FALL 2021
FLAMES ON THE BEARTOOTH FRONT RICHARD SPRING FIRE STARTS FROM A COAL SEAM HIGGINS RIDGE FIRE A Smoke Jumper’s Tale
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RICHARD Cyd Hoefle
contents FALL 2021 12 3630 PUBLISHER CYD & STU HOEFLE 406-860-0292 // publisher@raisedinthewest.com COPY EDITOR ED KEMMICK ADVERTISING CYD HOEFLE 406-860-0292 // 406-860-4109publisher@raisedinthewest.comSTUHOEFLE DESIGN MELANIE ads@raisedinthewest.comFABRIZIUS ADDRESS RAISED IN THE WEST PO Box 80267 // Billings, MT 59108 ©2020 Peaks to Prairie Media All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. www.raisedinthewest.com FOLLOW US! COVER MAIN STREET RED LODGE AND THE ROBINSON DRAW FIRE PHOTOGRAPHY BY STU HOEFLE 10 GLOOM, DESPAIR AND AGONY 12 FLAMES ON THE BEARTOOTH FRONT Written by Dave Vickery 18 JEAN’S CUISINES Written by Jean Petersen 20 HIGGINS RIDGE FIRE 1961 Written by Cyd Hoefle 28 FIRE EXPOSE, A GATHERING OF SCENES 30 GRIZZLY BEAR ENCOUNTERS Written by Amy Grisak 36 NOSTALGIC STYLE AT MARK’S IN AND OUT Written by Stella Fong 38
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ON TO THE HARVEST Written by Amy Grisak 50 “DUSTING OFF THE OLD STORIES” KENDALL GHOST TOWN Written by Cathy Moser 54 OUT & ABOUT 4 // www.raisedinthewest.com
HANGING
SPRING FIRE STARTS FROM A COAL SEAM Written by
maryann@sonnytoddrealestate.com Logan 406.930.3673Todd Mary Ann 406.930.6607Duffey logan@sonnytoddrealestate.com WE KNOW MONTANA. • 3rd Generation in the business • 5th Generation Montanans • Locally owned and operated • Full service real estate team • Serving you for over 30 years Whether buying or selling, Sonny Todd Real Estate is here for you; specializing in farm, ranch, recreational & local residential real estate. Call us today! © Sonny Todd Real Estate | www.sonnytoddrealestate.com | info@sonnytoddrealestate.com 301 W. 1st Ave., Suite C, PO Box 828, Big Timber, MT 59011 | 406.932.1031
It seems no one is exempt. If the drought didn’t hit you, the economy did. Fuel prices have risen, lumber prices soared, and used vehicles impossible to find. As an inundation of people flocked to Montana to buy a little piece of paradise, the value of homes and real estate skyrocketed. And, it seems, covid is back.
note from the publisher
Neither of these ranchers are going to give up. It’s not an option. They are adjusting to what they need to do to ensure that their ranches recoup in the next several years stronger and better than Inbefore.this
things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
Just as we’ve been trying to find our way and figure out what the next step should be, the turmoil in Afghanistan erupted. Without cause, we lost 13 brave soldiers. Thirteen families whose sons and daughters will never come home. Our deep respect and heartfelt prayers go out to those families.
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edition we also share a story of an incredible rescue. A helicopter pilot and a fire boss risked their lives to save the lives of others. We talk about grizzlies and the challenges in cohabitating with their increasing numbers and we stay on the lighter side by visiting with an iconic walk-up burger joint that has stood the test of time and we profile a mining town that didn’t.
The oppression is heavy, the answers are few. What do we do? Whom do we trust? How do we keep moving forward? Our futures seem uncertain and unsteady.
We met some very strong people in the past couple of months. People that have endured trials and persevered in the midst of them. We visited with two neighboring ranchers in eastern Montana whose ranches burned this summer. Both have roots that date back to the late 1800s. Over 100 years of generations of the same family have awakened each morning to the same view of the pine covered hillsides, the same big sky, the same ground on which their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers
We thought 2020 was a hard year but it turns out 2021 has been even more challenging. Across our state, farmers and ranchers facing drought, grasshoppers, and wildfires, are making tough decisions about how to keep their operations afloat. Small businesses across the state are struggling with labor shortages and rising costs.
Inwalked.thetime that their ancestors first settled in the area, there have been 24 presidents, The Great Depression, WW I & II, The Korean and Vietnam Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan. There’s been advancement in travel, technology, and medicine beyond measure. There’s been recessions and inflations and good times and bad. And through it all their families survived.
We are in tumultuous times. But we are a strong people, our roots run deep and like our parents and grandparents before us, we need to be bold and courageous and face the future with “Idetermination.candoall
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AMI SHETLER
Catharine Melin Moser writes about Western history, lifestyles, and the outdoors from her home in central Montana’s Judith Mountains. Her decade-long research about nineteenth century Thoroughbred breeding and horse racing in Montana and its influence on American horse racing is the subject of her forthcoming book, In the Winner’s Circle, slated for publication by Oklahoma University Press in 2022.
JEAN PETERSEN
Stella loves to discover new flavors and waters to fly fish. She is author of Flavors Under the Big Sky: Recipes and Stories from Yellowstone Public Radio and Beyond, Billings Food and Historic Restaurants of Billings. Fong contributes regularly to Yellowstone Valley Woman Magazine, Edible Bozeman and The Last Best Plates column for Montana Food.
Ami grew up in the plains of Ohio and transplanted in the mountains of Montana a short five years ago. The mountains are her favorite escape from the demands of being a nurse practitioner. She particularly enjoys hiking and backpacking with friends into alpine lakes in remote areas. Her heart is hungry for beauty and her eyes seek out photographic moments. Landscapes and flowers are her favorite subjects.
AMY GRISAK
STU HOEFLE
STELLA FONG
Jean is a cookbook and children’s picture book author, freelance writer and has been a weekly columnist with Western Ag Reporter for over 15 years. She and her husband live near the Beartooth Mountains in Red Lodge with their four children. Most days she can be found outdoors with her animals, on a hike, at her children’s activities, or cozying up writing and reading. You can find her at www.jeanpetersen.com
PHOTOGRAPHER
WRITER
COLLEEN KILBANE
JACK OF ALL TRADES
CATHY MOSER
PHOTOGRAPHER
Melanie was raised on a farm on the banks of the Clarks Fork River in Belfry. Her life-long love of art led her to a career as a freelance graphic designer. When she’s not busy working, Melanie enjoys being with family, spending time with her dogs, camping, ATVing, collecting rocks and watching the sunset. Check out her art at www.melaniefab.com and follow her on Instagram @ melaniefabart.
DAVE VICKERY
contributors
WRITER
Stu is a photographer, editor, and title twister. He’s also an encourager, entertainer and travel partner. He helps with story lines, asks great questions, and looks at every angle. When he’s not helping with the magazine, he’s helping someone else. He can be found with a fishing rod, a camera or a packed bag and promises, or threatens, that he’s going to disappear someday to a sandy beach with a grass hut, an endless river, or a mountain top…he won’t say which.
________________________________
WRITER
WRITER
Great Falls writer, Amy Grisak balances her life between the mountains and the prairie looking for stories that catch her interest. This award-winning writer shares what she loves with readers, whether it's finding gorgeous hikes in Glacier National Park or how to push the gardening envelope in our challenging Montana climate. Look for her book, “Nature Guide to Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks,” published by Falcon Guides and follow her at amygrisak.com
Colleen spent her summers at her family’s guest ranch near Nye, Montana where the Beartooth Mountains, the animals that inhabit the region, and the western way of life made an early impression and have always inspired her. Her favorite subjects are rodeo and landscape. Colleen was given her first camera at age 8 and is continually honing her skills by attending several workshops a year. “You can never stop learning,” Colleen says. She and husband, Jim, live in Red Lodge with several dogs, cats and horses. Follow her on Facebook at Colleen Kilbane Heart 4 Bar Photography
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Born and raised in the mountain foothills of Montana, Dave, early in life, learned an abiding love of wild places. Descended from a pioneer family with deep roots in the early west, he wandered the broad reaches of Big Sky Country as a young man. He has lived and worked in Alaska and Idaho as well as his native Montana. A book author and freelance writer, his work has appeared in national and regional publications. Currently he lives in a quiet rural setting with his wife of 51 years and enjoys, in order, grandchildren and the outdoors.
