Fall 2023
September 15, 2023Christopher Muhlenfeld tells the story of the Boomtown Saint, and Nick Mitchell recounts how Bobby became a legend and when flying saucers first came to Great Falls. Joseph Shelton hunts the Shunka Warak’in, hyena of the Rockies, Doug Stevens collects trappers’ tales from early Yellowstone, and Sherman Cahill reports on Butte as J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI Siberia and lists seven Montana towns that never existed. Dr. Shane Doyle celebrates the gift of a Blackfoot map, Todd Klassy photographs the Cremer Ranch rodeo dynasty, and the 2023 Best of Montana section runs from page 32.
Summer 2023
June 15, 2023Sherman Cahill wonders whether some tourists have a deathwish, and Nick Mitchell tells the story of Stuart’s Stranglers. Douglas A. Schmittou writes on Chief Mountain as landmark and sacred site, Doug Stevens visits Fort Benton and follows Calamity Jane’s life in Montana, and Joseph Shelton calls on Charlie Russell at Bull Head Lodge. Frank Vargo meets the Montana marksman Tom Frye, James Lee Burke talks with Russell Rowland about Bud Guthrie, and Hallie Zolynski photographs the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness.
Spring 2023
March 15, 2023Ednor Therriault asks whether the Flathead Lake Monster is still at large, and Sherman Cahill tells how Hank Williams Jr. survived Ajax Mountain. Douglas A. Schmittou presents the Lakota delegation portraits of 1868-1877 and the advent of steamboat traffic on the Upper Missouri, Todd Klassy photographs the Shonkin Sag, and Lindsay Tran follows the restoration of Mary MacLane’s home in Butte. Also inside: Jim’s Horn House, lightning in the wild, southwest Montana’s hot springs, three snapshots of an underwater Montana, and Blaine County.
Winter 2022-23
December 15, 2022Railroads run through the Winter 2022-23 issue. Nick Mitchell tells how a Butte miner hijacked a Northern Pacific train and tried to drive it to Washington, Joseph Shelton covers Kid Curry and the Great Northern train robbery and the knights of the tie and rail, Sherman Cahill rides the mid-century Empire Builder, and Amy Grisak profiles James J. Hill. Doug Stevens follows the Nez Perce flight for freedom, Holly Matkin reports on Big Sky Bravery, and Todd Klassy photographs beautiful Montana roads for all seasons. Bryan Spellman gets to know Big Horn County.
Fall 2022
September 15, 2022Todd Klassy photographs Lost Montana to open the Fall 2022 issue, and Sherman Cahill investigates the state’s cattle mutilation mystery. Renee Carlson collects Montana’s road ghosts with illustrations by Robert Rath and reports on the final days of the Montana Children’s Center in Twin Bridges, while Ednor Therriault tours the wild and wooly museums. Doug Stevens introduces the real cattle queen of Montana, Holly Matkin celebrates military veterans in bronze, and Amy Grisak tells how Montana fought World War I. The 2022 Best of Montana section runs from page 65.
Summer 2022
June 15, 2022The Summer 2022 issue follows Lewis and Clark through Montana. Hallie Zolynski travels the route the Corps of Discovery left behind, Sherman Cahill searches with them for the American incognitum, Joseph Shelton stages their meeting with the grizzly bear, and Doug Stevens tells the Salish discovery of the Corps of Discovery. Renee Carlson follows Sacagawea, Pompey and Patrick Gass after history was made, and Lindsay Tran visits Travelers’ Rest. Also inside: the Crazy Mountains, Crow Creek Falls, Anaconda’s Washoe Theater, the county fair, and Wheatland County.
Spring 2022
March 15, 2022Todd Klassy photographs the tradition of spring branding, and Holly Matkin visits Montana’s magnificent buffalo jumps and drives the Beartooth Highway then and now. Lindsay Tran interviews Michael Punke, author of The Revenant and Last Stand, Amy Grisak celebrates the diversity of Montana’s cowboy culture, and Renee Carlson tells the rowdy history of Miles City’s Bucking Horse Sale. Doug Stevens follows the National Bison Range through vision, tragedy and homecoming, Hallie Zolynski photographs draft horses, and Bryan Spellman gets to know Powder River County.
Winter 2021-22
December 15, 2021Winter mystery writers fill the Winter 2021-22 issue, with interviews of James Lee Burke, Gwen Florio, Craig Johnson and C. J. Box, and Sherman Cahill on how Dashiell Hammett invented noir fiction in Butte, America. Renee Carlson asks who killed John Bozeman, Holly Matkin reports on rural policing, and Bryan Spellman photographs Montana’s seven wooden carousels. Doug Stevens covers the mining of Glacier, Seth Anderson skis under the Big Sky, Kay Bjork skates on Swan Lake, and Robert Rath illustrates the Big Die-Up.
Fall 2021
September 15, 2021The Fall 2021 issue digs into mining across the Treasure State. Patti Albrecht tells the story of Montana’s gold stampede, Robert Rath writes and illustrates the spirit of Butte, and Sherman Cahill follows the Chinese miners who came east to Gold Mountain and recounts three of Montana’s worst mining disasters. Lindsay Dick introduces Mary MacLane, Butte’s prodigal daughter, Joseph Shelton tracks the making of a ghost town at Granite, and Zuzu Feder weighs the complicated legacy of the state’s Superfund sites. Also inside: larch madness, the sapphire road, historic cemeteries and Toole County.
Summer 2021
June 15, 2021A Norman Maclean special section anchors the Summer 2021 issue: Jim Hepworth interviews John N. Maclean, an excerpt from Home Waters follows, Mike L. Raether gives a brief history of fly fishing, and Bryan Spellman photographs the forests, mountains and water of Maclean’s landscapes. Amy Grisak reports on the Pikuni Bigfoot Project’s search for Sasquatch in Indigenous stories, Seth Anderson climbs to Montana’s fire lookouts, and a My Montana Home section covers log homes, kit homes and tiny houses. Joseph Shelton visits the extraordinary home of Chief Plenty Coups.