One of my favorite driving expeditions in Idaho is to follow the Salmon River from the Stanley Basin downstream to Challis. On this trip, the abundance of hot springs and mountain views are accompanied by an undeniable sense of nostalgia, a reminder of what the...
Once you’ve seen mountain sheep in their native habitat — the high passes above timberline that catch early snow and hold summer’s light — sheepless pastures seem profoundly empty. It’s the same with the scoured badlands, where bands of prairie bighorns, spooked by an intruder,...
From Wounded Knee to the Gallows: The Life and Trials of Lakota Chief Two Sticks (University of Oklahoma Press, $24.95), co-authored by Philip S. Hall and Mary Solon Lewis, sheds new light on the aftermath of the Battle of Wounded Knee (also called the Wounded...
One night it will just pass Plain in the firelight. That thing you’ve been Hunting for so long, Suddenly right in front of you, Unafraid. As if everything, The cunning traps, The dogged trailing, Was all just for show. Some elaborate ceremony Of the inevitable. And now this No desperate chase, No revelatory Final showdown, Just a gentle meeting of eyes, A...
More than 150 years after Nelson Story’s famous Texas-to-Montana cattle drive, cattle rustlers still roam the American West, and traditional ranchers still brand their calves to identify their herd and safeguard their livelihood. The practice of rope-and-drag branding, with irons in an open fire pit...
Mark Davis, the project superintendent for Martel Construction, has built a lot of houses in the past 30 years: as many as 250, he estimates. It’s quite a statement, then, when he says, “Of all the houses I’ve built so far, this one is my...
A thick column of black smoke rose downriver, cooling into a thin layer across the horizon and contrasting starkly against the late October Montana sky; a good metaphor for the splitting headache that was hammering in my otherwise clear head. The smoke distracted me for...
Bows and arrows represent one of mankind’s earliest inventions. Archery artifacts from southern Africa date back as far as 60,000 years, and 10,000 years ago, Neolithic cultures were hunting and waging war with bows in every corner of the world except Australia, a remarkable example...
With past accolades — including “hidden gem,” “where to go off the grid,” and the “best meal in the middle of nowhere” — to its credit, Brooks Lake Lodge is known for its remote and stunningly beautiful location outside of Dubois, Wyoming. Far from cities...
Surrounded by his recent work — oil paintings finished, in-process, or merely put aside — Kyle Sims focuses on painting a small fox he spotted recently in Canada. His glass palette reflects an orderly approach, a line of select hues along the top and three...