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MELANIE FABRIZIUS
Cyd Hoefle • publisher@raisedinthewest.com406.860.0292 CALL TODAY TO ADVERTISE! 8 // www.raisedinthewest.com
WRITER
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ACROSS MONTANA
2021 SUMMER WILL BE REMEMBERED AS A DOOZY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STU HOEFLE
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heat and blocking out relief.
While the hot dry summer is a major reason for plunging the state into a severe drought, low moisture conditions began a year ago with a warm, dry fall, followed by above average temperatures and below average precipitation through the winter months which continued into March and April. The lack of winter moisture and spring rains kept the green grass from coming. May and June turned out to be the driest on record. Then toward the end of June an unusual weather pattern developed over the northwest region, including Montana. A high-pressure ridge formed over the area which kept fordomenorthwest.throughfromPacificandabovetemperaturesnormalblockedmoisturemovingtheThisheatstayedinplaceweekslockinginthe
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. Add in the grasshoppers that swooped in around June and swathed a path of annihilation, springs and wells that dwindled dry and triple digit temperatures and it made for a very miserable summer. On top of all that was the smoke that laid in for several months on end.
Relief came unexpectedly in early August as the heat dome eased and rain swept across the state. Fire season isn’t over, but there is hope it will be soon. Relief from the drought will take time though and is ever dependent on the weather which, as was witnessed this year, is never predictable.
agenciesNumerous have classified 90% of Montana in severe drought
FALL 2021 // 11
It was the fires, though, that made most of the headlines. As of late August, over 2,000 fire starts were reported in Montana with over 800,000 acres of forests, grassland and crops burned. The Robinson Draw Fire outside of Red Lodge, kicked off the fire season in dramatic form, and from then on, fires started daily, spread quickly, and devoured the tinder dry forests and range lands. By far the largest fire, Richard Spring in eastern Montana burned over 170,000 acres. Both fires ran miles in a single day pushed by high winds over drought-stricken land.
Numerous agencies have classified 98% of Montana in severe drought. Soil moisture conditions, both surface and subsurface dropped to below 5%, high summer temperatures and low rainfall records have been broken across the state. Look around and you’ll see the entire state is hurting. No one has been exempt.
BY JUNE, JEFFERSON RIVER REDUCED TO A TRICKLE & CLOSED TO FISHING
RED LODGE MONTANA BY DAVE VICKERY
WRITTEN
ON THE Beartooth Front AND Meeteetse Trail
Flames
PHOTO BY STU HOEFLE
12 // www.raisedinthewest.com
RobertsonDrawFire
PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTED BY FOREST SERVICE,
In June of this year raging flames burst up timbered mountain slopes with the speed, power and roar that resembled an artillery barrage. 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
TheFront.trail
With high winds and unseasonably dry conditions, by June 15th, the fire had quickly grown to 21,000 acres and burned a six-mile swath along the Beartooth Front including Mount Maurice
PHOTO BY STU HOEFLE
MEETEETSE TRAIL BURNED OUT
FALL 2021 // 13
Named the Robertson Draw Fire, it was reportedly caused by human error. It ignited on Sunday, June 13. Local fire units from Carbon County first responded, and shortly afterwards, teams from the Bureau of Land Management, Montana DNRC and U.S. Forest Service were burned a six-mile swath along the Beartooth Front including BLM,
owns a colorful charisma of natural and human history and this latest chapter in its storied life is sure to leave a painful lasting mark. The most recent chapter is a massive wildfire which blackened nearly 30,000 acres during weeks of extreme heat and high wind that shut down travel and threatened homes, outdoor recreation and even the town of Red Lodge.
COLLEEN KILBANE AND STU HOEFLE
THE BACKSIDE OF THE MEETEETSEE SPIRES FROM ABOVE SOUTH GROVE CREEK
Hundreds of wildland firefighters, helicopters, air tanker planes and dozens of ground vehicles ultimately joined the battle to
While the mountains, rolling hills and sagebrush flats along the Meeteetse Trail have historically been subjected to wildfires, the Robertson Draw fire will certainly be branded as one of the worst ever recorded. When the fire is finally extinguished, it will leave a dramatically scorched landscape that will last for years.
contain the intense fire. The fire behavior moderated somewhat in mid-June, but by July, it was only 63 percent contained. As of this writing, the fire is considered 90 percent contained and according to officials, it is likely that firefighting crews will remain on the site until fall weather brings moisture.
Red Lodge to stand awestruck as orange flames raced across the face of the mountain. Fortunately, as the fire encompassed the mountain, it spared the town although many rural residents and campgrounds were forced to evacuate.
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Given the dramatic loss caused by the Robertson Draw fire, it’s worth noting the history of the trail. The Meeteetse Trail runs from Red Lodge around Mount Maurice and past the rugged drainages of Grove Creek, Robertson Draw, and Line Creek, crossing the Clark’s Fork River and finally to its namesake, Meeteetse, Wyoming nearly 100 miles south. Footprints along the trail were made by ancient hunters, mountain men, outlaws, settlers, and mail stage drivers. The name “Meeteetse” is derived from a Native American term for "meeting place.”
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was a post office in 1884 at the junction of the Meeteetse trail and Rock Creek, just south of the city boundary today. The trail was first known as the “100-mile route”, and was used by freighters, settlers and travelers from the Yellowstone Valley south to the growing town of Meeteetse, which by about 1890 became a central hub of commerce for the Big Horn Basin.
The Robertson Draw fire destroyed a special area that had been set aside to preserve its extraordinary geographic character and rare vegetation. The Meeteetse Spires Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) burned in its entirety, including the timbered Grove Creek Gorge as well as Mount Maurice and all the drainage along the front.
Colorful and historic people were known to have traversed the early trail, including John Colter as he searched for Indian tribes in 1808 as part of the fur trading expedition for Manuel Lisa. Later, mountain men such as Jim Bridger and Osborne Russell plied their often-dangerous lifestyle across the land traversed by the trail. Buffalo Bill Cody was known to use the route, as were outlaws such as Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch. Adventures of various types greeted those who travelled the Meeteetse, often from natures obstacles and weather to, on occasion, people outside the law.
MEETEETSE SPIRES AREA OF CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN BURNED IN ITS ENTIRETY
The history of the Meeteetse Trail is linked to the lives of people who traversed the west. The trail was used over the centuries by Native Americans during their migrations for hunting and settling in seasonal camps. By approximately 1881, the U.S. Army followed the ancient route to establish a travel and wagon route from the Meeteetse area south of Cody along the Greybull River across the Big Horn Basin as a link to the new Northern Pacific railroad terminal at Billings. The original location of Red Lodge
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According to Dave Lefevre, BLM’s Billings field manager, initial study is underway to determine what rehabilitation actions can be taken. Rangeland should start to recover next spring if there is moisture this coming winter and next spring. Restoration of timbered areas will take longer, but according to Lefevre, aspen stands can usually renew themselves reasonably quickly, but the pine forested areas will take a much longer time to regrow. With time, nature will surely reclaim its dominance over the mountains and fill the hills and mountains with the bounty of trees and grass among the spires. Our hope is that she will respond quickly.
