Small Town News

Montana Shelf

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If January is as cold as December, people are going to need to do things out of the ordinary just to keep cabin fever from creeping in whilst spending an inordinate amount of time in the house.

One thing to do is to read or reread the "Golden Oldies" and some new books too about this area.

A few years ago a new biography came out about Charles M. Russell. It is by John Taliaferro. Let me tell you that it is not for those who think that Russell can do no wrong. It is the sort of new biography approach that works much too hard to dig up what dirt there is and supposes even more. Even so, there is much about the Russell's that is new and interesting in this book. Get past the dirt and you will gain new insight into Montana's favorite celebrity.

In one chapter, during the 20's, Nancy, Charlie and their chauffeur visit B. M. Bower in Las Vegas on their way home from spending the winter in Pasadena.

Enter B. M. Bower. First, do not be amazed that B. M. Bower was a lady. She spent much time out at the IX and wrote a whole series of books about a cowboy hero out there named Chip. Most famous of her books is "Chip of the Flying U". McNamara authorities say that Bower took the McNamara brand, Flying A and turned it into a U. At any rate these books are hard to get these days but there are many in the series most all illustrated by Charlie Russell. A few other titles are "Rodeo", "The Covered Wagon", "Cow Country", and "The Long Shadow". These are delightful reads about a time when men were men, rattlesnakes were rattlesnakes and all written secretly from a woman's perspective.

Dan Cushman books are like starting fresh when rereading them. Most are not even very thinly disguised as happening around Big Sandy and Box Elder.

The masterpiece is "Stay Away Joe". About life at Rocky Boy, it is laugh out loud funny and yet on another level is as sad a book as was ever written. Hopefully conditions have improved markedly at Rocky Boy from the time of Joe and his friends.

Cushman predicted frogs coming to Big Sandy in mass although in his book it was muskrats and they were so plentiful that muskrat currency was used instead of greenbacks. That book is called, "The Muskrat Farm." "Brothers in Kickapoo" is a takeoff on any small town fraternal clubs trying to put on the dog. Much the same but a better read is "The Grand and the Glorius". Probably the best of the Cushman's comedy fiction is "The Old Copper Collar" about stolen elections and the fight as to whether the capital of Montana would be at Helena and Anaconda.

Haven't read these for years? Do during January and February. They will be as fresh as ever. Cushman is a genius at portraying all of us at our worst! And, that is funny!

If you want to get serious, get a copy of Wallace Stegner's biography "Wolf Willow". This is not an easy read but it is wonderful in defining homesteaders, the pontoon bridge that makes history and life on the Saskatchewan/ Montana border where even though the Stegner family were Canadians, the thing they looked at most than anything were the wide and spacious Bear Paw Mountains stretching from Big Sandy to Harlem--far in the distance.

Reading this book will make you proud you live where you do in spite of inclement weather. Plus, if you are like me, you might just discover what in the world Wolf Willow actually is!

Now, how about a reading assignment? Later this month and into next, "The Mountaineer" will be running a two part series on the Metis in our area. It won't be as much about Louis Riel and his associates as it will be about Metis that helped homesteaders really settle prairies and the Bear Paws alike.

To get into the spirit of that, there are quite a number of local books written about the Metis out and about. Some can be found at Amazon and others be located by local libraries. Then there is the granddaddy of Metis books, "Strange Empire" by Joseph Kinsey Howard. Read some of those and you will really get into the Metis history that virtually surrounds each of these North Central Montana towns.

Enough of the Montana shelf for now. Next month in celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of Glacier National Park, some centennial books.



Copyright 2010 The Mountaineer, Big Sandy, Montana. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 The Mountaineer Big Sandy, Montana. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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