Cowboy Country
Southwest Montana is still packed with the traditions of cowboy country. From horse-riding to barrel-racing to... pig-wrestling? Yup, you'll find it all here.
Using wilderness to help veterans. “When riding a horse, we leave our fear, troubles, and sadness behind on the ground.” —Juli Carlson Read more >>
From my blocking position atop a rock outcropping, I scan the broad, sage-covered slope below. There's movement to my left. Sliding along like phantoms, a small group of horses has veered out of a narrow gully and wheeled back upslope. Read more >>
Hootin’ and hollerin’ aside, rodeos are some of the best events of the summer. Check out traditional bull riding and calf roping, or see what wild cow riding and mutton busting are all about. Read more >>
Approximately 60 miles south by southwest of Bozeman, in the heart of the Madison Valley, lies the agreeable little town of Ennis. Originally a place of annual pilgrimage for the Shoshone, Flathead, and Bannack Indians, Ennis remains to this day a place frequented by seasonal visitors. Read more >>
Just by turning in my saddle, I could see ten different mountain ranges. The isolated and fierce Crazies, the Big Belts, the Castle Mountains, and the majestic Gallatin and Bridger ranges were to my left, scraping against an azure sky. Read more >>
Catch the tail end of a bona fide Western tradition and head to Three Forks between May 3 and 6—that should put you smack in the middle of some serious cowboy camaraderie and adrenaline, as riders trail horses thundering through town to their summer pasture during Montana Horses’ final spring rou Read more >>
Summer may be the high season, but spring’s got its share of horse-and-rider action as well. Here are a few events to check out around southwest Montana. March 24C & C Winter Series, Belgrade Read more >>
One of the most beautiful things you are ever likely to see is a thundering herd of horses raising dust under the azure Montana sky. Just ask anyone who’s ever seen it. Some folks will tell you it’s downright religious, but most lack the words to describe such a sight. Read more >>
Not unlike the reappearance of songbirds or the emergence of the tulips in Granny’s flowerbed, the annual Montana State University spring rodeo is a sure sign of the season. Read more >>
Winston Churchill once said, "I have always considered that the substitution of the internal combustion engine for the horse marked a very gloomy milestone for the progress of mankind." Though he may not have considered the combustion engine's sweeping implications for the pizza-delivery industry Read more >>
Summer in Montana means rodeo, and there are plenty of boot stompin’, knee slappin’, bronc bustin’ events to choose from. Read more >>
Ah, spring—when a young cowboy’s fancy turns to thoughts of, well, calf roping and branding and the sorts of things that make boy calves sing soprano in the herd. And as if to remind the cowpuncher of his springtime lariat work, the sky sports a starry lasso of its own. Read more >>
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area in the 50's and 60's—before business expanded across the Bay into the suburbs, before the dot.com companies redefined the economy—I wondered where the pavement ended. Read more >>
As dusk creeps down the southern flank of the Spanish Peaks, the gusty alpine wind subsides and a pervasive calm settles over Big Sky. The day’s pale blue sky has turned gray; light snowflakes begin to fill the air. They descend slowly, drifting toward the ground like tiny paratroopers. Read more >>
When I turned 13, my dad decided that he wanted to be a cowboy. To my chagrin, he started wearing cowboy boots, a plaid shirt, a cowboy hat, and a black duster—everywhere. At the time, I was too embarrassed to appreciate his longing to ride. Read more >>
"There's something about the outside of the horse that is good for the inside of a human."-Winston Churchill Read more >>
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