PHOTO BY COLLEEN KILBANE
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FALL 2021 // 17
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recipe • 6-8 apples of your choosing • ½ cup (1 stick) butter • 3 Tablespoons flour • ¼ cup water • ½ cup sugar • ½ cup brown sugar • 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon • 1 dash of nutmeg • Favorite Pie Crust recipe or refrigerator crust
APPLE PIE Bounty Cookbook’s
GARDEN VEGETABLE PESTO PASTA
LET’S EAT WRITTEN BY JEAN PETERSEN
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DIRECTIONS: In a large skillet over medium-heat, melt butter and add mushrooms. Saute mushrooms for 2 minutes and then add garlic, sun dried tomatoes and artichokes. Saute another 2 minutes and add wine/cooking wine and spinach. Mix together with pesto and toss with penne pasta. Top with shredded parmesan and lemon zest and squeeze fresh lemon over pasta dish.
DIRECTIONS: Preheat Oven to 425 degrees. Peel apples. Combine all ingredients together, except apples, in saucepan on low heat on the stove top. Stir until mixture is a sauce, and poor over the apples in the prepared pie crust. Brush top with egg wash and sprinkle with a dusting of sugar. Cook for 20 minutes, turn heat down to 350 degrees and cook another 25-20 minutes until lightly brown.
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Abridged from The Big Sky
Abridged from The Big Sky Bounty Cookbook 2 Tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter 1 ½ cups mushrooms, sliced 4 garlic cloves, minced ½ cup sundried tomatoes, sliced thin 1 ½ cups artichoke hearts, rinsed and roughly chopped cup dry white wine or cooking wine 2 cups fresh spinach, cleaned 1 zucchini, sliced thin and quartered pieces 1 cup store-prepared pesto 12 ounce penne pasta, prepared according to package 3 ounces shredded parmesan cheese 1 lemon, quartered Zest of Lemon
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Jean’s C uisines
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“We always got excited coming onto a fire,” Roger said, reflecting back. “We all loved jumping, so we were excited to be doing it again. Questions always went through my mind as we approached and circled the fire: ‘How big is it? What’s the smoke look like? What kind of a jump spot will we have? Will I land in a tree again?’ I remember we were all excited. We liked our jobs, and we were at it Soonagain.”thespotter
A SMOKEJUMPER’S HARROWING TALE
CONTRIBUTED
The summer had been unusually hot and dry, and a record drought spread across the state. Already the jumpers had been on more than a dozen fires across the region. This fire, though, would stretch the jumpers beyond anything they had imagined, would narrowly miss taking their lives and would remain the most memorable of their careers.
signaled to jump, and Roger and two others vanished out the door, leaving the remaining nine to jump with each circling of the fire.
FALL 2021 // 21
The call came into the Missoula Smoke Jumper Base late in the morning. A small fire had been spotted on the Higgins Ridge, a remote, highly wooded area in the Nez Perce National Forest
about 30 miles from Hamilton, south of Missoula. Already eight jumpers from Grangeville, Idaho, were on the fire, but with the perfect fire conditions for it to spread quickly, another 12 jumpers from Missoula were called in. It was believed that it was spotted early enough to be contained quickly. If all went well, it would be out in no time.
The drop zone was tight and crowded with mature trees, the forest thick from decades of growth. Roger hung up on a tree, which, he claims, was typical. He quickly rigged up a rope and lowered himself to the ground. Within minutes the remaining jumpers were also on the ground. The plane made one more pass, dropped to 400 feet and parachuted the firefighting gear down to them. The men scrambled to put their gear into their
PHOTOS BY MIKE MANSFIELD MUSEUM,
THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA, ROGER SIEMENS AND STU HOEFLE
Roger Siemens crouched in the doorway of the DC-2 as the plane circled above the fire. He could hear the spotter and the pilot talking but, with the noise from the airplane, couldn’t make out what they were saying.
The spotter lay on the floor beside the men, watching closely out the door. As the plane leveled out, he cautiously checked the wind direction against the position of the plane and guided the pilot toward the intended drop zone. The men’s excitement grew. Roger and two other jumpers waited anxiously, in the door, for the signal to jump.
fire Higgins1961Ridge
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.
“There’s no hesitation,” Roger said. “The spotter will push you out if you do. They need to get us out of the plane and on the ground as quickly as possible.”
BELL HELICOPTER USED IN THE RESCUE
JUMPERS AT THE DOOR
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—ROGER SIEMENS
“There’s no hesitation. The spotter will push you out if you do. They need to get us out of the plane and on the ground as quickly as possible.”
SMOKE JUMPER CENTER, MISSOULA, MT
ROGER SIEMENS, 22, HEADED FOR A FIRE
FIRE FIGHTER USING A FLAIL TRENCHER
Roger and his co-workers were being led by Fritz Wolfrum, an experienced fire boss. With more experience than Ross, Fritz became the fire boss for the fire once he landed. In a matter of minutes, Fritz ordered them to grab their canteens and a five-
Fritz boldly led the men into the fire instead of trying to outrun it. As the story has been told, from the plane Fritz had seen an area that had already been burned and made a mental note of it. He knew that if his men got in trouble, their best chance to survive would be to get to that location. His quick thinking was later credited with helping to save the lives of the 12-man smokejumper crew as they scrambled to get to the spot while the entire mountain side exploded in an inferno around them.
The first crew in was on the east side of the ridge and Roger and his teammates were assigned to stay on the west side to try to contain the fire there.
The men were in trouble.
“I’d been using the trencher,” he said, “when all of a sudden, the wind came up. A bad wind. It hadn’t been blowing at all, but it just came up and the fire took off.”
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Roger was using a new piece of equipment called a flail trencher. Much like a weed eater with a chain instead of line, it was powerful enough to break into the ground and make a foot wide trench. The fire conditions were extreme. Embers were drifting up over the line creating spot fires, but Roger was making progress.
packs, leaving it in their and canteens. They took instructions from their fire boss and headed out to the edge of the fire.
“We were in two groups,” Roger stated. “The eight guys and Ross, a squad leader, on the east side, I later found out, found a pile of rocks to lie down in to keep out of the path of the fire.”
gallon container of water, wet themselves down and cover their faces with their bandannas.
A powerful weather front blew in, the wind hit the area and fueled a violent, swift-moving inferno that fanned the ridge with a roar. What looked to be containable just minutes before blew up. Trees were exploding, flames flew everywhere, visibility dropped, and temperatures soared.
“I didn’t think about anything but doing what my boss said to do,” Roger said. “He was yelling, ‘We gotta get outta here,’ and we followed him.”
FALL 2021 // 23
tools
exchange for
Wearing their standard firefighting uniforms, blue jeans and heavy boots, the jumpers were also sporting their newly assigned
As the men were struggling to stay alive, Rod Snider, an accomplished helicopter pilot with Johnson Flying Service out of Missoula, and Bill Magnuson, a Moose Creek Forest Service Ranger, were dispatched to look for them.
Onsearch.the ground, things were getting worse. As the fire crept closer to the men, the air was so hot that clothing was catching on fire and the lids on the canteens were melting.
“It was terrifying,” Roger said. “At one point a couple of the guys jumped up and thought they’d try and out run it. Several of us grabbed them and held them down. Fritz was yelling at us all to stay put.”
PAGES OUT OF ROGER’S LOG BOOK
and we’d get a reprieve. I kept thinking about Mann Gulch and sure as heck didn’t want that to be the way our story ended too.”
