View toward Billings, 1910

View toward Billings, Montana, from Pompy's Tower,
by L. A. Huffman, April, 1910

Compare the two early views above with the following aerial photo taken in 1998. Notice the density of the cottonwood stand all along the south bank of the Yellowstone. After centuries of grazing and trampling on the tender cottontood seedlings around this well-used ford by deer, elk, and bison, plus the traffic of Indians and their horses for about 150 years, several generations of cottonwoods have reclaimed the land.

Aerial View toward Billings, 1998