January 2024
Steve McGann
At times it seems as if lists run our lives. Lists of chores, of errands, of work duties, groceries; calendars of meetings, on and on. But there are fun lists too. Lists for Santa, guest lists for celebrations and, of course, bucket lists. The name…
January 2024
Liz Bischoff
In celebration of Big Sky Resort’s 50th Anniversary, I wanted to share a story of friendship that spans nearly 45 years, spills into three generations, and travels over four states.
I’ll paint the picture: It’s 1976 and, in Spring…
December 2023
Ken Walcheck
Christmas morning, 1947. Something about the shape of that package under the Yule tree caught my eye. Call it intuition if you wish, but I had a feeling this gift was going to be a little bit special. Even though I was nearly sixteen, I unwrapped it…
December 2023
Steve McGann
My favorite Christmas ornament is a pine cone. It is fitted with a little eye screw and strung on a faded old ribbon. My Mother sent it to me as the wrapping for a present years ago. She included a description typed on her old Underwood, taped to the…
December 2023
Joseph Montalbano
Camping in winter is a physically demanding task. It’s a test of physical ability to get anything done in hostile conditions, when the difference between being prepared or unprepared is crucial, and making one too many mistakes can mean heading…
December 2023
Phil Knight
As the sun slips lower with each passing day, we Montanans enter the Season of Ice. It starts as a thin skin on puddles and frost on the roof. You have to start scraping your windshield every morning. Before long, the dropping temperature…
November 2023
Steve McGann
Before I lived in Montana, the most vivid recurring image I had of what it would be like involved driving. My mind-picture was of an old bench seat pickup, slowly moving up a long hill on a gravel road through a grassy meadow. There were a couple of…
October 2023
Ken Walcheck
A warm October sun bathes my face as I sit in a seasoned wicker chair on my patio, sipping hot apple cider, admiring Montana’s brilliant fall colors, displayed by the maple, willow, mountain ash and cottonwood trees in my backyard. The…
September 2023
Lewis and Clark's Encounters with Montana's Pit Viper, The Prairie Rattlesnake
Ken Walcheck
Prairie Rattlesnake, Beartrap Canyon, MT. Photo courtesy of Adrianna Frankland
As the thirty-three members of the Lewis and Clark expedition crossed the 104th meridian into present-day Montana with their flotilla of six canoes and two pirogues…
August 2023
Peter Brancaccio
Driving down the Taylor Fork on a cold morning can be a rutted-road, chassis-twisting, teeth-jarring, worn-out denim, old-Montana type experience. Real cowboys with dented hats and dusty jeans will be moving horse herds up and down this dirt road to…