“Fritz ordered us to dig away the ash and lay as flat a possible against the charred ground,” Roger continued. “It was so hot! We huddled there together. When I glanced up, I couldn’t see anything around me. The smoke was so thick, it was choking us. My throat hurt. My eyes burned. The hanky wasn’t doing a bit of good. We started losing oxygen. Some of the guys were throwing up and others were on the verge of passing out.”
bright orange shirts. Treated to retard fire, they had just been brought into use by the Forest Service, and they helped protect the men as they fought their way through the fire.
Hemmed in with fire on all sides, the men huddled closely together. Miraculously the wind shifted and with it came the blessed oxygen of which the men had been deprived. But just as quickly the smoke would whip back in leaving the men prisoners as they waited for another miracle. Within hours the fire blew up from a couple of acres to almost 6,000. The conflagration was destroying everything in its path, fueled by 60 mph winds.
“I remember gasping for breath,” Roger continued. “But just when I thought it’d be the end of us, the wind would shift again,
Piloting a Bell 47G-3 helicopter, fighting heavy smoke, excessive winds, extreme heat, and low visibility, the two men scouted for the jumpers until they were about out of fuel. Taking time to refuel at a nearby ranger station, they quickly got back in the air and resumed their
With the odds stacked hugely against them, Snider and Magnuson continued to frantically search the fire for the men.
“It was terrifying. At one point a couple of the guys jumped up and thought they’d try and out run it. Several of us grabbed them and held them down.”
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—ROGER SIEMENS
The noise of the fire prevented the jumpers from hearing the helicopter until it was within feet from their heads. Lowering the helicopter, Snider hovered over the side of the ridge. Magnuson jumped out and gave his place to two of the smokejumpers. Snider took off, deposited the men in a safe area and returned. As he headed back down, he put up four fingers, indicating that he wanted four guys this time. With not enough room inside the cockpit, two guys were told to lie on top of the cargo racks above the skids.
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"HIT TREE- FIRE EXPLODED – RAN TO CENTER OF FIRE –ALMOST BIT THE DUST! - RESCUED BY HELICOPTER – ROD S."
minutes later, Snider placed the men in a safe area and immediately returned to the ridge to pick up more. Dangerously overloaded, he continued to lift the men to safety by fours until each man was safe. Fritz
“I was one of those guys,” Roger continued. “There were no doors on the cockpit and Rod yelled out at me, ‘Hold on to your helmet, don’t let it fly into the rotors or we’re toast.’ I held it as tight as I could against my chest. It was my first helicopter ride. I’ll never forget
Finally, spotting the orange shirts through the smoke and flames, they headed toward them. Snider circled and began to descend straight down through the heavy smoke and high wind.
Wolfrum and Bill Magnuson were the last two men to evacuate. Rod Snider was awarded the American Forest Service Medal for heroism and honored for saving the lives of all the men.
Ait.”few
SILVER STAR MONTANA WRITTEN BY CYD HOEFLE // PHOTOGRAPHY BY LINDA KELLY SNAKE, RATTLE REPTILE WRANGLER WRESTLES RATTLERS SPRING 2020 // 41 40 // www.raisedinthewest.com 26 // www.raisedinthewest.com
AND WHOA! RogerSiemensknowsmoreaboutprairierattlesnakesthanmostofthepeopleinMontana.Heshould.He’sbeenstudyingtheirhabits,researchingtheirhabitatandlivingwiththemforover25years.Hedidn’tsetouttoberattlesnakeexpert.Itwassomethingthathappenedquitebynecessity,oraccident,dependingonhowyoulookatit.Andwithit,Rogerandhislatewife,Rita,startedwhatwouldbecomeasought-afterserviceforlandownersbeingoverrunwithrattlesnakes.“Itstartedquiteinnocently,”Rogerexplained.“We’djustmovedtoSilverStarandRitahadanencounterwithalargerattlesnakeoutinhergarden.tookcareofitandtoldherthatsnakeshappenandwe’dprobablynotseeanother.Afewdayslater,sheencounteredanotherandthatwasenough.Shetoldme,‘Eitherthesnakesgo,orgo!’Sheendedupstaying.”TryingtofigureoutwhythereweresomanysnakesaroundtheirhomeandacreagesouthofWhitehall,Rogerdiscoveredmultipledensofrattlesnakesnearby.Hebeganlookingforwaystocontrolthemandintheprocessservicewasborn.Thatwasbackin1994andforthenext25yearsRogerandRitawouldvisitranchesacrossMontana,locatingdens,educatinglandowners
ON A PERSONAL NOTE: We first met Roger two years ago when he allowed us to profile his extra ordinary career as a rattlesnake wrangler. After his 30year career with the Forest Service, Roger and his wife, Rita, began offering a service to landowners overrun with rattlesnakes which they operated together for 25 years. Rita passed away in 2019. Roger continues to live on his property north of Silver Star and stays busy helping neighbors, visiting his three sons and entertaining company.
“There’snoshortageofsnakesinMontana,”Rogersaid.“Theyhide,though,becausetheyaremorescaredofyouthanyouareofthem.”AretiredForestServicerangerwithawildlifebiologydegree,RogerisfamiliarwithmostallofMontanaashis30-yearcareerspannedtheforestsacrossMontanafromtheBeaverhead,DeerLodgeandGallatinForeststotheBadlandsCusterEasternMontana.He’sworkedandhikedacrossthousandsofacres.Butdespitealltheexposurehe’shadtorattlesnakes,hehasneverbeenbitten.RogerandhiscrewbeginlookingfordensasearlyasMarchwhen
ROGER’S HAT AND LOG BOOK
about snake control and in many cases relocating the snakes they found. “You don’t have to be crazy to do this line of work,” Roger said laughing, “but it helps.” Prairie Rattlesnakes are the only species of rattlesnake in Montana and the only snake (in Montana) capable of delivering a venomous bite. There are no Diamondback Rattlesnakes this far north. According to Roger, there are 1000s of dens and many thousands of rattlesnakes located in the foothills, rocky crags and desert like tundra all across Montana.
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The close call at the Higgins Ridge Fire didn’t stop any of the jumpers from heading to the next fire. After being treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns, a week later most of them were back to jumping. Roger continued smoke jumping for five years before he began his 30-year career as a Forest Ranger.
“I credit both Fritz and Rod for saving our lives,” Roger said. “They both risked their lives big time to save ours. I don’t think about what could have happened that day very often. I’m just grateful that someone up above was watching out for us.”
Sixty years have passed since the Higgins Ridge Fire. All in their 80s, Roger Siemens and Rod Snider, along with several other survivors are being profiled for a documentary to be shown on Montana PBS next year.
| BILLINGS, MT
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He received “Pilot of the Year” from the Helicopter Association of America. He credited the Bell helicopter for saving the men against the odds of the wind, the heat and the cargo weight limit.
As Roger reflected back on that unforgettable day, he ended by saying, “I didn’t even tell Rita about it right away. It was just another day on the fire line. A very memorable one!”
FIRE RETARDANT DROP WORKS TO CONTROL FIRE, ROBERTSONE DRAW FIRE, PHOTO BY COLLEEN KILBANE of the Robertson Draw and Richard Spring Fires
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ABANDON SCHOOL HOUSE LOST IN THE RICHARD SPRING FIRE, PHOTO BY HEATHER MCRAE TREES EXPLODE IN RICHARD SPRING FIRE, PHOTO BY HEATHER MCRAE
ACTIVELY BURING COAL SEAM, “FEEL THE HEAT!”, PHOTO BY STU HOEFLE
THE ONLY THING TO DO IS “GET OUT OF THE WAY”, RICHARD SPRING FIRE, PHOTO BY HEATHER MCRAE
RANGELAND VANISHED OVERNIGHT, RICHARD SPRING FIRE, PHOTO BY HEATHER MCRAE
MASSIVE FLAMES ON THE RIDGE OF MT MAURICE, PHOTO BY COLLEEN KILBANE
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NIEMAN FAMILY SWIMMING POOL BECAME WATER HOLDING TANK, RICHARD SPRING FIRE, PHOTO BY CATHERINE MCRAE
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ACROSS MONTANA BY AMY GRISAK // PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMI SHETLER AND CONTRIBUTED
WRITTEN
Based on her own hypothesis, which makes logical sense, Mason says, “I think (they take more cows in the summer) because they hit hyperphagia and start worrying about stocking up and getting those calories.” Whatever the reason, in some parts of Montana, summer, instead of calving season, is when there is increased bear predation.
