How the Federal Government Encourages Conflict BY SHAWN REGAN 01/06/17 The surprising acquittal of Ammon Bundy and six others in the trial over the armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon has once again elevated federal land issues to the national stage, and many questions remain. But despite all the media attention on the trial, many have overlooked … [Read more...]
A Ghost Town Near Yellowstone
High in the Absaroka Wilderness, It’s Called a Ghost Town for Good Reason BY NIKOLAS GROSFIELD Montana towns—dead or alive—often seem similar to one another. But as with people, debunking this idea only takes a little digging. Independence is a long-abandoned ghost town high in the Absaroka Mountains. Around a dozen miles north of Yellowstone Park, it nearly … [Read more...]
Secrets of Indian Religion
Records of Native Mysteries from the 1800s BY RICHARD IRVING DODGE We have elsewhere remarked that it is difficult for a Christian to draw the line between religion and morality, but unless he can do so, it will be impossible for him to understand the Indian. He must even go further; he must tone his mind to the consideration of a people not only without a code of … [Read more...]
How to Stop Sexual Harassment at Yellowstone
Why Are NPS and the Feds Incapable of Cleaning House? BY DAVID S. LEWIS 10-27-16 In House Oversight Committee hearings this summer, ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings looked back and forth across the panel, to his left and right, and across the hall, wherein sat or had sat National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, Deputy Director Michael Reynolds, and various National … [Read more...]
Yellowstone Whistleblower Attracts Federal Investigators
Office of Inspector General Asks Victims and Witnesses to Call Hotline: 800-424-5081 BY DAVID S. LEWIS As the direct result of a news report published in The Montana Pioneer in September about a Scandal in Yellowstone National Park, various federal investigations were alerted to alleged misconduct in Yellowstone National Park and directed investigators to interview the … [Read more...]
Yellowstone Trout Healthy Throughout the River Closure
Somebody Tell the Governor, He Seems Not to Realize the Damage He’s Done BY DAVID S. LEWIS News about the Yellowstone River this summer sounded bad, real bad, and it was terribly misleading. At the behest of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Governor Bullock on August 19 closed an unusually long stretch of the river, 193 miles, to fishing and recreation. All of the … [Read more...]
Feds Tried Repeatedly to Consult Standing Rock Sioux on Pipeline
Non Response From Tribe Undercuts Legal Protest BY CHRIS WHITE Court documents indicate the U.S. government approached the Standing Rock Sioux tribe more than 15 times prior to approving a hotly contested oil pipeline in North Dakota. The Army Corps of Engineers attempted more than a dozen times between 2014 and 2016 to discuss the Dakota Access pipeline route with … [Read more...]
Scandal in Yellowstone
National Park Service Centennial Blackened By Disturbing Allegations BY DAVID S. LEWIS 9/07/16 The National Park Service, as it celebrates its 100th anniversary, has been plagued by documented cases of sexual exploitation of employees in the Grand Canyon, as boatman allegedly coerced and forced themselves upon female workers. Now NPS faces new allegations that … [Read more...]
Yellowstone Trout Are Thriving
News Reports Terribly Misleading BY DAVID S. LEWIS 09/09/16 News about the Yellowstone River recently has been bad, and terribly misleading, after Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks closed an unusually long stretch to fishing and recreation on August 19. The Associated Press has led stories with phrasings leading readers to believe that trout in the river have been … [Read more...]
Jim Harrison’s Last Writings
Weeks Before His Death, Preoccupied With Life BY BEN GOLDFARB In March 27, 2016, Jim Harrison died at his home in Patagonia, Arizona, a final poem left unfinished on his desk. Some writers leave too soon; others, like Harrison, depart when they’re good and ready. He had lived hard, first in Michigan and later in (Livingston) Montana, where his prodigious appetites … [Read more...]
Michael Keaton Thinks I’m Timmy Oates
It’s a Seinfeld Episode, Only in Montana BY DAVID S. LEWIS 8/15/16 Twice now this has happened, where someone famous gets my name wrong — for years. The first time was playing baseball as a teen, and Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts, our high school coach, kept calling me Danny. He was a friend of the family, mentored my brother Tim to Triple A with the Yankees, but … [Read more...]
Wittich Campaign Finance Trial
Commissioner of Political Practices Employee Testifies About Deleted Evidence in Wittich Pre-Trial Hearing By John S. Adams, Montana Free Press 03/11/16 District Judge Ray Dayton on Monday heard more than three hours of testimony in his Anaconda courtroom as he considers competing pre-trial arguments in a high-profile political corruption lawsuit. Commissioner of … [Read more...]
Wittich Case Going to Trial
Wittich Claims Selective Targeting, Commissioner of Political Practices Says No BY ROGER ROOTS 03/11/16 Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, John Motl, has launched a series of civil lawsuits against some of Montana’s most prominent Republicans, alleging they received undisclosed campaign support from conservative nonprofit corporations during the 2010 Primary … [Read more...]
Grizzlies Still Need Protection
BY ROGER HAYDEN 02/05/16 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has indicated it plans to remove the iconic Yellowstone grizzly bear from protection under the Endan-gered Species Act early this year. The federal agency's plan is irresponsible and premature because grizzlies are struggling to adjust to declining food sources, even as they face an uncertain future caused by … [Read more...]
All Horses and Men, We Pointed Them North
Recollections of a Cowboy (Continued) BY TEDDY BLUE ABBOTT From 1874 to 1877 I was taking care of my father's cattle, and after a while the neighbors began putting cattle with me, paying me a $1.50 a head for 6 months. I herded them in the daytime and penned them at night, and for the first time in my life I could rustle a little cash. In 1875 I made $29 that way, and my … [Read more...]
Legends of the Star People
Ancestors in High Places BY DAVID S. LEWIS For propriety’s sake, we will address the Native American Star People legends, what might be termed the folklore traditions of various Indian tribes, of having been in contact with extraterrestrials, or as being their ancestors, as a study of human societies and cultures, as anthropology, so that the more incredible aspects of this … [Read more...]