Chapter Five: The Tongue River Round-up
We settled into a couple good rounds of rubber band hide and seek after the parade until one day when Mark and Amie were conspicuously absent. During the midst of one particularly exciting round they burst in excitedly.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Mark called. “We need to hold an emergency meeting!”
I don’t care what else is ever happening, when you hear the words “emergency meeting” that gets the level of excitement and anticipation way up there. I, along with everyone else, rushed into the clubroom.
“What’s so exciting?” Earl asked.
“I got it!” answered Mark. “I have the next idea!”
The only thing we had stated after the parade victory was that our next idea needed to generate some money so this was really exciting. After all, we were called The Millionaires Club and even though we were having a blast with all of the adventures we should be following our charter to make money.
We all listened enthusiastically as Mark explained.
“I was listening to a couple of guys who were talking about what they were going to do this weekend and one of them said that it would be a great day to float down the river. The other guy said that he agreed but that it’s too bad it’s such a pain to find big inner tubes and to get a ride out to a starting spot. I went ‘that’s it!’ and almost ran right here.”
“But first,” put in Amie, “he came to me to iron out some pretty huge upfront problems like how to make it work since we’re all too young to drive and we don’t have any spots along the river where we can start such a business.”
“I’m assuming you came up with something?” asked Cora.
“Of course we did,” answered Amie. “That’s why we’re here now.”
“Let’s hear it,” James said excitedly.
“Okay,” Mark said. “First, it’s obvious that we’re talking about the Tongue River and not the Yellowstone, right?”
Miles City originated at the site of where the two rivers met. One was a small, windy, shallow river called the Tongue which joined up with the Yellowstone River, which is a large, wide, fast flowing, deep river. If the average person was going to sit in a river in just an inner tube, almost everyone would agree that the Tongue is the place to do it so you can relax and not worry about drowning. We all agreed that the Tongue was the proper river to use.
“Second,” Mark continued. “We had to find the right place.”
“I’m wondering how you’re going to get around the driving problem,” Cora asked. “How will we get people back to their cars after they finish floating?”
“Patience,” said Amie. “We’ll get to that.”
“Right,” agreed Mark. “Now if I may continue. I went to Amie to help figure this out, and the first thing she suggested was to get a good map to use. We went to see Annette at the library and she gave us a local property map which shows who owns what and where. It also shows the Tongue River from where it meets up with the Yellowstone to about 25 miles out of town.”
We all looked at the map and noted what Mark was saying. The river was clearly drawn along with all of the ranches, farms, and other geographical features.
“Follow the river out from town,” Mark said. “See if you notice somewhere where something pretty cool happens.”
We were all looking and easing our gaze along the river as it left the city. We noted that it passed through many ranchers’ lands as it meandered its way through the countryside. At one place, we noticed that it really wound back on itself several times all on the same patch of land.
“Right there!” James said, pointing at the spot. “Right here at the MCCC Ranch. What does that stand for anyway? The roman numeral 1300?”
“Nope!” Mark answered. “It stands for Miles City Council. That ranch is owned by Bruce Brown, the City Council Chairman!”
“Plus,” Amie continued. “That patch of river is on his land for almost three miles with all of the winding. If a person floated the river from one end of Chairman Brown’s land to the other, it would take almost five hours to do it.”
“Explain this a bit further for me, please,” asked James. “How does this make everything ok? Are the points of entry and exit so close together that the people can just walk to the other?”
“No,” Mark answered. “Although it isn’t very far. Only about a quarter of a mile. They won’t have to walk. We’ll drive them.”
“But,” James started to ask. “How can we do that? Oh, wait a minute. It’s private land!”
“Yep,” Mark answered. “Not only is it on private land, but we’ll be driving them using a tractor.”
“Of course!” Earl said. “Kids can drive tractors in Montana on private land!”
“Yep,” Amie said. “And driving them back on a hay wagon would be more fun anyway. Plus we can tow another small trailer to carry the inner tubes back.”
“That’s great,” I said. “But what if Chairman Brown says no?”
“He won’t,” Mark said. “He already said yes!”
“You asked him already?” Peter asked.
“Yep,” said Mark. “Amie kept telling him that it would be a great way to get his message to the voters who would be enjoying his beautiful land and feeling thankful and indebted to him. By the time she was finished, he was practically begging us to use his land.”
The full details were that the float through the area we selected would take just under two hours from start to finish and would include some really great scenery and winding turns. The beginning was right near a field that Chairman Brown said we could use as the main parking area when people arrive. After they finish we could take them back to their cars via a hay wagon that would also be fun to ride. If we got really busy, we could have two tractors running to keep the lines short.
Mark and Amie figured we could run the float on the weekends during the remainder of the summer. They had already gotten quotes on getting the used inner tubes from a tire dealer in the area and also figured we could raise more money selling concessions during the ride.
