South of the Border: "Walking from Whitlash to a foreign country"

South of the Border,

Column No. 15

Columnist's note: My wife and I have lived in Whitlash since mid-December, 2018. Living only six miles from Canada our intent was to visit our northern neighbors as soon as practical. During the winter, still thinking about going to Canada, I decided I would walk there in the spring. In early May the weather finally cooperated and I "walked from Whitlash to a foreign country." Here's some of what I saw and learned about the area north of our new home and the Whitlash-Aden Border Crossing.

The country north of Whitlash

Whitlash sits on a natural promontory. Looking north the terrain appears to be flat rangeland with some distant strip farming. On foot the deception of flat prairie is dispelled with mostly rolling hills and fairly significant coulees.

Montana Route 409 north is basically straight as an arrow to the border, running parallel to the nearby county line between Liberty and Toole Counties. Just north of Whitlash the road makes one gentle curve to the west, then straightens again to become a direct line to the border. The curve accommodates a nearby correction line, the last one before the international border.

I left Whitlash about 8:30am on a warm, sunny, not so breezy Saturday. Despite a late start I did see one white-tailed deer run across the road. Along the route, often next to the road, were "prairie potholes," small natural impoundments full of water from the snow melt. Nearly all these potholes were home to at least one pair of Canada geese or Mallard ducks. Lots of Common Grackles sat on the fences. I saw a pair of hawks fly by.

North of the intersection of Strawberry and Flat Coulee Road, an area locals call "Shell Camp," the land turns from range to grain farming and no fencing. The intersection at Shell Camp basically marks the last mile before the border. Pushing on north, after a couple more hills, the ports of entry facilities are visible. The border crossing area is noticeably flat.

The Whitlash-Aden Border Crossing was established in 1929

The crossing was created when Canada closed a nearby port of entry. The U.S. Customs office was first located in the old Whitlash Ranchers' Cash Store (the store still stands in the center of the community). In the 1940's the government built two structures in Whitlash to house the port facility, still six miles from the actual border. One of those buildings remains and was used as the Whitlash School until the school closed a few years ago.

In the 1960's the port of entry was moved to the border. In the early 1970's both the U.S. and Canada built permanent structures for their respective ports of entry. In 2012 the U.S. port facility was improved to include a connected heated inspection shed, separate relief quarters for temporary housing and 100 yards of paved roadway. MT Secondary Route 409 from Whitlash to the border is still gravel as is Highway 880 the provincial highway to the Canadian port.

Escorted to a foreign country by a US Custom and Border Protection (CBP) officer

Both ports of entry are manned by two people on each shift (daily, 9am-5pm). At the U.S. port two officers, a man and a woman, came out to greet me. I explained what I was doing-walking to a foreign country so I could write a column about the visit. Officer Mills, the guy, said, "If you want to just say you've been to Canada I'll call over to them and tell them we're walking over." Worked for me... an official escort out of one country in to another.

As we walked along the paved way toward Canada, Mills explained how the new port of entry was improved over the old facility. As we got close to the "Arrêté/Stop" sign on the Canadian side another uniformed pair, man and a woman, came out to greet us. The female officer pointed east and said, "I grew up on a farm just over that ridge." Mills, a military kid, said he spent most of his life in Great Falls after his father was stationed there.

U.S. Officer Mills admitted, "I've never been past the Canadian port of entry office." He said he is on a three year tour of duty at the Whitlash port before retiring. He spent most of his 15-year career at the Sweet Grass port of entry, much of that time as a canine handler. Mills said he was in a National Guard unit that assisted Customs and Immigration personnel at various borders. "After 9/11," he added, "there was a push to hire more CBP officers, that's when I came aboard."

In North Dakota I had seen the familiar obelisks that mark the US-Canada boundary. I chose one near the Canadian office to have my photo taken in a foreign country (I couldn't get photos of the border officers for security and safety reasons). Mills explained that a bilateral commission maintains the official international boundary with more than 8,000 markers (not all are obelisks, some are plaques, towers in waterways and conical monuments in mountain ranges). Not always in view from each other, boundary markers are placed closer together at crossings.

Later, back in the U.S., Mills said there were "no typical days, every day is different at the port of entry." He explained that the Whitlash CBP office also issues permits for new cars being brought to the U.S. through the 15 ports in Montana and two in Idaho. He said, "I spend a lot of time advising people the best route to get their vehicle in to the U.S.-not many bring a new vehicle through this port because of the gravel roads."

As to challenges at the port, Mills said simply, "Winter. This is a hard place to get to and from." Officers commute to work each day. He shared several stories about getting caught in snow storms and officers spending nights on local ranches because of stuck vehicles. He said, "Winter 2017-2018 was especially bad with eight days we couldn't get to the border to open it. This recent winter we only missed April 28 when there was a regional blizzard."

My wife met me at the port of entry to give me a ride home. It was a glorious day to be out for a walk to a foreign country. Thankfully, no snow challenges on this spring day.