july edition

V o l u m e I I I s s u e V I I J u l y 2 0 1 3

THE

Artist Monte Dolack Lady Long Rider Bernice Ende

The History of the Rodeo Pow-Wow Season

The West Old & New online magazine

Find it now on Issuu.com & Joomag.com

V o l u m e I I I s s u e V I I

The West Old & New

Published by

Susan Faye Roberts

P.O. Box 10

Hot Springs, Montana 59845

(406) 741-5210

Email [email protected]

Artist - Monte Dolack Born in Great Falls, Montana the home of

famous western artist Charlie Russell, a

Montanan makes a world-wide name for

himself with his graphic arts. 5

Above a graphic done for the Montana Power Company by Dolack.

The Rodeo evolved out of several ancient

Cultures coming from Hispanic roots

into the western landscape. Read about

how every day ranching activities

became a beloved sport that took over

the United States in the early

Twentieth Century. 9

Cover Art

“Taurus” By

Monte Dolack

The West Old & New

Montana Fare

The morel and

Huckleberry are

coveted gourmet treats

waiting in the woods for

the forager. 19

The West - The Old & New

Bobby Brooks Kramer was raised in eastern Montana and

inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

Bernice Ende, called the Lady Long Rider, has 18,000 miles under

her belt on horse back since 2005.

Auntie Ques

High Class Junque A bundle of energy opens a main street store

that is loaded with antiques and items from the

past. 22

Montana Folk Festival Butte, Montana hosts a yearly folk festival that

draws crowds to hear music, eat and learn

about other cultures. 20

MADE IN MONTANA 12

The New West

PowWow Schedule - 5 To the right elder Francis Stanger

of Polson, Mt.

The Bigfork Summer

Playhouse 18

Charlie’s 2.5 Second

Ride 14

NIITSITAPI BLACKFEET

The reservation i s home to the Blackfeet tr ibe. Of the approximately 15,560 enrol led t ribal members , there are about 7 ,000 living on or near

the reser vation. Le arn Mo re

APSAALOOKE CROW

About 75 percent of the Crow t ribe 's approximately 10 ,000 or more en-roll ed members li ve on or near the reservat ion . Eighty-five percent speak

Crow as thei r fi rs t l anguage. Learn Mo re

SELISH KTUNAXA FLATHEAD

The Flathead Indian Reservation is home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai t ribes. The t ribes are a combination of the Sal ish , the Pend

d 'Oreil le and the Kootenai . Lea rn Mo re

NAKODA AANININ FORT BELKNAP

The Fort Belknap Reservat ion is home to two tr ibes , the Ass iniboine, or Nakoda, and the Gros Vent re, who refer to themsel ves as A'aninin or

"People of the White Clay." Combined enrollment is approximately 4 ,000.

Lea rn More

NAKODA DAKOTA FORT PECK

About 6,800 Ass iniboine and Sioux live on the Fort Peck Reservation, with another approximately 3,900 t ribal members living off the reser va-

tion . Le arn Mo re

VISIT MONTANA’S INDIAN COUNTRY

http://visitmt.com/Places_To_Go/indian_nations/

LITTLE SHELL

This band of the Chippewa Tribe i s a st ate recognized t ribe without a des -

ignated reservat ion in Montana. There are o ver 4,000 enroll ed members

with in the s tate, many of which li ve in the Great Fall s and surrounding

area. Le arn Mo re

115 Years of Celebrating the Pow-Wow

Arlee, Montana - The Flathead Indian Reservation

The Flathead Indian Reservation is the home of three combined tribes, the Salish, Pend d’Oreille and the Kootenai. Every year at the beginning of July they celebrate their heritage in a three day affair in Arlee, Montana. This year is the 115th annual Arlee Celebration. The celebration begins on Wednes-

day, July 3rd and ends on the evening of July 7th. Wednesday is the designated Camp Day when par-ticipants will begin erecting encampments for the coming weekend. Wednesday evening is set aside for a Memorial Ceremony which acknowledges the tribal members who passed away during the last year. On July 4th, the Snake Dance is scheduled for the afternoon session, with dancing also in the evening. An Old Style Day will also be scheduled. This is to bring back the old style dress and dancing

and drumming and singing. On Friday there will be an afternoon of dancing. The competition dancing

will begin with the Friday evening session and continue with a Saturday afternoon.

http://arleepowwow.com/

2013 Montana PowWow Schedule For online information go to: www.visitmt.com and search PowWow Events

Fort Kipp Celebration - July 4-7 in Brockton (406) 768-2102

Fourth of July Powwow July 3 - 7 in Lame Deer

www.cheyennenation.com

Valley of the Chiefs Powwow and Rodeo - July 5-7 in Lodge Grass (406) 638-3525

62nd annual North American Indian Days -July 11-14 in Browning

www.browningmontana.com/naid.html

Standing Arrow Powwow -July 18-22 in Elmo (406) 207-7095

Milk River Indian Days - July 25-28 at Fort Belknap Agency (406) 353-2601

Rocky Boy's annual Powwow and Rodeo - July 31-Aug4 in Box Elder (406) 395-2601

Wadopana Celebration Aug. 2-4 in Wolf Point (406) 650-7556

Hays Powwow Aug. 9 - 11 in Hays (406) 673-3282

Crow Fair and Rodeo Aug. 15-19 Crow Agency (406) 638-3808

Poplar Indian Days Aug. 29-Sept.1 in Poplar (406) 768-7623

Ashland Labor Day Powwow Aug. 30 - Sept 2 in Ashland (406) 784-2883

Chief Plenty Coups Day of Honor Aug. 31 in Pryor (406) 252-1289

The West Old & New

Monte Dolack Monte Dolack Monte Dolack Monte Dolack ---- Graphic Artist Extraordinaire Graphic Artist Extraordinaire Graphic Artist Extraordinaire Graphic Artist Extraordinaire Monte A. Dolack is an graphic artist who lives in Missoula, Montana. He is one of the best known artists in Montana's current

artistic venues. Dolack has had his work exhibited worldwide. Some of his work is highly collectible. I met Monte in 1979, and

watching his career as a Montana artist has been like catching a star as it streaks across the night sky, growing brighter and brighter.

