The National Weather Service’s winter storm warning for today reminded me of some research I did a while back about Montana’s tropical past. So, brew a cup of something warm, plan a cross-country ski trip for this weekend, and imagine yourself on Montana’s tropical beaches. Or, you know, get back to work, whichever you prefer. … Read more
Take a moment and picture Virginia City’s main street in July of 1865. It’s the height of the gold rush, so quite a few people wander around, doing their Saturday shopping. Horses wait patiently at hitching posts. Perhaps a few wagons or mule trains unload their goods. Although too early in the day for much … Read more
Montana loves royalty. Other people’s royalty. It goes without saying that Montanan’s would not respond well to a monarch trying to rule us, but visiting us? That we enjoy. The town of Silver Star boasts that Prince Edward (later, Edward VII) spent three nights in the Silver Star Hotel in 1878 (frankly, I’ve been hard … Read more
No trip is complete without a book or two-meticulously researched and preferably adventurous-to give a sense of wherever you visit. If you’re visiting Butte, then Ivan Doig’s Work Song fits the ticket. If the polar vortex has you feeling like you never want to leave your house again, well, Work Song can entertain you there … Read more
Around 140,000 years ago, glaciers flowed south, carving out the valleys around Ovando, in northern SouthWest Montana. As the Bull Lake Ice Age ended, the glaciers retreated from the area. During the Pinedale Ice Age, between 60,000 and 15,000 years ago, ice covered the region once again. Glaciers again moved into the Ovando/Helmville area, carrying … Read more