It’s a different situation in the Gravelly Mountains than in some areas where it’s not only sub-adults running into issues with livestock producers. Mason says one year there was a sow with ear tags and two cubs. “She would hang out right below our camp, and was not fazed by anything,” she says.
In another instance, with many mouths to feed, another sow with three cubs killed a calf roughly every three to four days. Even though they didn’t catch her killing a calf on camera, the footage showed her on every single kill. “She was very strategic,” says
“Certainly, getting into grain spills is a major issue,” says Sarmento, along with killing chickens, sheep, and cattle. It’s the latter two issues that hit home with a lot of producers.
If you see a grizzly sauntering across a wheat field outside of Big Sandy or playing with a flag on the greens of the Marias Valley Golf & Country Club in Shelby, rest assured, you are not crazy.
When young bears are evicted from their mother, they’re forced to seek out their own territory. In this case, with the healthy population in their previous home range, they venture into areas where they might run into more people. The problem is these subadults can often behave like teenagers whose frontal cortexes are not fully developed, yet they are on their own to make adult decisions. They are curious, yet without much life experience, so it’s understandable that they sometimes find themselves at odds with agricultural producers and homeowners.
“We’ve had bears show up at Big Sandy, the Big Snowies, the Little Belts, Highwoods, down the Teton (River), down the Marias (River), and they showed up in the Upper Missouri Breaks this year,” says Wesley Sarmento, grizzly bear management specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Residing in Conrad, Sarmento is the balance between understanding local issues and the dynamics of a complex ecosystem, particularly when it comes to grizzly Accordingbears.to
For Amber Mason and her partner Andy Peterson, herdsmen who run cattle on a Forest Service lease in the south end of the Gravelly Range in Southwest Montana, dealing with grizzly bears is part of their daily life while out on summer pasture.
Moving from their long-held mountain stronghold more bears are heading to the eastern plains they once called home. While the recovery of the grizzly bear is one of the great conservation success stories, it’s not without conflict, particularly when cows, sheep, and humans inhabit the same area.
Sarmento, the primary reason bears are moving eastwards is the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, which holds approximately 1000 bears, has reached its carrying capacity. “We’re seeing a lot of sub-adults who are dispersing,” he notes.
“We started noticing grizzly bears about 10 years ago,” says Mason who grew up in Virginia City and has been working on the ranch for 14 years. “This year we’ve had two confirmed calf kills.” Yet, with August being their most intense month for predator pressure in their area, she is nervous about potential kills.
G rizzly BearE ncounters ON THE RISE
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Part of this frustration for producers derives from dealing with multiple federal and state agencies. Because grizzly bears are still a federally protected species under the Endangered Species Act, they are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Sarmento says if it is a livestock predation issue, the lead agency is USDA Wildlife Services, and while Montana FWP assists
Mason, “And, she’s teaching her cubs.”
with the situation, it’s USDA Wildlife Services who sets the traps when livestock is involved. In the case of reoccurring predation or a threat to humans, Hilary Cooley, USFWS grizzly bear recovery specialist makes the final call to euthanize the bear.
For Mason, it means that she and Peterson no longer separate for fencing jobs or other tasks, and they are accompanied by members of the nine-dog pack that are their ears and noses in the allotment. Even so, she says they still see and run into bears, but they do their best to avoid conflict.
Mason, has long sought ways to better understand bear behavior and ways of protecting their herd and themselves. While she is highly cautious, she is equally fascinated with grizzlies and has observed distinct difference in personality types over the
When a cow or sheep is killed, USDA Wildlife Services and FWP co-investigate whenever possible. “We basically look for evidence to see if it was killed by a bear, wolf, or lion. We look for bite marks with hemorrhaged bleeding, which shows that it was still alive.” After recording the evidence, including measuring bite marks and tracks, it is turned into the Livestock Loss Board. Once confirmed, USDA Wildlife Services can set a trap, yet still need approval to remove or relocate a bear.
The reality is anyone living and working in bear country needs to be aware and modify their behavior in order to remain safe. For those living in the country, this might mean pulling in bird feeders, not leaving trash cans out, or using electric fence around the chickens.
Mason also packs bear spray as her personal defense preference. She rides many of the colts she’s training, which she jokes may not be the smartest thing to do when regularly dealing with bears, but if they buck her off, bear spray on her hip makes more sense.
Sarmento says FWP handles situations when bears come into town or are around houses. “A lot of folks think it’s within our authority to start a hunting season or to euthanize any bear,” says Sarmento. It’s not. This is only possible if grizzlies are delisted allowing the state to have full management responsibility.
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This is a point of contention coming from someone tending cattle in the heart of grizzly country. “Let the bears that aren’t doing any problems, let them alone,” she says. But she believes there needs to be greater latitude to deal with the ones who aren’t keeping to themselves.
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One of the potential tools to help manage bears better locally is delisting them as a federally protected species. When the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem petitioned to be delisted, the USFWS was sued, partly because other grizzly populations, such as the ones in the Bitterroot, Cabinet-Yaak, Selkirks, and Northern Cascade Mountains
When young bears are evicted from their mother, they’re forced to seek out their own territory. In this case, with the healthy population in their previous home range, they venture into areas where they might run into more people.
years. She says the introvert bears tend to stick to the edges and stay out of trouble. They’re there, but not in your business. The extroverts, on the other hand, seem to have the attitude, “I know what I want, and this is how I’m going to get it.” She says those are the ones perpetuating massive problems.
“We build a lot of fences,” Sarmento notes. With the financial help of FWP and USDA Wildlife Services, producers can greatly reduce the cost of materials and labor.
BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS ARE A PRIME EXAMPLE OF GRIZZLY HABITAT
“I think it also helps build tolerance and an appreciation for the species,” he says.
It’s not as pleasant as sucking up grain, but Sarmento says, “We also remove a lot of carcasses that are an attractant that brings bears close to humans and livestock. Last year, they took away 150 dead animals."
“The next thing we do is to help folks secure attractants,” Sarmento says. Besides recommending people to take down bird feeders, lock garbage inside, and place feeders/mineral out in the open, he says they often help clean up grain spills with the agency’s specialized vacuum.
“Last year we cleaned up 27,000 pounds of spilled grain to keep bears away,” he says.
“We do what we can to help people as much as we can,” says Sarmento.
If grizzlies were delisted, Sarmento says FWP would have local control so they wouldn’t have to ask permission to move or euthanize a problem bear. “We could also look at a hunting season to manage the population and distribution,” he notes. “There would still be very strict limits in population and habitat protection in the primary conservation area.” But he says FWP could be more aggressive in areas of potential conflict.
In areas where bears frequent, such as along the Front including Valier and Choteau, they have an alert system when a bear is seen in the area. This might include a mass automated calling or a phone tree.
Grizzly bears often garner equal measures of fascination and fear, but by balancing these emotions with science and practicality — with an equal measure of respect — it is possible to figure out how to share the landscape we all call home.
—WESLEY SARMENTO
34 // www.raisedinthewest.com
do not meet the population parameters for such action. At this point, it seems to be an all or nothing proposal.
“Last year we cleaned up 27,000 pounds of spilled grain to keep bears away... We also remove a lot of carcasses that are an attractant that brings bears close to humans and livestock. Last year, they took away 150 dead animals."