Monte was born in May 1950 to Michael George and Mary (Miller) D. Dolack. His father had two sons from a previous mar-

riage (Bob and Bill), while Mary gave birth to Monte and his sister, Marlene. He graduated from Great Falls High School in 1968. In his senior year, Dolack was chosen to design the cover of the GFHS yearbook, The Roundup. His design was a then-fashionable contemporary art work.

He was educated at Montana State University in Bozeman from 1969 to 1970 and the University of Montana in Missoula from

1970 to 1974, graduating with a bachelor's degree from the latter institution. While an undergraduate he drew charts and graphs for the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research, which turned his work into photographic slides. After graduation, Dolack was employed by the Anaconda Copper Company and was a member of "Out of Sight" a rock band.

Monte began gaining local notice by designing posters for the Crystal Theater, an art film theater in Missoula. By 1997, origi-nal Crystal Theater posters were collectors' items. Monte also began creating posters which he sold as artwork; one notable piece was "Yahoo," which depicts a cowgirl on a horse and an anti-nuclear power symbol at the bottom. It was created to commemorate

the day the Missoula City Council voted to ban nuclear facilities within the city limits. Beginning in 1978, Dolack had a studio located at 132 W. Front Street in Missoula. A 48-page color collection of his poster art, Catalog of Posters & Prints: Crystal Thea-tre, was published in 1982.

In May 1984 Monte married artist Mary Beth Percival, an artist in her own right. The same year, he began a series of works

known as the "Invader series." The works feature animals "invading" human habitat, such as ducks swimming in a bathtub or a bear lying on the couch in a den in a house. The following year, Dolack—who was already "a nationally

The West Old & New

known poster artist"—produced the cover of the book, Wings to the Orient: Pan American Clipper Planes, 1935–1945: A Pictorial History.

In 1989, Monte's painting "Fast Forward" was featured in the show "Looking For-ward" that exhibited emerging important artists, sponsored by the American Institute of Graphic Artists in Los Angeles. In 1990, Dolack donated a watercolor depicting

wolves looking over a plain of geysers and hot mud springs to the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife, with sales of the poster going to a fund to compensate local ranchers for the loss of livestock incurred due to the reintroduction of grey wolves into Yellowstone National Park. Although the fund also received donations

from other foundations and proceeds from a benefit concert by rock artist James Taylor, the majority of the fund's proceeds came from sales of Monte's art. The Na-tional Park Service in April 1990 banned the sale of the posters in Yellowstone and

Glacier National Park. By 1993, his work had been shown in "hundreds of galleries, including some in Ja-pan, Germany and France". That same year, he moved to a new, larger gallery at 139

W. Front Street. In 1998, Monte donated his popular 1986 watercolor, "Blackfoot River," to the Blackfoot Legacy foundation for use as a fundraiser to oppose con-struction of a gold mine near Lincoln, Montana. The following year, the Idaho Riv-ers United foundation commissioned him to create a new work depicting a breached

dam and the reintroduction of salmon and steelhead trout to the Snake River. The California clothing company Patagonia sold copies of the print through its stores and catalogs.

In 1999, Monte's poster of a blue heron flying down a Montana city street at night was included in the poetic collection Vagrant Grace. In 2000, Monte created an

acrylic painting, "A History Lesson," which depicted a full-grown American bison standing in a schoolroom which is decorated

with pictures, symbols, blackboard writing, and other images important to Montana history. The work hung in the C.M. Russell Museum, one of the nation's premier Western art museums, before being donated to Great Falls High School. That same year, his painting "Streamside," was featured on the cover of the academic work The Evolutionary Imagination in Late-Victorian Novels: An Entangled Bank, The same year, Farcountry Press published a retrospective book, Monte Dolack, The Works, featuring his

work.

In December 2001, Monte created, "Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery at the White Cliffs of the Missouri," and do-nated it to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center near Black Eagle Dam on the Great Falls of the Missouri River. Posters of the

work were used to raise money for the center, but it was sold for an undisclosed sum to First Interstate Bank System three months later.

In 2003, the University of Montana's Montana World Trade Center ar-ranged for several exhibits of Monte's work in Ireland as part of a trade mis-

sion. The showings were so popular and gained such notice in the world-wide art community that showing of his work in New Zealand were also arranged in 2004.

In 2006 Monte was once again given a chance to design his high school's yearbook. For the yearbook's 100th edition, he created a bison in a field of dry grass with the Square Butte in the background. That same year,

"Mirage" (a painting of rainbow trout leaping through a field of wheat as if it were water) appeared on the cover of the book Cowboy Trout: Western Fly Fishing As If It Matters. Two years later, his 2000 work, "A History Lesson" (now retitled "Montana History Lesson") was used on the front

cover of the history book Montana: Stories of the Land, published by the Montana Historical Society.

