A SUMMER EVENING IN THE FOOTHILLS of Montana’s Little Belt Mountains, I sit outside to watch the sun sink. A breeze rustles the grass. Birds zip through the air, enjoying a few final flights before bedtime. One, a swallow with striking blue feathers, catches my...
ON DAY ONE OF A 45-MILE CANOE TRIP through the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in Central Montana, our group of 10 moms and daughters found ourselves standing before archaeologist Kevin O’Briant. We were gazing at an ancient rendering of a horse — perfectly...
BUTTE, AMERICA. A city built by immigrants, by Irish and Poles, Germans and Italians and Czechs, by second sons and daughters, pioneers who landed in Butte to dig down and build a life. During its heyday, there were as many as 225 mines operating in...
THERE ARE SO MANY ASTONISHING FACTS ABOUT HONEY BEES, that if you list them all together, it’s hard to believe that one little creature could be so accomplished and compelling. For instance, it takes about 700 honey bees — flying 55,000 miles and collecting nectar...
WHEN PRESIDENT WARREN G. HARDING FED A BEAR named Max in Yellowstone National Park in 1923, he made sure to do it the right way. He didn’t tease Max or offer food directly from his hand. Instead he held out a bowl of molasses that...
Sometimes the best ideas start as simple conversations over a game of golf. That’s just what happened with Al Meitl as he played a casual 18 holes one Saturday morning in his hometown of Saint Louis, Missouri. His golf partner owned a house on Georgetown...
As we took what our map told us was the final turn, the gravel road became rutted dirt that would turn to impassable gumbo if the clouds gathering in the western sky produced any rain. We hadn’t seen a ranch house for miles. I reminded...
If you’re looking for Aaron Pruzan, there’s a good chance you’ll find him out on the water, at least from early spring through late fall. Rivers and the sports associated with them are deeply interwoven into every aspect of his life, whether he’s running raging...
Perhaps it’s ironic that within the wide-ranging photography of Julia Tuell, one of my favorite images was not snapped by Tuell herself, but by her husband. By Tuell’s standards, the photo might have seemed haphazard, and her rather serious expression suggests she worried about whether...
When chef Marcos Mustain talks about his signature braised lamb shank dish, he’s not just referring to dinner. He talks about the curry stand in Bangkok that he and his wife, Sari, discovered while on vacation in Thailand. He talks about the local Montana ranch...