TRAVELLING in the American West introduces vacationers to very unusual museums of a type they've seldom seen. Far from ordinary, they're worth a detour since each recalls and recaptures a fabled frontier past.

Some focus on rare gun collections, others might emphasise saddles, riding chaps and spurs, antique ranch equipment, reminders of a history that still fills screens around the world.

We've been wanting to do a round-up of some of the best of this genre for years but never got around to it. Then comes one so truly unique that it deserves a feature all its own because it combines the best of them all . . . and then some.

We came upon it almost by accident. A bright, sunny day seemed the perfect time to circle 27-square-mile Flathead Lake's shoreline. We soon understood why celebrities of all kinds were buying up local land to escape to the area's beauty and solitude.

It's gorgeous country and the lake much favoured by boating enthusiasts, fishermen and sightseers. Only 65 miles from Whitefish, our ultimate destination was Polson at the bottom of the lake. Then it was our intent to proceed back up along the opposite shoreline ? until my brother Jim saw a sign . . . "Miracle of America Museum 2 miles ahead" and remembered he'd read about it in a local publication entitled 101 Things To Do In the Flathead and Northwest Montana.

On page 102 an article enthused about what they said visitors called "Smithsonian of the West". It described a collection so diverse as to seem impossible.

After proclaiming its marvels over two pages, one expected to find displays covering many acres. Where could a collector put a vintage stagecoach, Calamity Jane's saddle, two Huey and two Mash helicopters, A-7 Corsair attack bomber, antique cars, more than 40 vintage motorcycles . . . and on and on and on.

The entrance was definitely a clue to what was ahead. An American World War Two half-track sits beside the highway and a massive logging tow boat once used to haul logs on Flathead Lake looks out over the scene from its perch on the roof. Already we should have been prepared for what waited, but weren't.

A Sioux saying on the wall inside proclaimed: "A people without a history is like the wind in the buffalo grass."

Mangels, whose family pioneered here, feels history slips away if there's no effort made to preserve part of that past. So single-handed, with help of wife Joanne, he set about gathering together as much of it as he could.

Because we share his preservation interests, we went away in awe over what this one man has achieved.

Let's start with the interior collection. Where to begin? Probably one of the most overwhelming military collections we've ever seen . . . and that covers a lot, far more than anything seen at the Smithsonian.

We oohed and aahed our way through display after display, one more surprising than the other. How had anyone ever found the time to collect it all?

Something of everything was there, from a comprehensive assortment of very collectible railroad locks to a room with no fewer than 40 colourful vintage motorcycles, to seemingly several of almost everything . . . from Teddy Roosevelt's saddle dating to his North Dakota days and President Warren Harding's bicycle with wooden wheels to a Reynolds tobacco heiress bedazzling flapper dress.

The military memorabilia were nothing short of mind-boggling. Weapons and uniforms in a variety we'd never seen before . . . a British tank sharing space with an anti-tank gun and BMW World War Two German motorcycle and side-car with mounted machine gun.

The size of the collection was in a league with Britain's Bovington Tank Museum as well as all the bunker museums we'd visited along France's Maginot Line.

It would take an encyclopaedia to describe more than 100,000 unique items in the collection. But the inside is just the beginning, literally the tip of the iceberg.

Once outside it becomes even more amazing. A traditional one-room school house, blacksmith shop, genuine antique barber shop, old-time gas station, ladies' dry goods . . . so much to see it's hard to absorb.

Like all the treasures, a vintage saddle shop has a very personal story. When the local Montana saddle maker retired at age 97, Gil bought all his equipment and recreated the shop here. On his 100th birthday, the saddle-maker was guest of honour at the opening of the saddlery with a sign above its entrance: "Jack Welch, Proprietor."

By this time we'd met Gil out on the grounds working hard moving heavy equipment into a barn. Closing time was approaching and we rushed through an impressive antique automobile display that would be the envy of any collector. Really rare, one-of-a-kind vehicles.

Just when we were sure we'd seen the best of the best, we encountered a large shed with more than 30 steam, gas and diesel tractors and a display that deserves to be covered in a magazine feature all its own.

A visitor register shows people come from such far-flung destinations as Russia, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, Austria, Wales, Scotland and France.

Part of its rare appeal, spread out in this valley with mountains as a scenic backdrop, is the casual, homespun, folksiness of it all. Gil has been so busy collecting that there hasn't been time to arrange it all the way he wants.

the important part is saving it so future generations can see a page from the past. He's already working 25-hour days and it would take the visitor that long to give the cast property a thorough going over!

The toys children played with, vintage musical instruments that entertained families, household items, stoves, washing machines . . . you name it, it's here.

Learn more about it by just typing in Miracle of America Museum on the internet. It's open year around and the hours are seasonal. Admission is $4 for adults and $3 for children aged three to 12. there's a senior discount. All kinds of special events attract enthusiasts, including Live History Days in mid-July. It;s on Highway 93, three-quarters of a mile south of the junction of Montana 35 and US 93.

As if all this isn't enough, another very worthy stop is the admission-free museum in Whitefish's historic railroad station. Built by the Great Northern Railroad in 1927, it's in the same style as Glacier National Park's famed lodges.

The Burlington Northern-Santa Fe which now operates along that route decided to abandon and scrap it in the late 1980s. Stumptown Historical Society bought it for one dollar and raised $800,000 to renovate the building to its original condition. Tenants include Amtrak, the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe, and Hertz Rent-A-Car.

When repainted to historic colours in 2002, painting alone cost three- quarters as much as the original construction cost of $60,000.

It's open from 11 am to 4 p.m. A small, very well done capsule of the past collection was wonderfully eclectic. Especially notice two remarkable quilts made by an Assinibone Indian in 1912. Great old photos recall the area's history and railroad reminders range from a telegraph display to vintage dining car menus.

Turns out the author whose books were made into some of our favourite films spent much of her life here and the display covering her career was especially interesting.

Johnson came from Iowa to Montana in 1913, moving to a New York Madison Avenue publishing company in 1935, then returning in 1950 to become news editor of a Whitefish newspaper.

Among her books made into films were A Man Called Horse starring Richard Harris; The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (James Stewart, John Wayne) and The Hanging Tree (Gary Cooper). She was t author of 17 books and 100 short stories and Time magazine compared her to Mark Twain and Bret Harte.

When we interviewed Sandy Howard, producer of A Man Called Horse at the time of the film's release, he told us how he first discovered the book. He was staying at a hotel in Tokyo and someone had left it in the room he occupied. Intrigued, he stayed up reading it all night, then immediately called his agent to negotiate film rights.

: The people you meet on trains