In 2010, Monte's "Upper Missouri River Suite," three hand-drawn litho-

graphs, was added to the art collection hanging at the new Missouri River Federal Courthouse in Great Falls.

In 2011, in celebration of the International Year of Forests, the United

Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Food and Agriculture Or-ganization of the United Nations planted 70 living trees in the Palais des Nations building in Geneva, Switzerland. In front of the temporary forest, the two organizations exhibited a large number of Monte's works which fea-

tured forests. Dolack’s style is all his own. His working style is to sketch out ideas on

a small piece of paper which he then pins to his

Home on the Reef by Monte Dolack

Haunted by Waters by Monte Dolack The West Old & New

"wall of ideas." Beginning work on a piece, he con-ducts research in his library to help make the work

more realistic and detailed. His creative technique, however, involves what Monte calls "working from the inside." As he told the Missoula Independent in 2002: "...I also want to bring in things that are from the inside and not the outside, and find

the right place to mix the two of them together. Part of the road I'm on with these pictures is to graduate slowly toward being able to paint more from the inside." Environmentalism is a key theme in Dolack's work. Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, for-mer director of the Montana Committee for the Humanities, says that Dolack's

environmental message in the mid 1980s was subtle. But by the time of his 2000 work "Montana History Lesson," she notes, Dolack opted for "overt" statements. The whimsical nature of Dolack's work masks exceptional technique as an artist.

Maggie Mudd, executive director of the University of Montana's Montana Mu-seum of Art and Cul-ture, points out that

Dolack uses "painstaking painting techniques" which pro-duce highly polished

visual surfaces. His work also exhibits "wildly inventive

color". In 1991 he won "Best of Show" from the Los

Angeles Society of Illustrators in 1991. The Missoulian in 1999 named Monte Dolack "100 Montanans of the 20th Century." In 2003, Trout Unlimited bestowed its Communications for Coldwater Conservation Award given annually to a reporter, writer, or artist whose work has

made significant gains in educating the public about conservation and the habitat of coldwater fish to Monte.

The Monte Dolack Scholarship Fund at Great Falls High School is

named for him. The westslope cutthroat trout from his 1986 "Blackfoot River" is

featured on a Trout Unlimited specialty license plate issued by the state of Montana.

Monte Dolack has served on the board of directors of the Montana Arts Council and the University of Montana Fine Art Advisory Board, and was a delegate from Montana on the Japan Economic Trade Organi-

zation in 1995. He also sat on the advisory board of the Big Hole River Foundation in 1999, and has been a member of the board of directors of the Montana chapter of Trout Unlimited since 1995.

Dolack is a founding member of the Japan Club. He is an avid fly fisherman, hiker and bird watcher.

Information gathered from Wikipedia.com

Long Eared Owl by Monte Dolack

The West Old & New

1-899-825-7613

Fax (406) 549-4436

www.dolack.com

[email protected]

The rodeo was not originally a sporting event, but an integral part of cattle-ranching in areas of Spanish influence.

What would become rodeo events were based on the real life tasks required by cattle ranching. Rodeo is a genuine American creation, although it grew out of practices of Spanish and Mexican

ranch hands and dates back to the cattle wrangling and bull fighting that goes all the way back to the sixteenth-century conquistadors.

One of the activities introduced by the Spanish and incorpo-rated into the sporting version of rodeo was bull riding. Another

was steer wrestling, involving wrestling a steer to the ground by riding up behind it, grabbing its tail, and twisting it to the ground. Bull wrestling had been part of an ancient tradition throughout the

ancient world. The working rodeo was retained in parts of the US Southwest even after the US-Mexico War. It was important enough to merit legal status in California. The Texas Rangers were respon-

sible for incorporating bull riding and other Hispanic cattle ranch-ing events into their communities.

The ancient Minoans of Crete practiced bull jumping, bull riding, and bull wrestling. Bull wrestling may have been one of the Olympic sports events of the ancient Greeks.

In the United States events spread and were found at fairgrounds, racetracks, fiestas, and festivals in nineteenth century south-western areas. Steer wrestling, unlike roping, riding, and racing, never attracted a following among Anglo cowboys or audiences. There would be no steer wrestling at all in American rodeo were it not for a black cowboy from Texas named Bill Pickett who de-

vised his own unique method of bulldogging steers. He jumped from his horse to a steer’s back, bit its upper lip, and threw it to the ground by grabbing its horns. He performed at local central Texas fairs and rodeos and was discovered by an agent, who signed him on a tour of the West with his brothers. He received sensational national publicity with his bulldogging exhibition at the 1904

Cheyenne Frontier Days. This brought him a contract with the famous 101 Ranch in Oklahoma and its traveling Wild West exhibi-tions, where he spent many years performing in the United States and abroad.

The first woman bulldogger appeared in 1913, when the great champion trick, bronc rider and racer Tillie Baldwin exhibited this feat. None the less, women's bulldogging contests never materialized. But cowboys did take up the sport with enthusiasm but

without the lip-biting, and when rodeo rules were codified, steer wrestling was among the standard contests. Two halls of fame recognize Bill Pickett as the sole inventor of bulldogging, the only rodeo event which can be attributed to a single individual.

