On a recent winter day, three muddy diesel trucks sat idling outside the Melstone Mercantile on main street in Melstone. Inside the warm, inviting store, the owners of those pickups, guys wearing blue jeans, Carhartt coats, cowboy hats and mud-covered boots, were talking and laughing with each other as the proprietor, Becky Stensvad, made their coffees.

For three small communities in eastern Montana, the owners of multi-purpose businesses, or what we call general stores, have dedicated their lives to accommodating their communities by offering as many products as possible. They are unsung heroes as they work to fill the needs of their customers at the cost of long hours, marginal profit and rare time away.

Ski-joring is an action-packed winter sport in which a person on skis is pulled by a horse and rider over a snow-packed course of gates, jumps and obstacles. It’s the bringing together of two entirely different kinds of people, cowboys and skiers, and teaming their talents to compete against the clock and entertain the crowd.  

A trail of people, animals, places, objects and events of various reputation have already illustrated the MCHF mission “to preserve and pass forward our cowboy way of life, American Indian cultures and collective Montana Western heritage.”

Winter months in Glacier National Park provide a sharp contrast to the wall-to-wall people clamoring to soak in the beauty of the park during the summer. A respite for those hardy enough to visit, the frozen landscape beckons intrepid souls to see Glacier in an entirely new light.

People making a difference one person at a time, or a community at a time, giving their heart and sole to make this place we call home a better place to live.

Warm up with Venison Stew and Farmhouse Cookies for desert!

Those familiar with Dougie know him because of one or more of his successful careers – an up-and-coming Saddle Bronc rider, a successful horse trainer, and a motivational speaker.

To honor their baby girl’s memory, Kori and Jeff decided to pay for funerals for other families who have lost babies.

Along the walking trail on the levee fronting the Missouri River in Fort Benton, several bronze statues memorialize characters who brazed a legacy in Montana by foot, hoof, or paw. One of the sculptures is of a Fort Benton sheepdog whose life was a faithful testament to the bond between dog and human. 

With confirmation, it was time to seek treatment, and Lynn believed a service dog might be of help.  So the search began. 

Quickly, we slipped Maggie Oh through the front door and left her by the Christmas tree. Our excited youngsters raced in and stopped in amazement to find a horse in the living room!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and gifts from the heart and home are always appreciated by family and friends. Creating useful and unique gifts prolongs the enjoyment of the Christmas season, and these presents are bound to be favorites people look forward to receiving every year.

Fallon honored that character trait in Cole and as a junior in high school, she began a program through Family Consumer Career Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) in the hopes that local children who might otherwise go without, be provided with a backpack of food for the weekend.

Like the wafting snow outside, my mind drifts to another cold December nearly 25 years ago when I sat beside another woodstove, visiting my parents in Montana over Christmas.

For the holiday’s dessert and snacks are the two essentials. Both recipes are included this issue!

We think it’s time to simplify in some areas of our lives and be more intentional in other. Perhaps you are feeling that as well. Our stories reflect that. 

Trees literally exploded as fire raced skyward through superheated air as towering plumes of smoke punctuated a clear Montana sky.  The Robertson Draw fire made its presence known on a historic trace called the Meeteetse Trail which runs along the flanks of the Beartooth Mountain Front.  

Weather has always been a main topic of discussion across Montana. This year was no exception.  Old timers are saying it was the hottest, driest summer they remember. Comparisons are being made to conditions in 1988 and 1931. What little snowpack there was melted early, and without June rains, rivers dwindled down to creeks. Farmers harvested 10 to 30% of normal. Ranchers were forced to either downsize their herds, buy expensive hay, or do both.

It was August 4, 1961. Roger was 22, and he and his wife, Rita, had a 2-month-old son, Rodney. On a rotating list of 30 jumpers, he knew he was close to the top and would be jumping again soon. He loved his job. Jumping out of planes and fighting fires lit a fire in him. With a degree in wildlife biology, Roger had yet to secure a job in the field, and being a jumper not only helped him support his family, it also fed his adventurous spirit.