In the meantime, FWP does its best to keep people safe. Because young bears are some of the biggest offenders in Sarmento’s area, he regularly hazes bears using everything from cracker rounds to beans bags. “It’s to teach them to be afraid of people,” he says.
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Scott Black, owner of Mark’s In and Out in Livingston says “nostalgia never goes out of style.” For over forty years, he has been in style selling ‘“Famously Fresh”, 100% Pure Beef Burgers out of the landmark 1954 drive in located at the corner of West Park and 8th Streets. The craving for nostalgia is obvious with long lines found in front of the red and white building with neon lighting.
“I grew up at the end of 8th Street. My mother would give me and my brother a quarter to get French fries in the summer,” Black remembers of riding his bike to Mart’s In and Out. “She just wanted to get us out of the house.” After attending Eastern Montana College (now MSU Billings), and studying film and television at MSU Bozeman, Black returned to Livingston in the late ‘70s to start a photo studio business with his brother, Mark.
at Mark’s In and Out are “made the old fashion way.” Up until this year, burger patties were made in house with a Hollymatic patty machine. These days, Diamond N Meats, a butcher shop in town, houses the patty machine, making and
WRITTEN BY STELLA FONG BY MARK’S
IN AND OUT
Currently Mark is no longer a partner and Scott heads up the burger operation, mostly coming in during the mornings to help setup and fill orders. He opens seasonally, saying “I follow the dates of baseball season from April 1 to about mid October.” “We take the winter to recharge, to try to do other things. I take care of a honey-do list that is as long as my arm,” Black says with a Black’slaugh.
36 // www.raisedinthewest.com
The original owner, Mart Phillips, established Mart’s In and Out in 1954. “When we bought it in 1980, we wanted to keep it as original as we could,” Black says of using his brother’s name, Mark, only, changing the “t” to a “k” in renaming the business. “We got two hours of training before Mart went away. It was a sink or swim situation,” Black recalls of learning the business before opening in May of 1980.
// PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTED
Thetraining.”burgers
staff is made up of mostly sixteen-year-old workers along with “kids back home from college.” This year he started with his core staff of six people. Usually, he has his staff in place, but this year, “I am hiring on the go” experiencing the same difficulty other restaurants are having in recruiting people to work. Black finds he has to start training at “a more basic level.” As work challenges arise, he says, “When the going gets tough, the tough get
“The Super Cheese Burger is the most popular. It has the best meat to bun ratio.” A customer can choose a single, double and triple burger from the menu and has received requests for five patties. “YHM. Young Hungry Men. They sustain every hamburger franchise in the industry,” Black shares, with a laugh.
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To this day, Black continues to pay the franchise fee from Paul De Angelis in Wisconsin for the “Pizza Burger.” For $20 a year, he has the rights to sell the burger with the secret blend of Italian herbs and spices that he mixes with tomato puree. The burger comes on a Franz bun with grilled onions, the secret sauce and Parmesan and American cheeses melted on top of the meat. “It has a certain flavor and the smell of pizza. Every time I smell it, it takes me right back to the first day we opened in 1980,” he says
For over forty years, he has been in style selling BeefFresh”,‘“Famously100%PureBurgersoutofthelandmark1954driveinLivingston.
Scott Black, owner of Mark’s In and Out in Livingston says “nostalgia never goes out of style.”
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delivering 1600 1.6-ounce patties daily. “The burgers are fresh, never frozen. Freezing allows ice crystals to form within the cells, piercing the walls, allowing the juice and flavors to run out.”
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Small deliveries of twine can be left in the shed or in the outside bin. Access is through the red pedestrian gate to the left of the locked vehicle gate.
For large loads requiring vehicle access or assistance, call and leave a message at 406-5918606 or email yvas.twine.recycle@gmail.com we will make arrangements to meet you. Clean baling twine from any location is being accepted.
Unwanted baling twine can be dropped off anytime at the Twine Collection & Recycling Site
Located 2½ miles north of Laurel on the west side of Buffalo Trail Rd and ¾ mile north of Laurel Airport Rd across from the Laurel Container Site.
and
Black’sfondly.
We are not accepting net or mesh wrap since it is very difficult to clean and not all net wrap is recyclable.
Mark’s uses Wilcoxon’s Ice Cream for the shakes, a local Livingston ice cream institution established in 1917. Crowd favorites include: “Anything with marshmallows. The marshmallows make the shake sweet,” Black says. “Chocolate marshmallow, Chocolate peanut butter and strawberry shakes are popular.”
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menu has expanded over the years from the eleven items on the original menu when a “BEEF BURGER” costed 29¢, “SUPER BURGER” and “PIZZA BURGER”, 39¢ and “FRIES” at 24¢. He wants to simplify the menu back to what it was but knows that it will take some time and consideration.
He laments a bit about his summer success, missing regular customers who do not want to fight the tourist crowd. “We can go hours without seeing a familiar face,” comforted when a friend or local customer stops by, yet he enjoys the diverse crowd his business attracts.
Black derives satisfaction in “watching his young crew develop, seeing kids with no skills turn into solid kitchen workers,” believing that cooking skills can always provide a job when Forneeded.the
Livingston community, tourists and his workers, Black will continue to create nostalgia that will always be in tastefully in style.
ROSEBUD COUNTY WRITTEN BY CYD HOEFLE STARTS FROM A RICHARD SPRING Firecoalseam ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 38 // www.raisedinthewest.com
A major part of the problem traces back to 2011. An exceptionally HEATHER MCRAE, CATHERINE MCRAE AND STU HOEFLE
John Bailey owns and operates the Bailey Ranch on Rosebud Creek, north of Lame Deer. He’s the fifth generation of the Bailey family to be on the ranch since the late 1880s. According to Bailey, and several other ranchers in the area, though the coal seams have been burning in the area for decades and have caused fires in the past, this year has been one of the worst.
fires in Rosebud County this year were started not by lightning or human error, but by burning coal seams.
Coal lies beneath thousands of square miles of land in eastern Montana and coal seams have been burning for decades, as is evident by the clinker and red-stained sandstones on the tops of many bluffs. Once a seam starts burning, it will smolder continually, sometimes for decades, until all the coal has been consumed. A coal seam fire occurs when the burning seam is exposed to the surface and comes in contact with flammable materials such as dry brush, grass or tree roots.
The speed of the fire and the unbearable heat had people scrambling to evacuate homes, move livestock and protect buildings. Amazingly, no homes were lost, and there were no serious injuries. But the evidence of the battle is still clear, as blackened yards and burnt trees surrounding homes show how dangerously close the fire crowded to structures.
Unlike other Montana fires, the Richard Spring and almost all the
The Richard Spring fire in eastern Montana drew national attention when it roared to life in mid-August. Quickly consuming mountainous terrain and sweeping across prairie grasslands, the fire was vicious in its attack as it greedily devoured entire ranches in its Sparkedpath.on
Aug. 8, under tinderbox-dry conditions and fanned by strong winds, the fire grew quickly into a fast-moving storm that raced through Rosebud County. Firefighters from nearby communities and area ranchers fought side by side to save homes in the fire’s path.
PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTED BY
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“The loss has been tremendous. It will be years before the land recovers. One rancher I know lost 20-some head of cattle during the fire. It’s been devastating.”
moist year, 2011 yielded an abundance of vegetation with enough moisture to cause erosion and landslides on many hills crisscrossing the county. With that erosion came the exposure of the coal seams.
By August, a complex of fires burned across Rosebud County and by the end of the season, 170,000 acres had burned. Unfortunately, countless numbers of exposed coal seams had ignited as well. Summers from then on would look entirely different for Bailey, who lost 20,000 acres, and for other residents of the county with shallow coal seams on their property.
