A Work of Art

Inspiration on the Smith River.

It’s a river with the familiar and commonplace name of Smith that flows north-by-northwest from its source in the mysteriously named Crazy and Castle mountains. Flowing and carving a gorge between the Big Belt and Little Belt ranges, it cuts, as Norman Maclean once said, “through the basement of time.”

I floated the Smith in June during a super moon—the closest the moon was to the earth that year. It was my second time on the river; the first having been a snowy float in May, 24 years before. On that first trip, I had made sketches and photographs, but the weather was challenging, and I had not done much in the way of artwork. I longed to return, so when an opportunity presented itself, I took it.

Seeing the pictographs on the cliff walls along the river reminded and connected me with the Native American history of the place and the artists who had made those marks so long ago.

This time, the plan was to research the Smith River State Park’s 59-mile stretch between the put-in at Camp Baker and the take-out at Eden Bridge. The goal was to paint a commemorative piece celebrating the 75th anniversary of Montana State Parks.

Several old river-floating buddies accompanied me on the trip. My appropriately named friend, Eric Smith, the oldest son of Montana’s First Lady of writing, Annick Smith, was a great help to me. He rowed the boat, allowing me to take photos, observe the scenery, and reflect on our journey. To paraphrase Eric: It’s beautiful, glorious, mesmerizing, tranquil, magnificent, quiet, perfect. It takes a Smith to know a Smith.

It’s fascinating to contemplate the geologic diversity, hydraulic features, and the abundant flora & fauna on this important tributary of the Upper Missouri River. Spending five days on the Smith researching and painting put me directly on the nexus of the relationship between magic and science.

Seeing the pictographs on the cliff walls along the river reminded and connected me with the Native American history of the place and the artists who had made those marks so long ago. The steep hike up to a large cavern’s mouth, thought to be a birthing cave, was also filled with symbolic and enigmatic wall paintings. Personal insights from being there, and my awareness of the link between the transcendence of nature and the scientific reality of the place, would—I had hoped—come to fruition in my paintings.

The warm morning light reached the tops of the cliffs, illuminating the golden super-moon which hung low on the horizon as I looked toward the silvery river below.

One morning, having rose before sunrise near the towering presence of Sunset Cliff, I had a particularly inspiring moment atop the cliffs. The warm morning light reached the tops of the cliffs, illuminating the golden super-moon which hung low on the horizon as I looked toward the silvery river below. In that moment, I was reminded of the importance of protecting and conserving our priceless, magical sources of water, and world-class landscapes here in Montana.

The unique and vibrant bio-network of the Smith not only generates clean and abundant water, but also allows those lucky enough to pull a permit to see the process in action by floating the sacred waters—accessible only by non-motorized watercraft. Collectively, the Smith and our State Parks bring millions of dollars to the state in eco-tourism every year. They provide access for families and individuals to experience and regain a bond with nature firsthand. They have also provided creative inspiration for more than one artist and inspired a conservation ethic in many more—artists, fisherman, and boaters alike. We must protect these special places, for once they’re gone, we can never get them back.

Drill Baby, Drill
A copper mine in the Smith headwaters clears the final hurdle

For years, a proposed copper mine at the headwaters of the Smith River has been in the spotlight, for fear that it could diminish the water quality of an important spawning tributary cutthroat trout, Sheep Creek. In early January, the Montana Supreme Court issued an unfortunate ruling, giving the green light on a water-use permit needed by international mining giant Sandfire Resources and its Montana subsidiary, Tintina, to operate. In essence, the company has a permit to use about 114 million gallons of groundwater annually for the operation, however it does not have a permit for the additional 149 million gallons it plans to pump out of the mine. The court decision effectively rules that since the company will “treat” the additional water and inject it back into the ground, it’s doesn’t count as either “beneficial use” nor as “waste,” and therefore doesn’t require a permit to manipulate. The court ruled in favor of the mining company, 5-2. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Laurie McKinnon wrote ,“It cannot seriously be maintained that Tintina’s ‘tunnels’ or ‘wells,’ which will extricate 150 million gallons of water per year for the benefit of a copper mine, should escape state oversight.” She continued, “Our decision will cause a great injustice and will have huge impacts on Montana’s waters and future generations to come.” The decision appears to be the last major roadblock facing the mine—and now all of us recreators stand to pay the price. —Eli Fournier