Rodeo itself evolved after the Texas Revolution and the U.S.-Mexican War when Anglo cowboys learned the skills, attire, vo-

cabulary, and sports of the vaqueros. Ranch-versus-ranch contests appeared with bronc riding, bull riding, and roping contests at race tracks, fairgrounds, and festivals of all kinds. William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) created the first major rodeo and the first Wild West show in North Platte, Nebraska in 1882. Following this

successful endeavor, Cody organized his touring Wild West show, leaving other entrepreneurs to create what became professional rodeo. Rodeos and Wild West shows enjoyed a parallel existence, employing

many of the same stars, while capitalizing on the continuing allure of the mythic West. Women joined the Wild West and contest rodeo cir-cuits in the 1890s and their participation grew as the activities spread

geographically. Animal welfare groups began targeting rodeo from the earliest times, and have continued their efforts with varying degrees of success ever since. The word rodeo was used only occasionally for American cowboy

sports until the 1920s. Professional cowboys themselves did not offi-cially adopt the term until 1945. Also there was no attempt to stan-dardize the events needed to make up such sporting contests until

1929. From the 1880s through the 1920s,

A woman rider takes the American Flag across the rodeo arena as part

of the opening ceremony for the annual Hot Springs Homesteader’s

Rodeo in June, 2013.

Bulldogging photo of Cowboy Morgan Evans at the Tex Austin rodeo

in Chicago (notice that Cowboy Evans has a Western riding boot on

his right foot and a low quarter shoe on his left for quick competition

dismount. The West Old & New

History of the History of the History of the History of the

Western RodeoWestern RodeoWestern RodeoWestern Rodeo

frontier days, stampedes, and cowboy contests were the most popular names. Cheyenne Frontier Days, which began in 1897, remains the most significant annual community celebration today.

Until 1922, cowboys and cowgirls who won at Cheyenne were considered the world’s champions. Until 1912, organization of these community celebrations fell to local citizen committees who selected the events, made the rules, chose officials, arranged for the stock, and handled all other aspects of the festival. Many of these early contests bore more resemblance to Buffalo Bill's Wild

West than to contemporary rodeo. While today's PRCA-sanctioned rodeos must include five events: calf roping, bareback and sad-dle bronc riding, bull riding, and steer wrestling, with the option to also hold steer roping and team roping, their Pre-World War I counterparts often offered only two of these contests. The day-long programs included diverse activities including Pony Express races, nightshirt races, and drunken rides. One even featured a football game. Almost all contests were billed as world's champion-

ships, causing confusion that endures to this day. Cowboys and cowgirls often did not know the exact events offered until they arrived on site, and did not learn the rules of competition until they had paid their entry fees.

Before World War II, the most popular rodeo events included trick and fancy roping, trick and fancy riding, and racing. Trick

and fancy roping contestants had to make figures and shapes with their lassos before releasing them to capture one or several per-sons or animals. These skills had to be exhibited on foot and on horseback. Fancy roping was the event most closely identified with the vaqueros, who invented it. In trick and fancy riding, athletes performed gymnastic feats on horseback while circling the

arena at top speed. Athletes in these events were judged, much like those in contemporary gymnastics. The most popular races in-cluded Roman standing races wherein riders stood with one foot on the back of each of a pair of horses, and relays in which riders changed horses after each lap of the arena. These were extremely dangerous, and sometimes fatal races.

Another great difference between these colorful contests and their modern counterparts was that fact that there were no chutes

or gates, and no time limits. Rough stock were blindfolded and snubbed in the center of the arenas where the riders mounted. The animals were then set free. In the vast arenas, which usually included a racetrack, rides often lasted more than 10 minutes, and sometimes the contestants vanished from view of the audience.

During this era, women rode broncs and bulls and roped steers. They also competed in a variety of races, as well as trick and fancy roping and riding. In all of these contests, they often competed against men and won. Hispanics, blacks and Native Ameri-cans also participated in significant numbers. In some places, Native Americans were invited to set up camp on the grounds, per-

form dances and other activities for the audience, and participate in contests designated solely for them, Some rodeos did discrimi-nate against one or more of these groups, but most were open to anyone who could pay the entry fee.

All this began to change in 1912, when a group of Calgary businessmen hired American roper Guy Weadick to manage, pro-mote, and produce his first Stampede. Weadick selected the events, determined rules and eligibility, chose the officials, and invited

well-known cowboys and cowgirls to take part. His hope was to pit the best Canadian hands against those of the US and Mexico, but Mexican participation was severely limited by the civil unrest in that country. Nonetheless, the Stampede was a huge success, and Weadick followed with the Winnipeg Stampede of 1913, and much less successful New York Stampede of 1916. Although

Weadick’s last production, the 1919 Calgary Stampede, was only a minor success, he led the way for a new era in which powerful producers, not local committees, would dominate rodeo and greatly expand its audience.

Rodeo enjoyed enormous popularity in New

York, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia, as well as in London, Europe, Cuba, South America, and the Far East in the 1920s and 1930s. Today, none

of those venues is viable. Despite numerous tours abroad before World War II, rodeo is really significant only in North America. While it does

exist in Australia and New Zealand, top athletes from those countries come to America to seek their fortunes. Some Latin American countries have contests called rodeos but these have none

of the events found in the North American ver-sion.

World War I nearly killed rodeo, but three

men and two organizations brought it back to greater prominence, not in the West where it was born, but in the big cities of the East. Tex Austin

created the Madison Square Garden Rodeo in 1922. It immediately became the premier event. Overshadowing Cheyenne Frontier Days, its winners were thereafter recognized as the unoffi-

cial world champions. In 1924, Austin produced the London Rodeo at Wembley Stadium, uni-versally acknowledged as the most successful

The West Old & New

A saddle bronc rider takes a spill at the annual Homesteader’s Rodeo in Hot Springs, Montana.

