Your trusted local news source since 1910
Your trusted local news source since 1910
Sorted by date Results 1 - 19 of 19
With the rodeo right around the corner, Baxter Black defines the true character of the Rodeo Cowboy. There's a hundred years of history and a hundred before that All gathered in the thinkin' goin' on beneath his hat And back behind his eyeballs and pumpin' through his veins Is the ghost of every cowboy that ever held the reins Every coil in his lasso's been thrown a million times His quiet concentration's been distilled through ancient minds It's evolution workin' when the silver scratches hide And a ghostly cowboy chorus fills his head and...
In our previous column, we introduced the Right to Know and the Montana Transparency Project, our nonprofit organization that champions, amplifies and educates Montanans about this crucial right. Today, let's delve deeper into the special nature of the Right to Know as enshrined in the Montana Constitution. We have a special Right to Know in Montana that deserves all Montanans’ special attention. We should use this important liberty to appreciate how lucky we are here, and to bring to life the participatory spirit that this right and other r...
You can create a quilt to look pretty or fancy. A show piece. It doesn’t have to be durable and weather the storms. It isn’t created to warm or protect the group. You want it to win prizes so you can feel good about your final goal. A fancy quilt is cleverly made. All the pieces are cut precisely beforehand, match perfectly, and the design is chosen to make an impression, not necessarily to weather time. An enduring everyday quilt can be a conglomeration of mismatched pieces chosen because the material is what is at hand. The edges are mad...
The 2024 Summer Olympics, set to kick off in Paris on July 26, will include four extra sports. They are breaking, surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing. Baseball and softball were removed from the 2024 Olympics, but will be reinstated for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Olympians are still being made here in Montana. Montana has the privilege of these talented athletes representing out state and our country. Once again, she has a chance to cheer on several of their own at the July 26 – August 11, 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. M...
Tiny is mighty. Smoky, a tiny Yorkshire Terrier, was found in a foxhole in New Guinea in Feb 1944. The American thought she must have been a Japanese soldier’s dog, but when he took her to a POW camp, they realized she didn’t understand commands in Japanese. The soldier sold Smoky to Cpl. William Wynne of Cleveland OH for 2 dollars Australian (about $6.44); he needed the money to get back into a poker game. Smoky became the smallest war hero weighing in at 4 lbs. even and standing 7 inches tall. Taking care of a dog during wartime and in a jun...
Have you ever really realized just how important the 4th of July is? So many think of it as day of picnics, day at the beach or lake. Not many see this as a “freedom day,” that we should be thankful for because of those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom and lived through horrendous hardships. If you look at the Fourth of July as a holiday “owed” to you, then you’re missing the whole point of freedom. Freedom came at a cost and we have forgotten what this cost entailed. They declared their freedom. They declared the freedom of these...
Cats were the perfect companions not only in the trenches of WWI, but onboard ship as well. While dogs and horses are often portrayed as wartime workers and companions, cats also played vital roles. It was a cat named “Simon” who won a Dickin Medal, the highest honor for Animal Military Gallantry in Britain. In the military, animal mascots were used to provide friendship and a happy distraction to Canadian soldiers. Various animals such as “Mike” the Saint Bernard, or “Batisse” the goat gave soldiers comfort and affection. Animal mascots wer...
Every Memorial Day, Cascade American Legion Post 133 & the Auxiliary takes the time to honor the military service of a local community member. This year’s honoree is Mr. Iain McGregor. Iain was born and raised in Ruby Valley, between Sheridan and Twin Bridges, Montana. He was involved with ranching throughout his early years while attending school in Twin Bridges. Later in high school, Iain moved with his family to Clarksburg, California, a small farming community in northern California. Ian pro...
May seems to have just began but then May flies! It is May, and time for mayflowers, mayapples and mayflies! Spring is a season bursting with cherry blossoms, the scent of lilacs, and the landscape devoid of winter white. Just like the mayfly, we are emerging from the depths of winter and able to move into the light. Mayflies are said to have been around before dinosaurs. “After more than 350 million years of evolution, they have perfected the art of life.” They start as an egg, turn into a naiad (water nymph!), emerge from the water, ful...
