Depending on which way the wind blows, the winter air smells of wood smoke — deep and almost sweet — for blocks around The Union, where meat is being grilled over an open fire. The warm glow from what was once Helena, Montana’s beloved Union...
An anticipated annual event for Western art collectors and enthusiasts, The Russell: A Western Art Experience auction will feature over 125 historic pieces — including more than 20 works by the iconic Charles M. Russell — presenting the largest sale of historic Western art in...
Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming are chock-full of renowned fisheries. Whether enjoyed on a popular river or tucked into a secret hidey-hole, any regional angling adventure can be enhanced by comfortable lodging, a well-prepared meal, and intimate knowledge of the waters at hand. Here, we highlight...
For nearly two decades, Warriors & Quiet Waters has supported post-9/11 veterans through nature-based programming that offers outdoor recreation, camaraderie, and solace, and works to heal the scars that remain when combat is over. With a committed team delivering evidence-based programs focused on fishing, hunting,...
For a boy who only knew red dirt, heavy air, and the threat of twisters, visiting the Northern Rocky Mountains must have been magnificent. He traveled by train from the southern Great Plains to work on a U.S. Forest Service crew in northwest Montana, where...
I help my father Quicken a pinewood blaze Against the falling night. The kerosine stove exhales With its hot oily breath And mingles With the woodsmoke And two days Of stale sweat. Lake water boils, Setting the pot lid chattering. Water For splintered ramen, Instant coffee, And hot chocolate From a crumpled Paper packet. Sitting on stern stones, I carefully nurse My tin cup While...
The winter day is often at its coldest as dawn breaks. With crystalline snowflakes gathered on the ground, shrouding the landscape in a soft layer of white, the air is a thin, heady brilliance as it fills the lungs. The cold surrounds, stings, seeps into...
A horse runs across a snowy field — a rider at the reins — as a skier clings to a rope tethered behind the saddle. The skier leaps off jumps, dodges obstacles, and carves turns while spectators cheer. Skijoring is a sport with rich history...
It was raining,” began Howard Zahniser’s account of a horsepacking trip in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains in August of 1947. The horses were saddled, packed, and tied to trees outside a rustic log cabin. But Zahniser — a 41-year-old city gent, a preacher’s kid, and a...
Since its original facility opened in 1927, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming has become a 300,000-square-foot historical center consisting of five separate museums. Its flagship, the Buffalo Bill Museum, chronicles the life of William F. Cody [1846–1917], a Western icon...