Description
Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church stands at the foot of Mount Baldy in Montana’s Big Belt Range. I like the fact that pioneers from all faiths built the church in 1876. They built it in the small town of Canton shortly after the first migrants arrived in the Missouri River valley. Today, the town site with its rich history and 4000 fertile acres of farm land sit at the bottom of Canyon Ferry Reservoir. When the dam came in and the lake waters rose, the church was moved to its present site overlooking the lake. It now seems to look back to the history of the families who once lived there. My dad was a member of the Canton Church Restoration Committee and is memorialized on their website. In honor of his work, I painted his 1946 Ford flatbed pickup driving up to the church. The license plate reads “1952”, the year the church was moved.