“There’s a spot next to a sand bar that would be a great place to have a snack bar,” Amie said. “We think we could really sell some snacks and drinks there.”
After everyone digested the facts and a few more questions were answered, a vote was called for. I was certain we would have another unanimous agreement which is what our charter called for to enact an operation, but I was very surprised when James voted ‘no’.
“No, James?” Mark asked. “But why?”
“Well,” he answered. “It’s not because I don’t think it’s a really great idea. I do. I really do. But there’s just something missing. There’s something missing that changes it from a really great idea to a Millionaires Club idea. That’s what I think it needs.”
“Like what?” asked Amie.
“I’m not sure,” James said. “But I know that we can come up with it if we try, and if we have to.”
Well, since according to the charter, we had to get unanimous support, we all started thinking. After a few minutes, nobody had a great plan and some started to drift out to play rubber band guns. I was one of the last to leave and I was really hoping that someone would come up with something since I thought this was a really great plan.
It was 2 in the morning when I heard my phone ringing. Hurrying to answer it before anyone else in the house was disturbed, I saw that it was Mark calling.
“I have it,” he said.
And boy oh boy, he did. When I hung up the phone 10 minutes later, I knew he had come up with a true Millionaires Club idea.
The next afternoon at the greenhouse everyone was waiting for Mark to share the idea with them.
“It came to me last night,” he said. “I kept thinking -- what can we do to make this better? How can we add some kind of game or challenge to the river float? Then it occurred to me. What do Montanans like to do? Target shoot. What if we set up a lot of life size ta
rgets in differing shapes and sizes along the river, hand out paint ball guns to the floaters and have them target shoot as they move?”
“Wow,” James said. “That’s a great idea.”
We spent the next two hours improvising the new plan. Peter had a friend who played paintball we got in touch with to ask about where we could find some equipment. It turned out that a small company located in Forsyth, a town about 40 miles away, had a paintball company and was happy to rent us some guns for the weekend days.
Amie was in art classes and said that she knew she could get some really great targets in the shape of some unique funny animal shapes like a camelgator – a combination of a camel and an alligator or a rhino constrictor – the front half a rhino and the back a boa constrictor.
We planned on having lots of targets with bulls-eyes on them ranging in size from very big to small to offer some differing levels of challenge. Earl came up with a plan to string a loop of blue fishing line through some trees on either side of the river that allowed us to have some things right above the floaters that would seem to be flying since the blue fishing line would disappear when blended into the sky.
We planned on offering the round-up part of the float for a section that was about 1/3 of a mile long. We would put a wristband on the floaters who had chosen that option and issue them a fully loaded paint gun at the start of the target range and collect the gun at the end.
Cora suggested that we make sure that we kept the different groups separate so that those who were just enjoying a casual float down the river weren’t in the midst of those who were target shooting. We all agreed this was a good idea. The price to just float without shooting was only $4. To shoot and float, $24. That allowed us enough money to make a profit after paying for the gun rental and the paintballs.
The next few days were a blast as we set up the route and put in place the targets and other cool things. James rigged up a hose that pulled water from the river and cascaded it down some rocks along one side of the river which created a waterfall. Another hose added a misting effect which sprayed over half of the river as the floaters went by.
We set up the snack shop just after the round-up range ended. We figured it would be a great place for shooters to want to relax with a cold drink and snack while they compared their shooting prowess.
We were able to borrow two tractors and wagons from the local Future Farmers of America at the high school. All they asked in return is to put a couple of posters on the side promoting their chapter while we used them.
We spent two days just taking turns riding the river and practice shooting. We had tons of fun and would add something new each time as we compared notes and shared scores. We were ready to open on Saturday.
The weather was perfect. It was a hot summer day and the people were flocking in to try the latest recreation around. Our only problem was that we kept running out of inner tubes since there were so many people that wanted to float. We were surprised to see that about half of the people just floated and then about half of those went right back and floated again with the round-up option.
I think everything would have continued to go off as smoothly as possible without any odd changes this time except for one evening on the radio with David the C. He was discussing the current affairs of Miles City and his guests included Chairman Brown and Mayor Springer. Right in the midst of an exchange about the water levels in the area lakes, Chairman Brown commented that the levels seemed to be perfect for the newest attraction those Millionaire kids are running.
“That’s for sure,” David the C agreed. “That’s on your land right Chairman?”
“Yes, it is,” answered the Chairman.
“So have you floated the round-up yet?” David asked.
“No, no, no,” answered the Mayor. “I’m sorry to say that I’m much too busy for that kind of thing.”
The Chairman loudly stifled a laugh at that remark.
“What’s that?” asked the Mayor. “Do you have something to say Mr. Chairman?”
“Why no, Mr. Mayor,” he answered. “I’m just sorry that you won’t have a chance to float the river and show your stuff with the target shooting.”