Photograph by S.F. Roberts

international contest in rodeo history. However, despite his tri-umphs, Austin lost control of the Madison Square Garden contest,

and his influence dwindled. A Texan, Col. William T. Johnson, took over the Garden rodeo. He soon began producing rodeos in other eastern indoor arenas, which forever changed the nature of

the sport. There was no room indoors for races, and time con-straints limited the number of events that could be included. Ro-deos no longer lasted all day as they did under the western sky. Nonetheless, Johnson was a major figure in modernizing and pro-

fessionalizing the sport. He also enabled big-time rodeo to thrive during the Great Depression. Prior to WWI, cowboys and cowgirls could not earn a living on rodeo winnings alone. Most were also

Wild West show performers, and exhibition or "contract acts" at rodeos. The top names could appear in vaudeville in the off-season. Others found whatever jobs they could. But with the advent of the

producers, and the expansion of the eastern circuit, rodeo gradually became a lucrative career for the best contestants, even as Wild West shows diminished and vanished. During the depths of the De-pression, the rodeo publication "Hoofs and Horns," estimated the

average cowboy's earnings at $2,000-$3,000 annually. This placed them well above teachers, and near or above dentists in income. A few superstars earned far more.

By 1934, every rodeo that Johnson produced had set attendance records. A typical Johnson rodeo featured sixteen events, of

which six were contests: cowboys bareback and saddle bronc riding, cowgirl bronc riding, cowboys steer riding, steer wrestling, and calf roping. Steer riding has now become bull riding, but other than that, Johnson's cowboy contests are the same as those mandated by the PRCA today. On the other hand, entertainment features such as basketball games on horseback and horseback

quadrilles have largely disappeared. In 1929 two events occurred which split rodeo down the geographic middle: superstar cowgirl Bonnie McCarroll died as a

result of a bronc riding accident at Pendleton, Oregon. Her death caused many western rodeos to drop women’s contests. That same year, western rodeo producers formed the Rodeo Association of America (RAA) in an attempt to bring order to the chaotic

sport. With McCarroll's death, the RAA was organized as an all-male entity. Despite pleas to do so, they refused to include any women’s contests. The RAA hoped to standardize rules and events, and eliminate the unscrupulous promoters who threatened the integrity of the sport. The RAA also set out to determine the "true world's champion cowboys," based on a system of points de-

rived from on money won in their sanctioned rodeos. This remains the basic system used today, but the dream of having only one "world's champion" would not be realized for decades.

Meantime, in 1931, promoters of the Stamford Cowboy Reunion invited all local ranches to send a young woman at least six-teen years old to compete in a Sponsor Contest designed "to add femininity to the all-male rodeo." The women were judged on

who had the best horse, the most attractive outfit, and on horsemanship as they rode a cloverleaf pattern around three barrels. The contest was a huge success, and was widely copied.

In 1939, Johnson’s replacement at Madison Square Garden, Everett Colburn, invited a group of Texas Sponsor Girls to appear

at his rodeo as a publicity stunt. A second group appeared at the 1940 rodeo. It featured Hollywood singing Cowboy Gene Autry, and the women rode while he sang, “Home on the Range.” It was a tradition that continued for decades. Soon thereafter, Autry formed a rodeo company and took over not only Madison Square Garden, but also Boston Garden and most of the other major ro-

deos from coast-to-coast. One of his first actions was to discontinue the cowgirl bronc riding contest, which had been a highlight of the Madison Square Garden Rodeo since its inception in 1922. There was nothing left for cowgirls but the invitation-only spon-sor girl event. Because of Gene Autry, real cowgirl contests disappeared from rodeos nationwide. Sponsor contests are the genesis of barrel racing, which is today the premier women’s rodeo event. However, Autry’s influence was far more vast and long-lasting.

Following the War, a merged CTA and RAA became the PRCA, and took complete control of the sport. Men like Austin, Johnson, and Autry could no longer wield the power they previously maintained. Consequently, the Madison Square Garden rodeo lost its luster, and the PRCA established the NFR, to determine for the next half century who were the true worlds champion cow-

boys. In forming their organization, cowboys were decades ahead of athletes in other professional sports. By 1953, the first year for which such information is available, the total prize money available at PRCA rodeos was $9,491,856. Thirty years later, the figure had risen to just over $13 million. As prize money rose, of course, so did individual earnings.

In 1976, Tom Ferguson, competing in all four timed events, became the first cowboy to exceed $100,000 winnings in a single year. Only six years later, that figure was surpassed by a single-event contestant. Bareback bronc rider Bruce Ford, amassed $101,351 before the NFR. In 2006, all contestants coming into the NFR as leading money-winners in their events had earned at least $100,000, except team ropers, who had a little over $90,000 apiece. When the NFR began in 1959, the total purse was

$50,000. Today, the figure is $5,375,000. Information gathered from Wikipedia.com.

The West Old & New

A couple of cowboys prepare for the rodeo events at the annual

Homesteader’s Rodeo. Photograph by S.F. Roberts

SHOP MONTANA

Montana is legendary for its natural beauty; spectacular landscapes, and expansive, open skies. The

splendor of the state is reflected in the products made and grown here from fine arts, crafts, foods, ag-

ricultural and wood products to tools, machinery, software, and high-tech materials.

