‘Tis the season for farmers’ markets, bounty from backyard gardens, fresh herbs, homegrown tomatoes, evenings around the grill, and dining al fresco. Here are some of the latest books on local flavor to help steer your summer cuisine. The Big Sky Bounty Cookbook: Local Ingredients and...
Yellowstone Migrations by Joe Riis (Braided River, $29.95) is a beautiful and ambitious illustrated study of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and more particularly of the migratory patterns of the animals that call the region home. Riis, a wildlife biologist and award-winning photojournalist and cinematographer, has...
BUTTE, MONTANA, HAS A CERTAIN ALLURE for photographer Janie Osborne. First drawn there for a personal project, to research and photograph the Berkeley Pit — the Superfund conundrum that dwells in its backyard — she became captivated by the charm of a community that, in...
I CAN'T SAY FOR SURE EXACTLY WHERE THE IDEA CAME FROM, but I can tell you the approximate location of the when, which was sometime in my 50s; and me, a child of the 1950s. I’m a hunter-gatherer by blood and disposition, hardwired to take...
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...