LETTERS

Recommended reading I’ve always enjoyed reading this great magazine, but your MarchApril 2020 edition was exceptional. I usually read your Tasting Montana page first, have tried many of the recipes, and they have increased my ability to cook gourmet meals using wild game. The article on raptors [“16 Raptors That Every Montanan Should (Kinda) Know”] was beneficial and timely because I recently challenged myself to improve my identification skills. Lastly, the Sketchbook column titled “Looking Down” was a reminder of my need to remain observant when afield. I’ve found that the more I see and understand, the more I love and feel a part of Montana. Keep up the great work.

Mike Getman Lewistown

What a great issue. I enjoyed learning about the natural history of fishers, reestablishing trumpeter swans, and the editor’s quest to spot spring wildflowers on Mount Helena. The recipe (Venison Carbonnade) looks delicious, and we are planning to prepare it using some locally grown lamb we have in the freezer. Our days of traveling back to Montana are probably over, but we sure do enjoy every copy of the magazine.

Harry Johnson Redwood Falls, MN

Sooner State robins My husband and I enjoyed the essay by Emma Marris on robins (“Welcome Back, Stranger,” March-April). Every summer our yard is filled with robins. We always look forward to their arrival in early spring. This year we were pleasantly surprised to see 30 to 40 robins feasting on earthworms in our back yard in the only place in the world where that happens?

early February. They leave when the weather starts cooling down, which around here is usually in October.

Lee Ann Jones Collensville, OK

AIS Mystery Boater? I read with interest the “Plugging the Leaks” article in the March-April issue on how a boat from Chicago carrying invasive mussels escaped detection at two Montana AIS check stations.

I have passed the Anaconda watercraft inspection station many times. Each time I think, “What a difficult job. The hours are long, and considerable time can pass between boats. It must be hard to stay alert, even though it is an important job protecting the safety of Montana valuable waterways.”

The challenge at those stations reminds me of my college days in the 1960s, when I worked in a gas station. Back then gas stations were full service. Besides filling the tank, we checked the oil and fan belts. It was especially hard to remember the fan belts, as they were hard to see and usually did not need to be changed. The solution by the Gates Belt Company was what they called the Gates Mystery Man, who traveled the country with a frayed and worn belt. If a gas station attendant caught him, they got a reward of $25. The station I worked for would match that amount, so it was well worth our time to be vigilant and check

those belts. Could a similar idea work at the AIS check stations? I can think of all kinds of other creative ways to keep inspectors on their toes and give rewards. Just a thought.

The solution was what they called the Gates Mystery Man, who traveled the country with a frayed and worn belt.”

Gary Swant Deer Lodge

Montana’s odd connection with eastern Canada I especially liked the article on the Continental Divide (“The Great Divide,” July-August 2019) but had never before heard of Triple Divide Peak. Is it

Kendall Smith Boise, ID

The editor replies: Several readers wrote asking for more information on that geographical oddity, about 15 miles south of St. Mary.

Triple Divide Peak is where the east–west Laurentian Divide connects to the north–south Continental Divide in Glacier National Park. In answer to Mr. Smith’s question, Triple Divide Peak is one of only a few places in the world where streams feeding three major watersheds originate. Snowmelt and rain go in three directions from the summit: southwest through the park to the Flathead, Clark Fork, and Columbia Rivers before emptying into the Pacific Ocean; southeast to Cut Bank Creek, then to the Marias, Missouri, and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico; and north into Hudson Bay Creek, through the two St. Mary’s Lakes, into St. Mary’s River, then up into the Saskatchewan River system northeast to Hudson Bay. The Saskatchewan Watershed hydrologically connects a tiny portion of Montana with much of eastern Canada. It’s not surprising then that Montana is home to four native fish species originally found only in the tiny triangle formed by the Saskatchewan River watershed where it lies within our state border: northern pike, lake whitefish, deepwater sculpin, and trout-perch. Some, like the northern pike, have since been distributed in other waters.

Correction The bird we identified as a golden eagle on the bottom of page 25 of the article “16 Raptors That Every Montanan Should (Kinda) Know,” (March-April 2020) is actually an immature bald eagle. We’re still learning.