fabulous! This was our first tour with him and I’m still amazed at how much he knows & how well he pulls together historical events, people, places. Marty is the consummate tour professional; excellent organization, funny, always smiling, patient, organized, knowledgeable about everything (history, culture, geography)."

--   Linda Allen & Ron Bass

“10  - Of course, we had high expectations for this tour – having traveled many times with Ed and Marty, and one of those prior tours included Montana!  And, as usual, Marty, Ed, and Montana all exceeded our expectations ….We get spoiled by the special experiences Marty, Ed and tour members arrange for us. We especially enjoyed the Smoke Jumpers facility tour; Deer Medicine Rocks - historic & spiritual; first person interpretations in Nevada City; and description of the inside of the superintendent's Yellowstone home by the daughter of a prior superintendent. In addition to these, we so appreciated the opportunities to experience incredible scenery & wildlife – elk, bison, mountain goats, etc.” --Sharon & Earl Clough

“10 - Montana was an incredible tour. From the wealth of knowledge of our historian to the calm and efficient attention to detail of our tour director and from the welcoming and comfortable accommodations to the last bite of our delicious lunches, our tour "rocked."    -- Kathy Lynch

"10+ - A good balance between sightseeing and a historical tour.  Slower pace than other tours..Ed Bearss – 100% + 5stars.  Ed’s memory and mature views makes his tours the best available. He shares his knowledge with us in such an understandable ways.”  Marty – the same 100% + 5 stars. Wonderful to see how Marty works with Ed; like a father and daughter…whom get along well!”  -- Wayne Carmony

“You obviously did a great deal of research—finding all sorts of interesting places wherever we went.” Ed has never been so relaxed and contented to let someone else take charge. Love your apparent relaxed attitude while taking care of everything possible."  -- Duffy Miller