From a distance, the grassy hills just north of Missoula look like disheveled blankets. Known locally as the North Hills, this stretch of land separates the ever-growing university town from the mountains of the Rattlesnake Wilderness. Donna L. Erickson grew up in the North Hills, on...
Editor's Note: We all have our secret spots — those undiscovered special places that offer a full and intimate experience. And as more and more recreationists venture into the outdoors, some places inevitably feel the pressure. While crowds risk changing the character of a place,...
Living on the edge of Glacier National Park might seem like a dream. For artist Michael Booth, it’s the reality of a lifetime. The move brought Booth closer to nature, an internal calling that’s led him to some of his most iconic paintings. Having now spent...
Montanans pride themselves on protecting natural wonders, but very few have considered protecting the dark. The dark, after all, scares us. Not the darkness of a room, perhaps, or even a house. But the dark street, the dark wood, and most certainly the dark that...
During a time of hardship, perhaps the lowest point in 20th century Montana history, here was a chance for celebration. It was 1926. Drought had shriveled the state’s agriculture. Banks had failed. Homesteaders had fled. Bankruptcy rates were the highest in the nation. Most roads...
Shannon Waters was living in New York City, training and eventually cheffing in some of the finest restaurants in the world. She was hungry to do everything — from making “perfect pasta and beautiful bread” to butchering pigs, chickens, and goats — and often spent...
Sometimes when you’re painting outdoors, wild animals wander into your field of view. That’s what Andy Taylor has learned as he paints en plein air in locations along the Snake River or in Grand Teton National Park. He’s had moose saunter into the scene and...
It took some time to learn this lesson, but as a writer-photographer team, Audrey Hall and I have embraced the idea that it’s important to leave space — in your mind, in your schedule — because that’s when the magic happens. This particular magic took shape...
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,...
With characters the likes of Rick O’Shay, Hipshot Percussion, and Deuces Wild, hailing from the imaginary town of Conniption, cartoonist Myron Stanford “Stan” Lynde’s Western-themed comic strips appealed to newspaper readers across the country. Published for 25 years beginning in the 1950s, these comics introduced...