The Made in Montana Program is part of the International Trade & Relations Bureau in the Business Re-

sources Division of the Montana Department of Commerce.

The program, which also includes Grown in Montana and Native American Made in Montana compo-

nents, helps build recognition for products that are "authentically" Montana. That means they are

grown, created, made, and/or enhanced in the state resulting in 50% or more added-value. The pro-

gram requires that individuals and businesses meet the program's value-added definition to utilize the

trademarked image on their qualifying products.

There are over 1500 program participants producing Montana products today. Included are everyone

from food and beverage producers to vehicle and machinery parts fabricators; software and online

management companies to log home builders; fine artists to homey crafts makers; canvas tent makers

to emergency rescue blanket manufacturers; and many more.

It is important to note that the Made in Montana program is not a certification program for companies

but rather for their products. To be eligible, the person or company producing or growing the product

must sign a "self-attest" form that states the product meets the Made in Montana product criteria.

The program provides a wide variety of full color logo products at low cost or no cost including stickers,

hang-tags, posers, and window clings.

Billboards, targeted magazine and newspaper ads, and building murals are all placed in-state and out-

of-state to encourage buyers to choose Made in Montana products by looking for products with the la-

bel and searching the website.

The website directory provides members the opportunity to market their products close to home and

worldwide. Listings include product descriptions, photos, contact information, and even a hyperlink to

their own on-line store or website.

The Made-in-Montana Marketplace is a wholesale trade show produced by the City of Great Falls and is

a premier marketplace for Montana buyers and sellers to meet. The Made in Montana program provides

sponsorship in terms of consultation on financing. The show is normally held in the early spring. For

more information go to Made in Montana Marketplace.

The program also provides matching funds up to $2,000 to qualified companies to allow them to attend

wholesale trade shows outside of Montana, including international shows.

Use the comprehensive Products Directory to find authentic Montana goods.

Made - in - Montana

A program for artisans and crafters in the State of Montana

Bobby Brooks Kramer, a nationally renowned cowgirl who was one of the early women to ride rodeo broncs for prize money, died of natural causes in Billings, Montana at the age of 91. in

January 2005. In 2000, she was inducted into The National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame at Fort Worth, Texas. She grew up on a ranch as the daughter of the Prairie County Sheriff and spent her life in the

wide-open spaces of Montana. In the summer of 2004 the Western Heritage Center in Billings featured a photo exhibit titled "Bobby Brooks Kramer: A Montana Legend." She has also been featured in a pair of documen-

taries, "I'll Ride That Horse" and "The Last Stronghold."

Mrs. Kramer, showed her American Quarter Horse Association gelding, Red, at ninety years of age, and won one of four high-point awards for riders 17 and older at the Billings Saddle Club, where she was a lifetime member.

Bobby Brooks Kramer grew up in Garfield County in Montana gathering and breaking wild range horses and riding broncs in

rodeos. For six decades, Bobby has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to the horse industry in Montana. Riding since she was three, Bobby has carried on the ranching traditions of her parents and grandparents. She and her husband formed the Hanging Diamond A Horse Ranch after both pursued notable rodeo careers. Bobby produced award-winning horses in cutting,

trail, reining and pleasure riding. http://www.cowgirl.net/HallofFameHonorees/Kramer,Bobby.html

Bobby Brooks Kramer - Renowned Montana Cowgirl 18,000 Miles

in Nine Years on Horseback

Bernice Ende, known to many as Lady Long Rider was camping at Big Medicine down the road in Hot Springs, Montana with her two horses a twelve year old Fjord and a five year old Percheron/Fjord cross. Bernice has been riding thousands of miles over the last

nine years, eighteen thousand to be exact. Her first year, 2005, she did two thousand miles on horse

back, zigzagging across the west only stopping to sleep with a tent and bed roll, on her way to the southwestern states.

Over the years she has made her way across parts of Colo-

rado, Wyoming, Nebraska, New Mexico, Arizona's Highway 66 and along the Oregon coast.

She will be the first one to tell you she has no clue how it all started. A DVD she sells documents the first ten thousand miles. Her first horse was a Tennessee Walker, and she's taken two

dogs along at different times. This year she is on no set route visiting the trails and byways of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Bernice depends upon the kindness of others for her food and spent last winter in Trego, Montana. Five months of not rid-ing was rough on her. A former ballet teacher it was her walk

and presence that attracted my attention. If you are interested in this amazing woman's long rides go to her website at:

www.endeofthetrail.com Long Rider Bernice Ende visited Hot Springs in the

middle of June. Photograph by S.F. Roberts The West Old & New

Seventy-one year old bull rider Charlie Simmons coming out of the chute.

Charlie’s

2.5 Second

Ride

Charlie, "Les" Simmons is long legged and slender for his seventy-one years. He has long gray hair, shaves on a

regular basis, wears jeans and western shirts and sports a cowboy hat and boots. Saturday, June 8th he rode a bull, hop-

ing for eight seconds on the back of a mean muscle bound bruin. Over the course of the week after a few of the old timers found out about his quest to ride a bull, they have tried to

talk him out of it. One professional gave him what he termed a good four hour lecture on the insanity, saying men half his age wouldn't even consider it.

