BY MARIA MACVEAN Storytelling runs in James Redford's blood. The documentary filmmaker grew up watching some of the best American movies come together thanks to his father, Robert Redford. Through his dad's involvement in various film projects, James, who goes by Jamie, learned how stories are told, and what motivated his father to select the projects he … [Read more...]
Kevin Costner Stars in TV Series Yellowstone
BY KAREN E. DAVIS Planting their cowboy boots squarely in our backyard, the Paramount Network has created a new modern-day TV western called Yellowstone, starring Oscar-winner Kevin Costner. Costner, following in a long line of movie stars taken by the state, calls Paramount's Yellowstone his "postcard to Montana." The series, loosely set just outside the park, debuts … [Read more...]
Meeting Wolves Face to Face—What’s That Like?
Howlers Inn Proprietors Describe Initial Encounters BY DAVID S. LEWIS She was the first family member to set foot in the wolf enclosure, Aurelie Burns told the Pioneer. The outgoing owner of the sanctuary, Mary Martha Bahn, told Aurelie to remove her dangling earrings before getting close to the wolves—because they could catch their paws on them. Did that worry you, I … [Read more...]
Another Yellowstone Park Whistleblower Steps Forward
Feds Failed to Acquire Crucial Testimony Before Drawing Conclusions BY DAVID S. LEWIS 07-07-17 A former Yellowstone National Park employee contacted The Montana Pioneer recently on the heels of a report released by the Office of Inspector General and published in the Pioneer’s May 2017 issue. We met personally with the whistleblower, at his home, to discuss his first … [Read more...]
Who Shot Yellowstone’s White Wolf?
BY KAREN DAVIS 6/11/17 A preliminary necropsy of the injured, well-known white wolf discovered April 11 in Yellowstone National Park shows she was shot—and within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, officials believe. Discovered by hikers inside the park near Gardiner, Mont., the Canyon Pack alpha female was euthanized by park staff due to her severe injuries. … [Read more...]
The Pursuit of Happiness in Ennis, Montana
BY DAVID S. LEWIS The Fourth of July should be reaffirmed as our nation’s quintessential holiday. The date itself has a ring to it. Few others resonate with such meaning. Saying it aloud—the intonation brings a tide of images, writings, battles, heroes and acts of courage. Men of insight, men in granite, as Van Morrison put it. Swells of the tide rolling from our first … [Read more...]
Antique Roadshow Star Appraises Montana
Celebrity Appraiser Tim Gordon Values Big Sky Artifacts BY MARIA WYLLIE 06/09/17 An old hat, a piece of broken stained glass, a wobbly chair. Upon first glance, all these items appear worn and useless. One might even mistake them for junk. After all, these are all just things—and things that may not provide much practical use in today's world. Your kids wonder why … [Read more...]
The Cody Gunfight Gone Bad
Alleged Shooter of Spectators at Gunfight Show Has Outlaw Record BY RETT NELSON It wasn’t supposed to happen, and the police recently imposed safety guidelines so it won’t happen again, but last summer something went terribly wrong at the Cody gunfight. On July 29, 2016, twelve actors gathered on 11th Street for the nightly show that mimics Old West shootouts, a summertime … [Read more...]
The Road to Koko Bongo’s
The Ghost of Old Mexico Haunts the Modern World BY DAVID S. LEWIS On a park bench in San Pancho, Mexico, a beach town one hour north of Puerto Vallarta, an old woman sat stoically in a square she had probably visited all her life. We’ve seen this, an elderly person sitting quietly in a park, at peace in the autumn of life. But this woman, seemingly at peace, with poise and … [Read more...]
Optimism About Yellowstone River Fly Fishing
River Closure Messaging Masked Reality: Trout Are Many and Healthy BY JOSHUA ROBERSON 04/09/17 Last August 19, Governor Steve Bullock closed 183 miles of the Yellowstone River—from Yellowstone National Park's northern boundary at Gardiner to the Highway 212 bridge in Laurel. The reason for this emergency action: an invasive fish-killing parasite called PKX … [Read more...]