County Commissioner Ed Joiner represents the district in which the Richard Spring Fire burned, and his house, near Ashland, was in its path.
“Summers have been tough since ’12,” Bailey said. “I spend almost every day patrolling for fires, especially during dry summers like this one.” This season alone, Bailey has had over 20 fires on his property and, with the exception of one caused by lightning, they have all been coal seam fires.
The following year, 2012, was quite different. High temperatures and little rain dried out the vegetation, making it ripe for fire.
“It was a bad situation,” Joiner said. “It grew so fast. We’re very fortunate that we didn’t lose somebody.”
“It’s not if we get another fire, but when,” Bailey continued. He is one of the fire marshals for the county and has a DNRC truck at
“The loss has been tremendous,” Joiner said. “It will be years before the land recovers. We were dealing with a drought before this happened, so we already had ranchers worried about feed this coming winter. One rancher I know lost 20-some head of
— COUNTY COMMISSIONER ED JOINER
BONE WEARY AND PAINTED WITH RETARDANT, DOUG MCRAE IS HAPPY TO SEE THE DAY END
the ready for fires on his place and in the county. This year he’s been out dozens of times already.
The fire threatened the nearby towns of Ashland and Lame Deer, both of which were evacuated, and Colstrip, which was protected by a change in the direction of the wind. Power was out for several days because of burning poles and communication was difficult with heavy smoke interfering with cell phone service. In addition to grassland and farm ground, hundreds of miles of fence line and dozens of haystacks and outbuildings burned.
40 // www.raisedinthewest.com
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Financial resources are always a struggle. When the final tally from the devastation of this year’s fires losses are added up, it will be in the tens of millions of dollars. Fence lines, electrical poles, lost hay, buildings, grazing and displaced herds will all add to the costs.
cattle during the fire. It’s been devastating.”
“A line item for prevention when the state budget is being planned would make a world of difference,” Bailey said. “We don’t have a budget for fire prevention, we just wait until the fires break out and then spend far more putting them out.”
Farther down Rosebud Creek, Clint McRae also ranches on land that’s been in his family since the 1880s. This year, coal seam fires burned 98 percent of his ranch. He would have lost his home too without the help of others. McRae credits the unstoppable efforts of the Broadus Volunteer Fire Department, neighbors, and family for bravely holding the fire back just feet from his home and his parents’ home.
“Those guys are truly heroes,” McRae said. “They had the guts to stick around, or we’d have lost everything.”
“We just want the landowners to be responsible landowners,” McRae said. “There’s no great answer, but our property is burning because of something under their property, so that needs to be addressed.”
Bailey also believes a two-man crew with a caterpillar would be an asset.
Ideas they have tried to implement have not been successful. With the federal government owning most of the mineral rights and thousands of surface acres, most residents of the county would agree that they have some responsibility for fire protection. But help from the federal and state government has been slow in coming.
“It’s hard,” he said. “We lost all our pasture, our hay and all the fences. It’ll be a while before things are back to normal.”
As it is, McRae made the decision to let his ranch recover for the next couple of years, which forced him to sell his calves early and disperse most of his cows.
All three men agree that being proactive about fire prevention is key, but just how to do that with coal seam fires has been an uphill battle.
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“Yes, the fires are on my property,” Bailey added. “I get that, but I don’t own the coal and when these things spread, they affect the entire county and beyond.”
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FALL 2021 // 43
PUSHING COWS TO SAFETY AND FEED
CUTTING LINES FROM THE GROUND AND HITTING IT FROM THE AIR
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JOHN BAILEY CHECKS THE TEMP OF AN ACTIVELY BURNING SEAM
FALL 2021 // 45
Becausethat.”
With the destruction the fire caused and the millions of dollars of loss, they all agreed that perhaps now some attention will be given to their county to help prevent coal seam fires from igniting and spreading to the degree that fires did this year and in 2012.
All three men are quick to give credit to their neighbors, the fire departments and the community for all the support that was lent to all the victims of the fires.
AT $3000 PER MILE, REFENCING WILL TAKE A LONG TIME
Anotheraccessible.”thoughtwould
Not our first rodeo. Or 4-H event. Or FFA fundraiser.
“If we could berm around the exposed burning coal seams or make a guard, we could get on those fires before they had a chance to spread,” he said. “But it would take a crew months to do
“We need a map of as many of the coal seams as we can find. That way we can monitor them more closely,” Joiner said. “There’s a lot of coal seams that are really hard to detect and knowing where they are, even if we can’t put a fire line around them, at least we could watch them.”
“We have a great community,” Joiner said. “Everyone pitched in however they could to help out.”
be to get a set of eyes in the sky. A daily patrol of the area, or at least several times a week, would spot fires before they blew up. Technology today is advanced enough that Joiner and both ranchers believe a plane or even a drone with infrared capabilities would help spot fires before they have a chance to grow.
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August, the Richard Spring Fire was declared 100 percent contained on Aug. 20, having burned just over 171,000 acres. Meanwhile, though, the fires continue to burn underground, keeping everyone wondering just when the next seam will ignite.
With the blessed arrival of rain and cool temperatures, in mid-
We’re dedicated to the communities where we live and work. Giving back to the rural communities we serve is our responsibility and our privilege.
there are dozens of them around the county and in some precarious places, it would be a large task and, in some places, impossible given the roughness of the terrain, but there are many coal seams that could be managed properly.
“We shot our budget all to heck this season,” Joiner said. “It makes sense to try and do something before the fire season gets started. There are fire lines around some of those coal seams and it makes all the difference. We need to get them around every one that’s
WRITTEN
Harvesthangingontothe DEHYDRATING AND FREEZE DRYING FOODS FOR THE WINTER
ACROSS MONTANA BY AMY GRISAK
46 // www.raisedinthewest.com
“Recipes for Adventure: Healthy, Hearty & Homemade Backpacking Recipes,” by chef Glenn McAllister, is an excellent source for the logistics of creating entire meals for busy evenings or backcountry adventures.
FALL 2021 // 47
As long as the fat content is low, a variety of foods can be dehydrated — even spaghetti and meat sauce or chicken curry with rice.
rehydrate, use 1/4 cup tomato powder to 1¼ cups of water. Boil the mix for a few minutes to thicken it. For the leather, tear off pieces for the desired serving amount and pour enough boiling water to cover them and soak for at least 10 minutes.
This process also holds true for tomatoes. I begin the season by drying slices of Roma tomatoes and using them in specific recipes. It’s a quick way to use seven to eight pounds of tomatoes as they’re first ripening. I also make leather with tomatoes, roughly six pints of sauce fits in the dehydrator for each batch, which uses 12 to 15 pounds of tomatoes at a time.
Each year I incorporate dehydrating more and more into the whole process of putting food up for the season. Besides making delicious apple slices, I also cook apples down to make a sauce, add a little cinnamon and dry the mixture into a delicious apple leather. Most dehydrators come with sheets for drying liquid ingredients, but parchment paper also works. Raspberries, cherries, and grapes also make a delicious pureed treat.
I like making sauce this way, versus canning, because I don’t have to worry about acidity levels when I add onions, garlic and peppers to give it more flavor. While it’s still hot, spread 1 ½ cups per layer on the dehydrator sheets, making sure it’s less than a ¼” thick. Turn the dehydrator to 145 degrees and dry for eight to 10 hours. Flip the semi-firm sauce after roughly four hours. It should be a smooth, pliable leather around the eight-hour mark. To grind it into a powder, dry it at least 10 hours, let it cool and run it through the food processor to powder it. These are a great way to add a tomato flavor to dishes. To
While using the dehydrator to put up food for the winter is one of my favorite ways to preserve the harvest, what really opened up my drying world is dehydrating leftovers from nightly meals.
