With the exception of 1970, Powder River County has lost population every decade since 1930, when 3,909 folk lived in the county. That count placed it at number 46 in the state, but somehow the county ended up with 9 on its license plates. 

As a freelance photographer and cinematographer, Jimmy Michaels has traveled worldwide working on documentaries for The History Channel, Discovery, HGTV, and MeatEater. Then he met Jackie Wickens and Trecie Wheat Hughes of Yellowstone Brokers on the set of their HGTV show Mountain Mamas. 

With over 4,000 miles of groomed trails, Montana is a true snowmobilers' paradise. Every winter these trails deliver sledders to the sweeping mountain-meadow playgrounds, deep untouched backcountry, rugged ridgelines, and frozen alpine lakes they seek their thrills from.

I've been to the Tasting Room many times before, and every time someone visits me in my adopted town of Butte, I always take them there. But somehow, I never paid much attention to the bar before now. It is a long, gorgeous hardwood number that looks as if a hundred years or so of cowboys and miners have rubbed it to a reflective polish. 

Jewish traditions hold that the Ten Commandments were engraved on sapphire tablets. Some may be legend or myth, but there’s no denying that sapphires have an air of mystery and magic, not unlike Montana. 

Stretched between the Marias River and the Canadian border, Toole County covers 1,946 square miles, of which 30 are water (mostly Lake Elwell aka Tiber Reservoir). The 2020 census estimate showed 4,686 county residents, a drop of 12 percent since the 2010 census, and the lowest count since 1920. 

Their most important quality might just be their abiding love for the Treasure State. Hughes says that she is grateful to raise her son, Sawyer, amongst like-minded, salt of the earth people in Montana.

Gold attracted people to the region, and Helena’s “main street” is a memorial to the early prospectors. Much of Last Chance Gulch is a pedestrian mall, and the turn-of-the-century architecture lining the sidewalks attracts the eye, just as the various window displays attract shoppers.

The thing most people don’t know about the Montana Department of Livestock is the DOL is a very diverse organization. Many are familiar with our law enforcement function dating back to the days of the territorial government, but we also are engaged in protecting animal and human health.

Dolly Browder’s life story is one of milestones, not simply for Montana, but for women across the United States. Along with two other women, Zona Lindemann and Marcia Hogan, Browder formed the first paid fire-fighting crew for the US.

In the 1940s and early ‘50s, a double feature always included at least one Western, usually depicting Hollywood’s version of what Johnson claimed as her West—the frontier on which she set the majority of her stories.

Bannack, named (and misspelled) for the Bannock Indians, was the first territorial capital of Montana and was built on the spot of the territory’s first major gold rush in 1862.  The population grew to 3,000 a mere year later, and the town became famous, or infamous, when Sheriff Plummer began moonlighting as one of its most industrious highwaymen.

Woosh! Doug executed a perfect parallel stop as he reached to wipe his goggles, which again were beginning to cake with the heavy snowfall. He peered into the white, attempting to see if he could spot his ski buddies who had taken the blue run when he charged off the black diamond ridge tagged as Dead Drop.

Depression can creep in this time of year and steal your joy. The pandemic has rocked our world and caused so much stress and anxiety. Add a life crisis, divorce, or loss of a loved one to that, and you may not want to get out of bed in the mornings. I was there and can relate. The simplest actions helped transform my life.

Roughly halfway between Lame Deer and Colstrip, the Deer Medicine Rocks are a National Historic Landmark, located on private property with no public access. The landmark memorializes the site where Lakota Chief Sitting Bull had a vision foretelling his success over the U.S. 7th Cavalry led by General George Armstrong Custer.

If you are like me, interested in history and the past, Virginia City is quite fascinating and I always enjoy the chance to stop for awhile on my travels through the area.

One of Montana’s nine original counties, Beaverhead is the state’s largest county in area. Excepting minor boundary changes with neighboring Madison County, Beaverhead is the same size and shape as when it was first created.

In recent years, flying cars technologies have come a long way and what once viewed a science fiction will soon become a reality. As we speak, start-ups and major brands are developing them, including Boeing, Hyundai, Airbus, Toyota and Uber.