Southwest Montana Blog
Fall

Fall has arrived, and with it a lovely Halloweenish atmosphere. If you are in search of a guide through the spookiest bits of Montana’s past, you’ll not find better than Ellen Baumler. Before retiring last year, Baumler had spent 26 years digging into the stories of Montana’s past. She’...

As you wind your way through the surprising sculptures in the Sculptures in the Wild complex outside of Lincoln, Montana, you feel just a bit like you are wandering through some ancient, megalithic site. Built using local materials–both natural and industrial–the sculptures on this 26 acre plot of...

Thanksgiving is not about the food. It should be about thankfulness, and family, and friendship. But it is about those things in the context of a feast. A joyful celebration culminating in sitting around a table, and eating food together. It doesn’t have to be lavish or excessive. It can be–if you...

Something about the crisp autumn air beckons exploration. Maybe it is our attempt to hold onto summer, with it being just warm enough to wander without a coat, or the deep colors of fall that beg us to connect, or the roads which are craving use before they become coated in snow and ice. For …

The haunting of Grandstreet Theatre, which was originally the Unitarian Church built in 1901, is so famous that it is included in Haunted Places: The National Dictionary. Progressive Unitarians designed the church to double as public space, and so the sanctuary also functioned as a public auditorium with...

Bannack. The once-bright star of Montana, now a ruin. A town in arrested decay. The sun glints blindly off of the few remaining storefronts, stores with neither wares nor customers. The saloons do not hum with music, mule trains no longer clog main street, and the town’s five thousand plus residents no longer...

When referencing Montana, go to topics of conversation include: Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks, skiing, abundant hiking trails, packing trips to the wilderness areas, or even the winding dirt roads that connects one small town to the next. Most of these activities hit summer and winter travel, but...