This Cache is part of the Helena, Montana GeoExpedition. The GeoExpedition spans the scenic Helena area from the heights of MacDonald Pass, through historic downtown gulch then south to Boulder and the Elkhorn Ghost Town. View GeoExpedition rules and DOWNLOAD a PASSPORT here.
Henry Kaiser was awarded the bid to furnish the cement for the Yellowtail Dam in 1963. The original name of the plant was Kaiser Permanente Cement Co. He didn't have a cement plant in the area but was able to get the blueprints of a sister plant in Hawaii that was known for being compact and efficient. His intentions were to operate the plant for 10 years and dismantle it, but there was enough growth and projects to keep the plant running well after the 10 years. After the Yellowtail Dam was completed, the next big project was to supply the cement for Interstate 94 through North Dakota. All the limestone, clay and silica are mined onsite and from the quarry across Interstate 15. This limestone comes from the same formation that Lewis and Clark Caverns, Trident Cement (Three Forks) and Graymont (Townsend) sit on.
In 1987, Ash Grove, headquartered in Overland Park Kansas, purchased the plant from Kaiser. They currently employ 78 people and are a very community minded company. They sponsor Jefferson High School in Boulder, Montana City School, and Clancy School as well as supporting the Montana City Volunteer Fire Department. They created this walking trail and park (Sunderland Park). James P. Sunderland was the original owner of Ash Grove. They have been awarded many safety awards, including 10 consecutive years without a lost time accident.
I personally have spent a few hours in this plant, with my husband who hauled many, many loads of cement. He figured the company he worked for, hauled over 500,000 tons of cement to projects throughout Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and even into Canada.