According to Charlie it isn't about the purse, he figures he isn't going to win the five hundred dollars. It is on his

bucket list, and he is hell bent on having a go at it. Bull riding is a tough sport, and sport it is in Montana. Charlie says it is all

about the adrenalin. Charlie's father, you know he is in the next world because Les talks to him

looking up, told him when he was young to get a real job and stay out of the

world of professional rodeo. You can tell it never sat well with Les. His sev-enty odd years hold numerous careers including a recording in Nashville. He

has a score to settle, and is the first one to say what he is considering is nuts To ride a bull, you have to get in a chute on the back of the bruin, and fas-

ten one hand to a long braided rope. When the chute opens its time to see if you

can meet the American tradition of staying atop the bucking bull for eight sec-onds, where the eight second rule came from is anybodies guess. Bull riding

has its direct roots in Mexican contests of equestrian and ranching skill; ac-cording to Wikipedia the early Texas rangers adapted many Hispanic tech-

niques and traditions. Charlie is a Texan.

The rider and bull are matched randomly before the competition. Les drew #703, a brindle around 5,000 pounds. Les got 2 seconds out of the chute, before

going off the back end of the bull. He stood up after hitting the ground and did-n't even brush off his nice red western shirt. He wanted another go at it. I told

him he was lucky to be walking and talking. On a final note, bull riding has the highest rate of injury of any rodeo sport

accounting for approximately 50% of all traumatic injuries to rodeo contest-

ants. From Western Gal Speak blog at: http://thewestoldandnew.wordpress.com

The West Old & New

A Seventy-One Year Old

Cowboy Takes On The Most Dangerous

8 Seconds in Sports

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Summer Theatre in Montana

The West Old & New

The Bigfork Summer Playhouse is celebrating its 54th Season of live professional theatre in 2013. Known by many as the “theatre by the bay,” the Bigfork Summer Playhouse is a past recipient of the Montana Gov-ernor’s Award for the Arts. Each season we recruit Broadway caliber acting talent from across the country to bring our patrons the finest live professional theatre in the Northwest.

Known for bringing the best of Broadway to the Rockies, this season continues the tradition. Our 2013 repertory theatre season productions are listed below.

http://bigforksummerplayhouse.com/

This years season of theatre includes:

Montana Fare

Western Gal Speak-Life in Montana Essays on contemporary and historic Montana

http://thewestoldandnew.wordpress.com The West Old & New

Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae.

It is the state fruit of Idaho. The name 'huckleberry' is a North American corruption of the English dialectal name variously 'hurtleberry' or 'whortleberry' for the bilberry. In North America the name was applied to a confusing range of different plants all bearing small, a

The berries are small and round, about the size of a commercially grown blueberry, but some-times bigger depending on rain conditions in the early spring. The berries range in color from a purple red, to a dark purple and deep blues. They are tart in taste and grow on low shrubs on the sides of mountains. The greatest hazard associated with picking huckleberries is the

chance of sharing a plot with a grizzly bear. They are territorial when it comes to sharing their berries.

Huckleberries in archaic American English slang were used as a way of referring to

something small, in an affectionate way. The phrase "a huckleberry over my persimmon" was used to mean "a bit beyond my abilities". "I'm your huckleberry" is a way of saying that one is just the right person for a given job.

In Western Montana huckleberries are big business. A gallon of the beautiful berries can bring forty-dollars. Often folks buy

them from roadside vendors and throw then into the freezer for winter enjoyment. In 1974 I picked and sold huckleberries in the Yaak, located in northwestern Montana near Idaho and Canada. While living in the Yaak, a local woman gave me a recipe for a huckleberry pie which I still use to this day. I particularly like this recipe because it mixes fresh and cooked berries.

Wendy's Huckleberry Pie Recipe

2 cups fresh huckleberries, cleaned and washed. 2 cups huckleberries, cleaned and washed, and in the pot with a little water. Add a cup of sugar and cook them for ten minutes

or less, add 2 tbsp of cornstarch and thicken. Pull from the stove. When cool add the 2 cups of fresh huckleberries, and then pour it

into a baked pie shell. Top with whip cream! While living in the Yaak, I was also introduced to morchella, a genus of edible mushrooms which are distinct for their honey-

comb appearance in the upper portion is composed of a network of ridges with pits between them. The ascocarps are prized by

gourmet cooks, particularly for French cuisine. Commercially morels are another valuable wild crafting item. Whether sold at road side markets or dried and sold over the internet, these are very popular everywhere, most folks go out and seek their own supply every year. Searching for morels is fun because it means you take a walk in the woods.

Merkels or miracles, as morels have been called are based on a story of how a mountain family was saved from starvation by

eating them in Kentucky. In parts of West Virginia, they are known as "molly moochers." Other common names for morels in-clude sponge mushroom. Genus Morchella is derived from morchel, an old German word for mushroom, while morel itself is de-rived from the Latin maurus meaning brown.

The fruit bodies of the Morchella exhibit variations in shape, color and size; this has contributed to uncertainties regarding tax-onomy. Discriminating between the various species is complicated by uncertainty regarding which species are truly biologically distinct. Some authors suggest that the genus only contains as few as 3 to 6 species, while others place up to 50 species in the ge-nus. Mushroom hunters refer to them by their color (e.g., gray, yellow, black) as the species are very similar in appearance and

vary considerably within species and age of individual. The best known morels are the "yellow morel" the "white morel" and the "black morel."

