Before I even get to the front door, I’m surrounded by creatures: a couple of farm dogs, one of them definitely smiling, and a Great Pyrenees, both eager to be petted. There are chickens milling about, and I see red Scottish Highland cattle and some...
For the last century, a quintessential Montana artist might have been known for creating traditional images of the wide-open, beautiful vistas and rugged terrain that define the region. Walk into an area gallery, and you’re likely to find oil paintings and watercolors of “big picture”...
Summertime foot traffic blooms in the historic downtown district of Sheridan, Wyoming. Known for its rodeo culture, idyllic atmosphere, street dances, and proximity to the Bighorn Mountains, Sheridan has quietly secured its reputation as a popular mountain town with true Western flair. I’m visiting on 3rd...
The first of a lifetime of Yellowstone River agates was dropped, almost literally, at the feet of young Tom Harmon. When his elementary school playground in Sidney, Montana was graveled, Harmon and his classmates spent recess scrounging for agates in the crushed rock. Over lunch,...
In the late 1970s, when Mike Papke was 5 years old, his older brothers took him to Bridger Bowl Ski Area just outside of Bozeman, Montana and went straight to the top of the Bronco run — an area notorious for large, knee-bashing moguls. They...
Knife maker Will Hutchinson — known to most as “Hutch” — has spent a lot of time thinking about the marriage of form and function. With an undergraduate degree from the Art Academy of Cincinnati in Ohio and a Master of Fine Arts from the...
Mike Morelli leads a tour of wide-eyed adults through the inner workings of Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT) prior to the opening of one of five performances the theater puts on as part of its Community Series. An expressive and exuberant speaker with dancing eyes behind...
As a young boy, Samuel Singer spent a lot of time looking up at the night sky with his dad near their home in northern Nevada’s high desert. They had relocated from a more urban environment, and the young Singer was captivated by the night...
It should come as no surprise that upon entering the Bozeman offices of Yellow Dog Flyfishing, I’m greeted by Daisy, a lovable yellow lab whose tail wags back and forth at the speed of light. It’s probably equally unsurprising that she shows me Montana-sized hospitality....
After picking up the rental car, we were jumpy about the bitter weather — an emptiness I could feel in the pit of my stomach. The 115-mile drive from Billings, Montana skirted the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Then it bisected the Crow Reservation, which...