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Ednor Therriault

Ednor Therriault

Ednor Therriault writes from Missoula, where he lives with his wife, Shannon, when he’s not on the road poking around Montana. He’s published several books including Seven Montanas, Myths and Legends of Yellowstone, and Big Sky, Big Parks. His first book, Montana Curiosities, became the best selling title in Globe Pequot’s Curiosities series. He’s also a musician, performing under the nom de guerre Bob Wire.

  • Kevins lure

    Hooked On Lures

    By Ednor Therriault
    I let my eyes wander over the colorful forest of fish tempters, which have been hung in the order they were found, resulting in a random array of shapes, sizes, colors and styles. A sleek, white, torpedo-shaped plug with black dots for eyes hangs next to a segmented silver minnow jerkbait.
  • Froggy Doo

    The Kidnap and Ransom of Froggy Doo

    By Ednor Therriault
    The perpetrators were never caught, and the victim was found a short time later, dismembered, his body parts strewn along a fence line outside of town, his decapitated head hanging from a post.
  • Flathead Lake Monster

    The Flathead Lake Monster, Still At Large

    By Ednor Therriault
    A few imaginative paleontologists have suggested that what people are seeing could be a plesiosaurus, an aquatic reptile from the Early Jurassic period. Some eyewitness reports are uncanny in their description of this carnivorous dinosaur, from its 40-foot length to its large flippers and snake-like neck, tiny head and long tail.
  • Next Stop Rest Stop

    Next Stop, Rest Stop!

    By Ednor Therriault, with photos by the Author
    They’re the unsung heroes of Montana road travel, these 63 benefactors of bladder and bowel. And as any road warrior knows, they’re much more than just a place to, um, lighten your load.
  • Judith Landing

    Journey Through History at Montana's Newest State Park: Judith Landing

    By Ednor Therriault
    Across the bridge on the south bank is the site of the new state park, comprising a 109-acre parcel acquired by the state in 2025. It includes the Judith Landing Historic District, which contains the remnants of several structures from various periods in the confluence’s history, and encompasses notable historic events that date back, oh, 150 million years or so.
  • semis

    Paving Montana

    By Ednor Therriault, with photos by Tom Rath
    The Good Roads advocates wanted better, smoother roads for the popular new craze sweeping the nation: the bicycle. At the forefront of this effort was the League of American Wheelmen (LAW), which had been lobbying for better roads since 1880.
  • bridge

    Snowden Bridge: So Dangerous That It’s Safe

    By Ednor Therriault, with photos by the author
    Two 100-foot-high towers carry concrete counterweights that are so precisely balanced the bridge required only a three-horsepower engine—smaller than the motor of an average lawnmower—to lift the 571-ton steel span. It took about 30 minutes to raise it 43 feet.
  • Three Chiefs

    Risen From the Ashes

    By Ednor Therriault
    As the sun rose over the smoking ruins of the People's Center, Torosian and her staff feared the worst. Incredibly, the fire had spared the museum wing, as well as the educational section where cultural programs were held. Once the fire marshall determined it was safe, Torosian and her staff were allowed into the scorched building.
  • St. Marie illustration

    St. Marie

    By Ednor Therriault
    As you approach it, the shape becomes houses. Lots of them. A couple of water towers join the skyline. It looks like you’re coming up on a little Montana town, out here in almost-no-man’s-land. And it is a town, or rather, was.
  • Unimpressed Cartoon

    Unimpressed: Montana’s One-Star Reviews

    By Ednor Therriault
    “The pictographs are so faded or destroyed that you have to use your imagination. The best example is in the sorry excuse of a visitor’s center. So, save your $6 state park fee (if you live outside of Montana)."