I’ve been to a lot of places, but I’ve never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can’t go alone, you have to be in Cahoots with someone. I’ve also never been in Cognito, either. I hear no one recognizes you there. I have, however been in Sane. They don’t have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips. Ever heard the phrase “the real McCoy”? It refers to a ground-breaking inventor who revolutionized the railroad industry. Elijah McCoy was born to parents who fled slavery on the Underground Railroad. Elijah trained as a...
We always need volunteers. Volunteers keep the lights on. They cement the community together. Volunteers often help keep the doors open and enable organizations to deliver vital programs and services. They lend their expertise, to fundraising campaigns and special events. Volunteering for a good cause changes lives and doesn’t just benefit the people you’re helping. Beyond the obvious benefits of helping out in the community and making a difference, volunteering can both further a career and improve your life. Everybody wins. Did you hear abo...
“Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year.” The poem was Longfellow’s embodiment of Revere as the courage and determination of the ordinary citizens in the Revolutionary War. Overall, Paul Revere was just a cog in an elaborate warning system. In 1774 and 1775, the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety employed Paul Revere as an express rider to carry news, messages, and copies of important docum...
And a kazoo to you too. Remember an instrument that produces a-buzzing sound when played and consists of a small metal or plastic tube with a side hole covered by a thin membrane? Bet many have tried to play one. It was a real humdinger! A kazoo is a handheld, novelty instrument usually made of tin or plastic. It creates a-buzzing sound when played. The tone quality of a kazoo is determined by the quality of the membrane or resonator. You don’t’ blow into a kazoo to create the desired sound; you have to hum into it. A popular anecdote sug...
Terry Curnow put it right at the most recent Town Council meeting. He said that it’s time to quit hating each other and begin to unite as a community. I’ve worked for the Town of Cascade for over 14 years, and hoped to retire from here, as I love this job and this community. Everything I’ve done has been to help make this community one that we can all be proud of. From learning to write grants, to effective budgeting to get projects done, the mayor, council, public works, and office staff have worked together to get things done. I’m proud o...
The library is offering some bear education. Are we educating the bears?? Well, as that might be a good course of action, it might be more productive not to try and educate the bears, as they seem to do their own thing and keep on learning how to open those doors. So let us offer some education to us humans who also like to ignore common sense and do our own thing which often leads into interesting situations. Bears are fuzzy, adorable, but can be crazy terrifying. Bears of course, have been seen right here in our own backyards. And while your...
Many things shaped Montana during its early years. The sheep came, then the cattlemen. This helped shape the state in a variety of ways. Whether it was barbed wire or the brutal winter of 1886/188,7 which Russel immortalized in his drawings/sketches. The discovery of copper in Butte in 1882, the growth of the timber industry (thanks to the railroads and the Butte mines) or just the rapid growth of population all helped to form early Montana Life. These are well noted in the annals of history. However, many don’t realize that the Civil War a...
Art Napping: the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. The history of art is marked by the theft of works, from Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Gioconda” stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and then recovered years later, or even the famous work “America” by Maurizio Cattelan taken away from Blenheim Palace in 2019, 103 kg of solid gold in the shape of a toilet, never found again. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral to secure loans. In 147...
There is no greater symbol of a country’s determination to defend its freedom than a warship. USS Nevada was named after the 36th state. Launched in 1914, Nevada was a leap forward in dreadnought technology. Every subsequent US battleship included triple gun turrets, oil in place of coal for fuel, geared steam turbines for greater range, and the “all or nothing” armor principle. These features made Nevada, alongside sister ship Oklahoma, the first US Navy “standard-type” battleships. Nevada’s construction was authorized by an Act of Congress...
Help! I'm melting!!! That's how it's been feeling these last few days here in Cascade as temperatures have been lingering in the mid to high nineties! Forecast this morning was calling for temps to reach 101 today, as I write this. For a minute, I thought I was back in Texas! The difference, though, is that, here, one can get under a shade and cool off. Here, the temperatures drop at night and one wakes up to cooler morning temps. Here, these temperatures don't linger for months at a time....