For any dried fruit or vegetable, the best way to store them is to measure into portion sizes and vacuum seal it or place in a jar with an oxygen absorber packet. But don’t continue opening a jar without using it within a week or so. Every time it’s opened, it allows air and humidity to degrade the quality of the food and possibly cause molding.
Long before canning was the go-to preservation method, people preserved foods through drying. I started with dried apples and kale chips. Both barely made it out of the dehydrator before being eaten. Now I use the dehydrator to stay ahead of the zucchini by slicing and seasoning to make a wonderful snack.
The second way is to make the ingredients separately and put them together when needed. Drying the meat, vegetables and even pasta, rice, potatoes, or quinoa in different batches allows for more diversity. It also allows you to prepare in larger
Theresetting.are
Break the meat into very small pieces so it dehydrates evenly. Spread thinly on the dehydrator sheet, using a cup to a cup and a half per dehydrator sheet. Because the meat is already cooked, dehydrate on a higher setting, 145 to 155 degrees, to dry faster. Break up the sauce halfway through the process to ensure it dries evenly.
a couple of options when pulling together meals in the dehydrator. The quickest route is to dry fully prepared meals. Have a few servings left of chili or a Hawaiian chicken and rice? Dry it. Anything that has a low-fat content and does not have a dairy base is a good place to start.
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For chicken dishes, use canned chicken for best results. Dab the fat off the chicken, break into smaller pieces and dry on a high
meats is a little different from keeping dried fruits and vegetables for the long term. Because there is some level of fat, which can cause it to spoil, if you don’t
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Another way to preserve enormous amounts of food is by freeze-drying. A much more expensive alternative than drying, it’s gaining popularity because the price of the unit, though still expensive, is going down in price and the texture and flavor of the food is better and last for decades when properly stored. Costing between $2000 to $3400, different sized models preserve between 840 to 2500 pounds of food per year.
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It’s natural to put up as much food as we can at the height of the harvest. Dehydrators and freeze dryers are exceptional tools to preserve the hard work of the summer and enjoy well into the winter season.
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To store freeze-dried foods, Mylar bags are lightweight and super easy to seal with a regular clothes iron set on the cotton setting, but without steam. Pop in an oxygen absorbing packet to ensure the food lasts a long time. Jars can also be used, particularly for foods that are going to be used quickly.
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Freeze-drying takes food preservation to the next level because the initial freezing brings the temperature of the food down to between -30 to -50 degrees F. retaining the quality of the food. This is followed by a process called sublimation where a vacuum pulls approximately 95 percent of the moisture out of the food. The final step, absorption, is a secondary drying process that brings the overall moisture content as low as 1 percent. Just about any food can be freeze dried, including ice-cream bars and avocados.
KendallKendall WRITTEN BY CATHY MOSER ghost townghost townin the North Moccasin Mountains DUSTINGOFFTHEOLDSTORIES MOCCASIN MOUNTAINS NORTHWEST OF LEWISTOWN, MT 50 // www.raisedinthewest.com
Tucked within the forested North Moccasin Mountains lies central Montana’s best-preserved ghost town, Kendall. The town site makes a great destination for a scenic drive and a chance to wander through century-old stone buildings. A kiosk at each ruin provides historical information about the building and a picture of it during the town’s boom years.
PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY CATHY MOSER AND LEWISTOWN PUBLIC LIBRARY
The story of Kendall starts with Harry T. Kendall, who was fascinated with the new technique of using cyanide to extract gold from low-grade ore. His first step was purchasing two North Moccasin gold mining claims in 1899. The following summer he and a crew of 25 men built a modest 50-ton steam-powered cyanide gold mill. As ore from the mine was fed to the mill, the jaws of a rock crusher reduced it to pea-sized particles, which were dumped into leaching tanks. A cyanide and water solution in the tanks penetrated the ore and liquified the gold within 80 to 96 hours. “Gold mud” was then scooped from the tanks, melted in a furnace, and poured into cast-iron molds, with solid gold bricks as the final result.
During the first decade of the 20th century, Kendall flourished
Legend has it that in November of 1900, Harry Kendall packed the first of his four gold bars into saddlebags and rode his horse to a Lewistown bank. When greeted by the teller, Kendall reached into his saddlebags and plunked the bars onto the counter. The teller fainted, and the bank president ushered Kendall into a private office. The gold bars were valued at $2,400, the equivalent of roughly $78,000 in today’s currency. Word of Kendall’s bonanza in the North Moccasin Mountains spread like wildfire and revitalized gold production in central Montana.
Kendall became a millionaire after selling his operation in 1901. He left Montana and settled in California.
Methodist, Presbyterian and Catholic denominations were all present in Kendall’s earliest days. Circuit-riding clergy conducted services in public buildings. In 1907, the Scotch Presbyterian, the largest denomination, commissioned stonemasons to build a two-story church and parsonage. The other denominations also held worship services there. The Presbyterian manse was the last of 11 stone buildings constructed in Kendall. Wooden buildings accounted for the rest of the town’s structures.
By 1910, Kendall’s population, keeping pace with the cyanide mining operations of the Kendall Mine and the Barnes-King Mining Co., peaked at 1,500. The business district included two livery stables, restaurants, hotels, a butcher and tailor shop, bakery, assay office and several saloons. A two-story schoolhouse, the Jones Opera House and a hospital had also been constructed.
Historic Kendall Town peaked at population 1500
FALL 2021 // 51
By October of 1901, the Kendall gold camp had 200 citizens and a post office. The next year a quarry south of the North Moccasin Mountains began supplying the sandstone needed by stonemasons to construct magnificent stone buildings. The twostory J.R. Cook building housed the Kendall Investment Company and the First Bank of Kendall, which included a square sandstone vault. The T.R. Matlock General Merchandise Store offered the usual dry goods, and it also stocked “fancy” groceries, “notions” and “gent’s furnishings.”
Kendall Mine
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T.R. Matt Lock Store
J.R. Cook Building
SANDSTONE BANK VAULT REMAINS TODAY
How to get to the Kendall ghost town: From Lewistown, travel north on Highway 191. After going 18 miles, watch for the North Kendall Road sign on the left just before entering Hilger. Turn left onto North Kendall Road. Six miles of gravel road leads to Kendall. Dogs are welcome.
The historic town site has no habitable structures today, only the gaunt stone ruins remain. Modern additions include picnic tables and concrete fire pits for barbecuing in the pretty setting of aspen and evergreens.
Two of three stone structures that survive at Kendall are the T.R. Matlock Store and the bank vault. They stand along old McKinley Avenue, named in honor of President William McKinley. At the base of a hillside, in the shadows of aspen and pine trees, the walls of The First Presbyterian Church crumble.
FALL 2021 // 53
1912, stores of good gold ore in the area started to
as Montana’s richest gold mining town and the last of any consequence. With its combined mines yielding more than $35 million in gold, the town was also one of the world’s most Byprosperous.theendof
play out. Fires burned parts of the business district in 1908 and 1910. The Milwaukee Railroad’s decision to build a branch line from Lewistown to the flourishing town of Hilger in 1911 further doomed Kendall.
The town slowly emptied out and in 1921, with the closing of the Barnes King Mine, the town of Kendall had no reason to continue. In all, approximately 500,000 ounces of gold were extracted from the mines over a 20-year period.
Mountain goats and kids enjoying mountain pasture, Beartooth Pass
100-degree days made float trips a must, Billings
Sandstone butte in the Richard Spring area, Colstrip
Spending a moment with a dear friend, Roger Siemens, Silver Star
CRISS CROSSING THE REGION
John Bailey explains a burning coal seam, Bailey Ranch, Colstrip
Old school approach, but they have hay! Roberts
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