Frazer Field of Dreams

In the inspirational movie “Field of Dreams,” a struggling Iowa farmer named Ray hears a mystical voice encouraging him to build a baseball field in the middle of his Iowa corn field.  Ray embarks on a journey which carries him across the country where he meets old men who dreamed of playing major league baseball, but whose destinies took them down other paths. In the end, those lost dreams are fulfilled as the old players regain their youth when they walk onto Ray’s unlikely field and play the sport they love.  I have found another field of dreams near Frazer, Mont.

All of my teenagers have run cross country throughout high school. Cross country meets are usually held in cities and towns on golf courses and soccer fields. I have followed the Glasgow Scottie runners to meets throughout Montana, from Plentywood to Helena and from Miles City to Kalispell, and several towns in between.   

In my opinion, the most beautiful course in the state has been built by the Frazer School on a field right here in Valley County. The course is located southwest of Frazer between BIA Route 1 and the Missouri River. The course follows a modified figure eight which starts in the fields overlooking the river.  The course dips down to the river’s edge and then climbs back up the prairies to the open skies. 

The Frazer meet is a place of hopes and dreams. It is one of the few cross country courses in the state where spectators can watch runners throughout the entire three mile race as they twist and turn up and down the prairie fields.  

Energetic old dads can race back and forth between the loops of the course to cheer on the kids several times as they pass throughout the race.  It is also one of the few meets which hosts races for all grades and not just high school.  I love cross country because every kid is a star. Every runner, whether first, last, or somewhere in between, is encouraged and applauded by the fans. Grit and determination, not just talent, seems to be the driving factor in cross country, and any kid who is willing to work will do well.  

Both runners and spectators at the Frazer meet enjoy vistas which are unique to northeastern Montana. Lewis and Clark’s journals reveal they were similarly impressed with the beauty of the plains north of the Missouri River near Frazer.

When they came through the area on May 7, 1805, Lewis wrote, “North side of the river is one of the most beautiful plains we have yet seen, it rises gradually from the river bottom to the height of 50 or 60 feet, then becoming level as a bowling green” which “extends back as far as the eye can reach.”  The race this year was particularly beautiful.  

The much needed rains had softened the fields, and the air was crisp with the coming fall.  The sun is setting earlier and it casts vibrant colors and changing shadows in the coulees on the hills south of the river.  

The river there is wide and curves inward towards the course, reflecting a striking blue as it twists away to the south and east. To me, there is no better example of Montana’s Big Sky.  In “Field of Dreams,” Ray was told, “If you build it, they will come.”  

The movie ends with a convoy of vehicles streaming to Ray’s baseball field. At the end of the race, we drove in a similar convoy of vehicles back to Glasgow and I thought there is not a more beautiful and welcoming place than the open skies and spaces of northeastern Montana.