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Steve McGann

Steve McGann has lived in Bozeman since the 1970s. Now retired, he is trying to finally use his history degrees. Or he is in the hills.

Content By This Contributor:

Montana Holidays Outdoors

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…

Take a Montana Drive This Fall

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…

An Ultimate Road Trip

Steve McGann

“... And then the lights of Bozeman – the broad main street ablaze with power of brightness and abundant light...” The above quote comes from an odd little book; almost without sentences, it’s just daubs of phrases strung…

Bozeman Libraries Through the Years

Steve McGann

A well-known criminal was once asked why he robbed banks. He replied, “That’s where they keep the money.” My answer to why I spend so much time in libraries is similar; they are full of books. One of my best childhood memories is…

What's Your Beef?: Greetings

Steve McGann

In early May, I roused myself from a cloudy late afternoon daze and drove up to hike the M. This was somewhat unusual for me. After more than ten years of hiking the M a couple times each week, I had stopped after the 2020 fire. None of the M trails…

Top 10 Peaks To Hike Around Bozeman

Steve McGann

Hikers are as varied as the trails they walk. Some are constantly looking for new challenges, some are content with the same well-known trails. Some want short, level walks, some desire long and steep. There are casual walkers and thru-hikers. There…

Sidney Edgerton: Father of Montana?

Steve McGann

Look at a map of the western United States. Almost all of the borders are straight lines. Some of the states are nearly square; Wyoming and Colorado definitely, North and South Dakota nearly, New Mexico and Utah, close. Rivers form some boundaries:…

Who Wrote It?

Steve McGann

Consciousness is what makes us unique, human. Language is the method we use to express that consciousness. Writing and reading the words of language are the concrete tools of the process. Whales and elephants and ravens have language, but they have…

Ten Ways to Navigate Winter in Bozeman

Steve McGann

When I began a list for this article, some of my potential suggestions seemed familiar.I looked back to an article I had written for Mental Health Month last fall, my recommendations looked like some of the same ones with a hat and gloves. Still, it…

TEN Cross Country Ski Locations Around Bozeman

Steve McGann

Having deserted Montana winters about five years ago for warm and sunny Arizona, I have felt neither interest in nor expertise for writing about the season. This year, however, my wife and I will be in Bozeman for most of December and into January…

Is It Safe To Bike In Bozeman?

Steve McGann, photos by Mars Fagin

Recently, there have been two people killed while riding bicycles in Bozeman, both struck by motor vehicles. As our hearts ache for the families and friends of these two men, we are left to ask ourselves how, and why?I have been riding bicycles in…

Cheyenne Autumn

Steve McGann

Recently I read or reread some works of Montana history concentrating on the territorial and early statehood periods—books by classic historians Joseph Kinsey Howard, K Ross Toole, and Merrill Burlingame, as well as newer authors Ken Egan and…

Weather, Light, Seasons

Steve McGann

In the course of a day, it is possible to have multiple conversations with various people, from strangers to friends, and speak only of the weather. The subject is current, even immediate; historic, yet in the future; benign or raging, it’s all…

Top 10 Ways to Reduce Everyday Stress

Steve McGann

The best way to eliminate stress and ensure good mental health is to retire. This approach has worked for me for a number of years. To many of you that will sound smug, patronizing. Yet it does provide an insight into good practice. I remain busy…

Alternatives

Steve McGann

Bozeman is changing, growing before our eyes. The edge of town moves almost daily; you can see it, and also hear it in the sound of nail guns on the frames of countless new buildings. The whole place is vibrant, moving, exciting, and alive. Says me…

The Ten (Or So) Hiking Essentials

Steve McGann

“Be prepared. That is my belief and that is my motto. My practice, however, is a little different. I tend to go off in a more or less random direction myself, half-baked, half-assed, half-cocked, and half-ripped. Why? Well... all that bloody…

Yellowstone National Park: Year Round Wonderland

Steve McGann

I was excited when I heard that the theme of this month’s issue of Bozeman Magazine would be the 150th anniversary of Yellowstone National Park. The first national park in the world—America’s best idea. Here was a topic I knew…

Spring Road Trip

Steve McGann

Every May I charge off somewhere too early for the season. I once loaded a large canoe on top of a small car and drove to Hyalite. The ice fisherman out on the reservoir got a good laugh from that misguided decision. I put my head down and drove the…

Mapping Out A List Of State Names

Steve McGann

As school children, we were required to memorize the names of the 50 states that make up the United States. We were also required to memorize the names of all state capital cities. That adds up to 100 names to memorize—no wonder I found grade…

Coming Back Into The Country

Steve McGann

The great essayist and non-fiction author John McPhee wrote a book about Alaska titled Coming Into The Country. When the idea for this essay came to me, I recalled his title and thought it very appropriate. So I borrowed it. The best part was that I…

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