Spielberg’s Critically Acclaimed Film Avails Historical Reality Check BY PAUL TROUT, Ph D With the release and critical acclaim of Steven Spielberg's stunning film Lincoln, one wonders if Blacks, Whites, Democrats and Republicans are not confused. As this movie makes clear, it was the Republican Party (frequently labeled as racist) that passed the constitutional … [Read more...]
Homesteading Montana, Why They Came
Scrapping One-Size-Fits-All Was the Key Congress passed The Free Homestead Act in 1862 during the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. It was enacted on January 1, 1863. By the 1860s, the Government had begun taking most of what is now the western United States from Indian control. Cities and farmland in the East were becoming overcrowded. That same 1862 Congress had just passed The … [Read more...]
Gun Sales Boom
BY PAT HILL Though it's been only a month since the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that horrified the nation, it seems a lot longer—I think because scenarios like these have become a far too repetitive horror in the United States. What happened in Newtown is not new in this country; a similar shooting at a mall in Portland, Oregon, took place only days before. … [Read more...]
Brian Schweitzer’s Parting Shots
In This Farewell Interview, the Governor Pulls No Punches BY PAT HILL After consistently remaining one of the ten most popular governors in the United States during his eight years in office, a term-limited Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer is now retiring the reins in Helena. Though speculation runs rampant regarding Schweitzer's next move, the governor is holding his … [Read more...]
Grooming Tips for Geezers
Do Yourself a Favor, Lose the Ponytail BY JUSTIN CASE Something needs to be said. We’ve all danced around it for far too long, not wanting to hurt anybody’s feelings. Certain things work, and certain things don’t. Plaids and stripes come to mind—they don’t work. Fingernails on a blackboard don’t work either. Catherine Zeta-Jones on the other hand—let’s just say there are … [Read more...]
Of Moose and Man
Which Arrived First in Our Neighborhood? BY SHAWN REGAN As I shut the door on my way to work last month, something caught my eye. Two moose—a cow and a calf—stood twenty yards away, hoping I hadn’t noticed. After realizing that not only had I seen them, but was frantically trying to capture a picture, they disappeared in an instant up the hill into the forest. It’s … [Read more...]
That Infamous Morning
Pearl Harbor Survivor Robert Lloyd Remembers BY PAT HILL December brings up more than holiday memories for 91-year -old Robert Lloyd of Dayton, Nevada. Lloyd, who passes through Bozeman once or twice a year while journeying to visit relatives in Baker, Montana, survived the attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, that marked the United States’ entry into World War II, and went on … [Read more...]
The Alligator Suitcase
Inexplicable Behavior Explained BY DAVID S. LEWIS At three months Greta was already an intense and extremely keen creature. A full-blooded German Shepherd, she displayed all the characteristics that come with such a pedigree, and more. She was highly intelligent, sensitive, aggressive, and not very far removed from her wild cousin, Canis lupus. Her black coat and silver … [Read more...]
Terror at Soda Butte
A Grizzly’s Lethal Rampage Defies Explanation BY SCOTT McMILLION Deb Freele woke with a flitter of uneasiness. Something wasn't right. Then, before she could even open her eyes, the bear chomped into her upper left arm. It didn't chew. It didn't shake its head. It didn't growl. It just kept pushing her into the ground, squeezing its jaws ever tighter, carving into the flesh … [Read more...]
Amazing Aloe
The Properties of This Plant Border on the Miraculous BY JULIA SWIFT Let me tell you about a minor miracle. While hurriedly working at a flat top stove recently, I foolishly placed my finger, below the knuckle, on a burner set at medium high. Yeeeooowww, and a few loud four-letter words immediately flew from my mouth as the rice and curry sauce I had been trying to scoop … [Read more...]
The Secret Life of Trees
Tree Rings, Fountain Pens, and the Story of a Forest BY SHAWN REGAN When Dave Wager fells a tree, he gets a glimpse into the past. As we trudge through a forest in the mountains of western Montana, the extent of this history becomes apparent. Surrounding us is a tall stand of ponderosa pines, their thick, red bark attesting to their age, which Wager estimates to be 300 … [Read more...]
Pine Creek Lodge Once Home to Renowned Writers and Artists
Finding Memories in the Ashes of the Pine Creek Fire BY PAT HILL The Pine Creek Fire devastated parts of the small community of Pine Creek while leaving others unscathed, and at Pine Creek Lodge, the storied Cabin Number Two was the only real structural casualty of the blaze. Cabin Number Two will now join Cabin Number One, taken out by a wayward driver a few years ago, in … [Read more...]
The Garcia Continuum
A Mountain Man Appears on Video, Reaching Across Time BY DAVID S. LEWIS Yesterday, today was tomorrow, and tomorrow, today will be yesterday. And so it goes. The future becomes the present and the present the past—while the only thing that’s real is now, this moment, which just slipped through the hourglass and became the past, as we move into another future, and there’s … [Read more...]
Legendary Mountain Man Andrew Garcia on Video
Preserved for Posterity, at Age 89, One Year Before His Death BY PAT HILL Andrew Garcia arrived on the scene in Montana as the days of the Old West were in their final decades, yet he embraced the West fully and became one its most legendary and colorful personalities. The adventures he recorded in manuscript form were eventually published as the popular book Tough Trip … [Read more...]
Obama’s Unforgivable Sin
When Politics Trumps National Security A book-length account will surely emerge, perhaps by Bob Woodward, regarding President Obama's actions relating to national security and terror—dealing with the tragic Benghazi incident, of course, in which the United States Ambassador to Libya and other Americans were killed by a terrorist raid on Sept., 11, 2012, but also dealing with … [Read more...]
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s “All-Out War on Wolves”
A Once Proud Group Has Lost Its Way BY DAVE STALLING Oct. 5, 2012 Recently, the family of Olaus J. Murie demanded that the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation cancel the organization’s Olaus J. Murie Award. The surprising reason? The foundation’s “all-out war against wolves is anathema to the entire Murie family.” I sympathize with the family’s position for several reasons. … [Read more...]
What Do You Do When Your House Burns Down?
The Pine Creek Fire Destroyed More Than Forest BY DAVID S. LEWIS East and south, the sky is still choked with smoke, as it has been since late August. Perhaps by the time you read this, with any luck, snow will have finally doused the flames. Yet we’ve been shrouded in smoke for several weeks now, smoke of varying density depending on the wind. The sun rises and sets in … [Read more...]
The Late, Great Sam Peckinpah
Looking Back at a Film Legend BY PAT HILL Blood and guts aptly describes the films of the late screen-writer and director Sam Peckinpah, who set the stage for movie violence during his career. Peckinpah earned the nickname Bloody Sam after production of the high-body-count western The Wild Bunch in 1969, and westerns are among his best films. Peckinpah was born in … [Read more...]
Bakken Oil Play Spurs Booming Business—in Water
Drilling Increasingly Runs on H20 BY NICHOLAS KUSNETZ The first thing you notice in North Dakota's oil patch are trucks. They dominate a landscape defined not long ago by cattle and wheat, and not long before that by bison and grass. Trucks groan through Watford City all night. They pile up traffic on highways designed for the occasional car or combine and whip dirt roads … [Read more...]
Gov. Schweitzer Accuses Montanans of Racism
Says He Expects to Hear Outrageously Racist Comments in Public BY DUSTIN HURST Politico recently wrote that Montana Governor. Brian Schweitzer’s rhetorical prowess is a valuable asset and a dangerous liability for his future political ambitions. Case in point: On July 28, Schweitzer delivered the keynote address at the Ohio Democratic Party’s annual dinner. In the … [Read more...]