The movie the Horse Whisperer made want to move there--went to LA instead, but today it's raining! Your so change comment made me think this: My nostalgia is for where I grew up in Baltimore that is so changed I barely recognized it when I went back. Lovely memoir post.
Thank you, Mary. Of all of the movies and TV series made in Montana, there are only two that have (so far) gotten it right: The Horse Whisperer and A River Runs Through It. I love Robert Redford's picture of life on a ranch because it is so accurate--including the way he trained/healed the horse. Not to mention that the movie was filmed fairly close to where I grew up, and the beautiful scenes of Montana in it make me nostalgic. I imagine it is similar for you in Baltimore.
What a wonderful childhood you had, Clarice! It's like an idyllic look back at the cowboy era in the old west, and in Montana! I loved reading about it. The last photo especially got me--that view looking out from your house. Amazing! This was a slice of life now from a near forgotten time.
You're right, Jeanine. Even between the time that I was five years old until I was a teenager, things changed drastically. The old cowboys retired or died, the cattle drives stopped, haying became more mechanized and required less labor, etc. Bozeman turned into a hip town for the wealthy drawn to the new development of Big Sky, and the people who used to be staunch Democrats turned into right-wing Republicans. I'm just glad I grew up when I did!
Amazing! In your Nov 2023 post, you mention the ages of the cowboys and workers on the ranch and they were in their 50s and 60s—so they were the end of the real true cowboy era. You lived through that history!! I had no idea MT was originally Dem, but in thinking about it, the free-ness of the Big Sky, that makes sense. Super interesting.
It's really funny, actually, in a sad way. My father was a staunch Republican, which made my siblings and I the only Republicans among our classmates, whose families were ranchers, railroaders and small business people. Once I grew up and was able to vote, I have always been a Democrat. But the vast majority of my classmates now vote Republican!
We lived in the country for a while when I was growing up and all our neighbors were Republican (many farmers). When JFK was running for president, our class had a mock election and I was the only person who 'voted' for JFK.
The movie the Horse Whisperer made want to move there--went to LA instead, but today it's raining! Your so change comment made me think this: My nostalgia is for where I grew up in Baltimore that is so changed I barely recognized it when I went back. Lovely memoir post.
Thank you, Mary. Of all of the movies and TV series made in Montana, there are only two that have (so far) gotten it right: The Horse Whisperer and A River Runs Through It. I love Robert Redford's picture of life on a ranch because it is so accurate--including the way he trained/healed the horse. Not to mention that the movie was filmed fairly close to where I grew up, and the beautiful scenes of Montana in it make me nostalgic. I imagine it is similar for you in Baltimore.
I write about Norman McLean--mention A River Runs Through It, terrific novella and flick--and I focus on his _Young Men and Fire_. I hope you'll take a gander at that chapter here: https://marytabor.substack.com/p/qs-for-readers-of-young-men-and-fire
Fo Baltimore, Barry Levinson gets it right in Avalon.
What a wonderful childhood you had, Clarice! It's like an idyllic look back at the cowboy era in the old west, and in Montana! I loved reading about it. The last photo especially got me--that view looking out from your house. Amazing! This was a slice of life now from a near forgotten time.
You're right, Jeanine. Even between the time that I was five years old until I was a teenager, things changed drastically. The old cowboys retired or died, the cattle drives stopped, haying became more mechanized and required less labor, etc. Bozeman turned into a hip town for the wealthy drawn to the new development of Big Sky, and the people who used to be staunch Democrats turned into right-wing Republicans. I'm just glad I grew up when I did!
Amazing! In your Nov 2023 post, you mention the ages of the cowboys and workers on the ranch and they were in their 50s and 60s—so they were the end of the real true cowboy era. You lived through that history!! I had no idea MT was originally Dem, but in thinking about it, the free-ness of the Big Sky, that makes sense. Super interesting.
It's really funny, actually, in a sad way. My father was a staunch Republican, which made my siblings and I the only Republicans among our classmates, whose families were ranchers, railroaders and small business people. Once I grew up and was able to vote, I have always been a Democrat. But the vast majority of my classmates now vote Republican!
We lived in the country for a while when I was growing up and all our neighbors were Republican (many farmers). When JFK was running for president, our class had a mock election and I was the only person who 'voted' for JFK.
It's wonderful to be an outlier, isn't it?
A resounding Yes!