Huckleberry &

Gourmet Mushroom Hunting

The West Old & New

The New West

It is a free event, in one of Montana’s most well

known cities, Butte, Montana. Believe it or not this is the place where you will find an amazing combination of music such as: Western Swing,

Chinese Jaw Harp, Blues, Traditional Tshimshian Dance, Cajun, Irish, Ethiopian Funk, Fado, Polka, Tibetan, Italian, Gospel, Bluegrass and Latin Dance, on the weekend of July 13th - 15th at the

Montana Folk Festival. The Montana Folk Festival came about after the National Folk Festival that was presented in Butte

from 2008 to 2010. Butte rallied up to create an event over the three year period that has made a name for itself.

The first National Folk Festival was held in St. Louis in 1934, and it is the oldest, longest-running and most diverse festival of traditional arts in the nation. Championed in its early years by Eleanor

Roosevelt, it was the first event of national stature to put the arts of many nations, races and lan-guages into the same event on an equal footing.

Montana had the honor of presenting the National during its 70th - 72nd presentations in Butte in partnership with the NCTA.

Over the three years of the National's run in Mon-tana, the festival infused $1.8 million into the trade area economy to pay for necessary products and services. Based on tourist sur-veys, the admission-free outdoor festival brought more than $20 million in new earnings for businesses in communities through-out the state in 2009. The economic impact in the third year was about $31 million, with an estimated 165,000 visitors to the

event. Current estimates of the economic impact is approximately $25 million a year. When the National Folk Festival moved on, Montana organizers decided to apply what they had learned to carry the traditions

forward with a new event that offers much more for years to come -- the Montana Folk Festival. See more at: http://

montanafolkfestival.com/pages/festival-info/event-history.php#sthash.scfPeQij.dpuf

Coming to the August edition of the West Old & New

In 1961, Rulon Allred purchased a 640 acre ranch in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana for $42,500 dollars with the intent of locating a group of fundamentalist Mormons who had no affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because

of their belief in polygamy, incorporating the city of Pinesdale, Montana, located near Hamilton.

Morris Y Jessop was interviewed by Lee Nelson in 1975. Nelson was publishing a pictorial magazine in the Bitterroot Valley at

the time, and put two women and a man on the cover of his July issue and writing about polygamy in Montana.

Follow the West Old & New online monthly at Issuu.com and Zoomag.com.

Downloadable copies available to any device.

The West Old & New

Recently a small sign in the window of Auntie Que's proclaimed: "In dog years I would be dead." Bess the owner of the eclectic

shop filled to the brim with stuff has a humorous side and is also

a serious collector.

Side by side on shelves you will find funny, fun, old, 60s, and

antiques, for instance beside a package of Shakespearian Insult Gum with the headline, 'Thy breath stinks with eating toasted

cheese' is an antique tea cup.

When asked how long she had been in the collecting mod, Bess

cited one hundred and two years, laughing she counters that by stating she began at nine years of age at a rummage sale. Then her grandmother convinced her she had to start collecting things

for her hope chest. Well it's just gone on since then, truck loads

in fact.

Her new store located on the Main Street of Hot Springs, Mon-

tana is her dream come true. Bess is not into "niche" collecting, she is all over the board. She stated she has sold two of her coffee

makers she put in the store for herself, and her microwave.

Two women were shopping when I went in to talk to Bess. I

browsed the shelves and found myself intrigued by everything, including how it was placed, what it was next to and on and on down the shelves. The women also commented that they got the

same feeling when they started cruising the aisles looking things

over.

Bess does have favorites. Tea cups, especially one special Cobalt

Blue Royal cup. It was never give away glassware in boxes of

soap and was sold by Sears and Roebucks in their catalogue

which offered a sixteen piece

starter set.

If you find yourself in

Hot Springs, Montana then take a jaunt down Main Street and visit Auntie Que's High Class Junque. It is

open most days from noon to five p.m.

Auntie Q is working on getting an online store up and

running.

The West Old & New

Auntie Ques - High Class Junque

The West Old & New

Ida Hawkins, P.I. EIGHT DAYS by S.F. Roberts

Ida Hawkins has a great life as a private investigator in New

York City.

On a Monday in May everything is suddenly changed by circum-

stances and events.

A few days later Ida finds herself on the way to Montana and ul-

timately to the discovery of a secret that changes her life forever.

The consummate detective she finds herself knee deep in one

mystery after another and all of it around a handsome Tribal

cop and a father she has never met.

A brilliant job of bringing our Native American characters to life. Masterfully done...when Montana and New York meet.

A story you can’t put down. Diane Griffith

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/westerngalspeak

Buy a copy for $4.99 on Smashwords.com Also available on Amazon and Kindle

Other Ebooks by S.F. Roberts available on Smashwords.com, Amazon and Kindle

Anthology of short

stories written around

the Montana

landscape.

$4.99

In 1910 the Flathead

Indian Reservation was

opened to homestead-

ers. Read real stories

about life on the high

mountain prairie.

$1.99

An eclectic collection

of short stories written

over the period of

twenty years.

$4.99

The best of The West

Old & New. Stories

from the first year of

publication of the

magazine.

$1.99

Visit the Western Gal Speak blog on

contemporary and historic life in Montana

http://thewestoldandnew.wordpress.com

The West Old & New online magazine at

Issuu.com and Joomag.com

Follow publisher Susan F. Roberts on Twitter

Visit The West Old & New on FB

Rodeo Clown vs Bull Photographs by S.F. Roberts

july edition

Documents

reservation i s home

s s u e v

chippewa tribe i s

eastern montana

crow t ribe s

s tate

flathead indian reservation

t ribal members