“And why is that?” asked David the C.
“Because I know for a fact I could shoot the pants off of him,” Chairman Brown answered.
“What?” The Mayor scoffed. “That’ll be the day!”
“That sounds like a challenge to me,” David the C announced. “Do you accept the challenge Mr. Mayor?”
“You’re darn tooting I do. That’ll be the day when this upstart whippersnapper shoots better than I do.”
“There you have it folks!” David the C recapped. “We have the first annual Miles City shoot-off taking place on the Wild Tongue River Round-up, and I will be there to bring it to you live!”
What followed was a brief period where the day and time was setup and then there were a few other questions about other city matters, but the highlight of the show was definitely the challenge.
The following Saturday at 2 in the afternoon the two combatants arrived ready to show down with each other and settle the matter. We had made some additional preparations including some extra targets. We had also gotten some completely different colored pellets from our supply store so we would be able to easily track the scores of each of them. The Mayor would be using bright orange and Chairman Brown would be shooting with a deep purple.
Both men were all smiles as they got into place and received their tubes ready for the start of the float. The first mile was relaxing and calm as the river slowly meandered through the Chairman’s beautiful ranch. Many floaters got to see a variety of wildlife including deer, elk, horses, and more. Laying back and watching the clouds drift by was a great way to enjoy the trip.
When the Mayor and the Chairman got to the beginning of the round-up, Peter and Amie were ready to hand them their fully loaded paint guns. Just over the line we had hung large six foot by six foot posters with a campaign photo likeness of each of them, one on each side of the river. We thought it was a great way to promote the challenge. The two of them thought of them as the first targets.
The moment the posters were unfurled both shooters started blasting away at the other politician’s likeness without a moment’s hesitation between rounds. Within a period of one minute each challenger had emptied their entire supply of paint pellets and had completely coated the other’s picture in dripping wet paint. With maniacal laughter each one fired the last few rounds in a targeted attempt to complete the task and not leave one spot open to view.
The only problem we had now was we were at the very start of the challenge with two people who each had empty guns and the entire course to go through. The final result would be a tie with neither one scoring a hit, although we believed the argument could go on forever as to who had most completely blacked out the other’s poster.
It was Cora who came up with the perfect solution.
“Let’s give each of them another full gun, and give me about 30 minutes to reset the course with something just a bit more appropriate,” she said.
We readied the guns as she and Mark rushed out to put her plan into action. And it was perfect.
Just about 30 minutes later, they returned and announced that the course was ready. Since we load each paint gun with 180 rounds, she and Mark had copied and printed 90 campaign posters of the Mayor and the Chairman and tacked them to our targets along the course. Now the challenge was to see how many of the opponent’s posters each could mark while floating the course. If the preliminary round we had just witnessed was any indication, this would be a momentous challenge. As both floaters began the journey, each held their guns at the ready watching for the other’s poster.
As soon as they started to come into view the shots began. It looked like it was a really close battle as each shooter placed their every effort into sighting and hitting their chosen targets. The rules stated that you were not allowed to stand up at any
time so you couldn’t help but float past the target you were shooting at as the river moved you along. Mark and Cora had alternated the placement of targets really well so that they dotted both sides of the river and several were also hanging on the lines overhead. The only worry we had was that the Mayor and the Chairman, in their single focused determination to hit the smiling face of their opponent, would forget that there was another shooter right alongside of them and might mistakenly shoot the other while looking for the next target. Luckily, that didn’t happen.
At the end of the round-up both shooter’s guns were empty and we collected them. Earl and James had been following along as the match progressed and had already collected all the targets to be ready for scoring. We had selected Scoop Waters from the Miles City Paper to be the scorer so he sat at the table and began marking the targets. Each target was scored with a three point if the paint splat had covered any of the face, a two point if the paint splat missed the face but was all contained within the poster, a one point if there was any paint on the edge of the poster, or a zero point if there was no paint anywhere on the poster.
We could tell that it was really close. Both men had done a really impressive job of shooting as almost all of the posters contained paint. The Mayor was the first one to start autographing his posters and handing them out to the crowd as souvenirs. Chairman Brown started doing the same soon after.
Finally Scoop said that we had a winner.
“Winning by just two points,” he announced, “Mayor Springer!”
The Mayor started a jubilant dance and nearly fell into the river as he cavorted alongside the edge jumping wildly up and down before getting tired and collapsing on the ground to take a breath. Chairman Brown came up and in a show of good sportsmanship extended his hand to the Mayor and both shook hands while smiling. I think they enjoyed the fun and had a really good time on the river. We were busy each day from that point through the rest of the summer.
At the end of the summer we all took Mark out and treated him to a hamburger and malt. His idea was a great one. We made almost $10,000 in profit for the run. The Wild Tongue River Floating Round-up had become a permanent draw for Miles City. We were ready to roll it out again the next summer for sure.