It’s Long Past Time to Delist Yellowstone’s Grizzlies
Wildlife Officials Say the Time Is Overdue to Remove Yellowstone Area Grizzlies From the Threatened Species List BY TOM DICKSON 03/06/17 During a late August morning last summer, Kevin Frey drives up Paradise Valley on U.S. Highway 89 toward Yellowstone National Park. Pointing toward mountains surrounding the valley's fields of grazing cattle, irrigated alfalfa, and … [Read more...]
Fake News Eclipses Dire Ecological Threat
Believe Half of What You See, None of What You Hear BY DAVID S. LEWIS Now, at this moment, an event continues to unfold that may portend dire consequences for the planet and untold millions of people for decades to come, not the data modeling predictions otherwise known as climate change (it’s worth noting that recently a top NOAA scientist turned whistleblower received … [Read more...]
Weather Marches Onward in This Land of Extremes
RICK & SUSIE GRAETZ While the month of March figures officially as winter in Montana, even as hints of spring linger in the air, the coldest weather of the season has come and gone. And it's worth pointing out that the national record for cold in the lower 48 states—70 degrees below zero—was documented right here in Montana at 2:00 a.m., Jan. 20, 1954, on the west side … [Read more...]
Idaho Teen, Now Scientist, Found Triassic Marine Fossils
Clues to the Mystery of Prehistory BY DENISE HOEPFNER 03/04/17 Montana State University paleontologist L.J. Krumenacker discovered a window into Early Triassic marine life by way of fossils he found near Paris, Idaho, more than 15 years ago when he was a teenage fossil hunter. Now, Krumenacker is part of an international team of scientists, led by French … [Read more...]
Fukushima Radiation Spikes to 2011 Levels
300 Tons of Radioactive Water Pour Into Pacific Daily BY WHITNEY WEBB 03/01/17 Operators of the Fukushima nuclear power plant have identified a gaping hole in a reactor containment vessel, which has resulted in a drastic spike in radiation levels. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the company which owns and operates the now defunct power plant, announced … [Read more...]
USFS Claims Easement Through Landowner’s Front Yard
The Arrogance of the US Forest Service BY TERRY L. ANDERSON 02/06/17 After years of hearing from my friend Frank-Paul about the beauties of Indian Creek in the Madison Range, south of Ennis, Mont., my wife and I saddled our horses at the designated U.S. Forest Service trailhead more than a mile from the Lee Metcalf Wilderness Area boundary. For the first mile or so, … [Read more...]
Carving for the King
Montana Artist Amber Jean Carves in Bhutan—What a Relief BY MARIA WYLLIE 02/06/17 Located in the Eastern Himalayas, the Kingdom of Bhutan stands out as a place like no other. Roughly the size of Switzerland, rural and landlocked, the country is wedged between China in the north and India in the south. Called “The Land of the Thunder Dragon,” the tiny Buddhist kingdom … [Read more...]
Death By Avalanche
Victim Pulled From Deep Snow Near Cooke City BY PAUL WEAMER Just north of Cooke City, Montana, a stone's throw from Yellowstone, blustery arctic winds blew across Henderson Peak in the Beartooth Mountains. Air temperatures hovered in the upper teens, as afternoon wind gusts of over 20 mph began to diminish by 3:00 p.m. Four skiers approached a slope dotted with trees, … [Read more...]
Aerial Cameramen Capture Yellowstone, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho
Capturing the Big Sky From High Above BY MARIA WYLLIE Imagine hovering above Yellowstone National Park, and the world's natural treasures in the most remote areas, where humans rarely travel. Like a bird of prey circling its quarry, you look down upon the landscape, see how it all fits together—from on high, yet close enough to the ground to take in the … [Read more...]
Native Women Prior to the Settled West
Hard Lives of Male Domination for Female Indians BY RICHARD IRVING DODGE (Originally published in 1882) The life of an Indian woman is a round of wearisome labor. Her marriage is only an exchange of masters, and an exchange for the worse, for the duties devolved upon a girl in the parental lodge are generally of the lightest kind. She may be required to assist in the … [Read more...]