In and around the Hi-Line town of Chinook, you'll find small town-charm and plenty of history.
The nearby Bears Paw battlefield was where Chief Joseph surrendered and made his famous "I will fight no more forever" speech. The town once was home to a massive sugarbeet factory, which was also the inspiration for the high school mascot.
Recently, Chinook opened a new attraction, and as Tim McGonigal reports in this month's "My Town" segment, things have gotten a little wild.
For many years, the Blaine Theater in downtown Chinook showed many of Hollywood's top box office hits. But times have changed, and now it's the Blaine County Wildlife Museum - and these days there's still a show, but the characters in this one are of the four-legged and two-winged wild variety, and they're from all across Montana.
Sheri Nicholson, Museum Board Chairperson, said, "Most people, they would never be this close to an antelope, or they would never see inside of a beaver dam. I mean they'll never see a buffalo jump, probably. We want them in all their natural habitat, we want them to be up close and personal like you've never seen them before."
Fifteen years ago the idea for the Blaine County Wildlife Museum was born, and through fundraisers, grant requests, and some good old-fashioned elbow grease by the board, the old movie house was transformed into a wildlife wonderland.
There are four finished exhibits, and once you enter, you're greeted by the swift fox display, followed by the Peaks To Plains depiction, and then on to the museum's first exhibit, the buffalo jump, and finally the wetlands display.
Nicholson believes the museum is the only one of its kind in Montana, and though it's only been open full-time for over a month, visitors say its unlike anything they've ever seen.
Nicholson said, "I had a lady from california and a lady from Oregon and they said they've been through museums throughout the United States and this was the best one they've been to."
Most of the larger animals were purchased at auction, while others were donated.
And for a price, you can adopt an animal - but be prepared to get in line.
Nicholson explained, "We have just a few that are not adopted - we have a waiting list for a lot of them. You know people want to adopt a certain bird or animal but we don't have really the place for them right now."
That could change if the museum adds more exhibits, Nicholson noted: "We're hoping to put in a nocturnal animal display, (and) we would like to put in a prairie dog town. We would certainly like to do the Missouri Breaks, but our building isn't quite large enough so we need to expand in order to do that."
Some flying geese will be displayed overhead, and the current work in progress is the Moose/ Grizzly encounter, expected to be complete next spring.
And while the animals are the stars of the show, there are some supporting cast members behind the scenes: the murals were airbrushed and painted by a New Mexico artist, and the detail work was painstakingly created by a Minnesota couple.
"So if it looks like its supposed to be wet dirt, I mean it looks like wet dirt. I mean they make the ripples, they make the small details that have the tiny bugs in the water," said Nicholson.
Many visitors will see something new everytime they stop in: a bug-seeking frog, a slithering salamander, a hungry fox with his sight set on a squirrel, or one gopher coming out of a hole and one going down a hole.
Click here to visit the museum's website and learn more.
Click here to visit the Chinook Chamber of Commerce website.
