The Sunrise Sentinel

I have been intrigued with historical cairns like this one for years. These are large rock cylinders, carefully constructed on-top of prominent hills. I have noticed them along the Missouri River Breaks of eastern Montana to western Montana's Madison River Valley. This one is near Cascade, MT.
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The best explanation I have found is that cairns like these were established by early sheepherders and may have been built to indicate distance and direction to watering holes. Some cairns date back further, being built by Native Americans, but this one likely is not of that era.