Cowboy Humor

Montana writer and third generation  rancher John Moore has a good new novel coming– which somehow led to this photo by and of his friend, western cartoonist Wally Bagdgett (who is also a thinly disguised character in the book): I am not sure who wrote the caption… “Wally Badgett, creator of the “Earl” cartoon, announces …

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Snow

“The mountains paralleled the valley and the snowy peaks were extending with fall to the valley floor.”– Thomas McGuane, Nobody’s Angel Which is at least visually appropriate for this view looking South on Main street to the Magdalena range, which rises from 6500 feet at the village to almost 11, 000 (10, 782 I THINK) …

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It is official

You might have figured it out in comments below but it is official: because the Feds are allowing a three- decade exemption for wind farms to kill as many eagles as they “need” to, and because they exert no pressure on tribal use (right and understandable for religious practice, but ignoring the profitable if clandestine …

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Mattanza Magdalena

It has been a rough year for our town– four funerals in one family alone, no water for a month in summer, loss of our only food store. Perhaps my young friend Jason Otero, who is a guide and hound trainer among other skills, just decided to cheer everyone up. He staged a mattanza– literally …

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Blizzard Whiteout

Eastern Montana writer John Moore alerted me to the great October blizzard in South Dakota a few days ago. I told him I would blog on it, but assumed something of such magnitude would soon get out. But nooo… apparently the actions of petty bureaucrats top any need to report the effects of the greatest …

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John Graves, R.I.P.

Henry Chappell just emailed to tell me that John Graves, Texas writer and living legend, just died at (I think) 93. John was a true Texan with deep roots, a civilized man, a WWII vet who had lived in Europe but eventually preferred his roots, a conservationist and localist before such things were chic,  and …

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Some more talented friends

Lest anyone be confused about who is who (see comments not too far below), two southwestern greats, artists, horse folks, friends: photographer Jay Dusard, printmaker and pastel artist Nance McManus, A couple of favorites by Nance: “Prophet”, and a Dinosaurian heron And two by Jay. The first is of rancher- houndman- conservationist Warner Glenn, who …

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Miles City is still in Montana*

I just saw the video below and am trying to give it some publicity. It is ostensibly an interview with Miles City writer, rancher, and horseman John Moore about the Miles City Bucking horse sale, but he touches on the strange way that difficult life skills have been transmuted into (often expensive) play. When he …

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