See the Montana Standard for some excitement about this year’s fly fishing opportunities. 

Here is an excerpt from the June 28^th article: On The Big Hole: The Hatch is ON

“Babineau netted a dozen brown trout from 16 to 20 inches while wade fishing one day earlier this week, and one 22-inch brown Monday while using his F150 salmonfly pattern.”

If you need something to cheer you up in light of the gas crisis, just remember that higher gas prices mean there will be fewer out-of-state waders on our rivers.  This should be a fine year for the locals to reclaim fishing rights.

From the Library of Congress file:

Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kay Jacobson talks about the upcoming Lost Trail Ski Area Snowmobile Hill Climb on March 15, 16:

 

 

 

 

Christopher Lloyd

Eighty miles north of Wisdom is the historic town of Philipsburg, Montana, and during the past week Philipsburg added to its history as Hollywood came knocking. Christopher Lloyd (Doc of “Back to The Future” fame) stars in “Call of the Wild”, an update of Jack London’s wonderful adventure novel. Read the whole story in the Montana Standard.

 

If you need a great story to warm up your chilly winter heart, take the time to read this wonderful article out of Kalispell today as published in the Montana Standard. “Hikers rescue puppies in burned-out log”. 

 

Montana’s Wisdom River Gallery and the custom furniture creations of Daryll Jacobson are spotlighted in the current (March) issue of Cowboys and Indians.

The “Premier Magazine of the West”, Cowboys and Indians is a glossy publication aimed at upscale readers. 

Kay and Daryll Jacobson, owners of Wisdom River Gallery were contacted by the magazine after research editor  Michele Glaze happened to visit their website. The magazine's Regional Sales Manager Julie Lewein and Associate Editor Kathleen Fritsche both gave the go ahead.

What followed was a focus piece on Daryll’s lodgepole and barn wood furniture creations.  The Jacobson’s were thrilled to see their gallery and Daryll’s talent showcased in this prestigious magazine. 

You will find some of Daryll's handcrafted creations featured here on the Wisdom River Gallery site. And don’t miss the current and Special Collectors Issue of the national magazine Cowboys and Indians, on newsstands everywhere!

 

Wanted:  Ten People to Risk their Lives in Pursuit of A Jelly Donut THIS WEEKEND!

Procedure: Grab your horse, a rope, some skis, a crazy person and a roll of duct-tape. Stick the crazy person on the skis, duct-tape him to the bindings, hand him a hot toddy and one end of the rope. Then mount your horse and scream “HeeeYAH!”. This is all the formal instruction you need to compete in The Big Hole Valley’s First Annual Horse Skijoring Competition this Saturday February 2.

The Knitting Circle has declined to enter a horse in this event so the potential for an historic victory for the rest of us is high.

Wisdom is a town where you can rise to renown like a bubble in an ice bucket of Montana Champagne. So this is the chance for you and a fool of your choice to forge your own indelible future together.  Grab this state’s first ever Horse Skijoring Gold Medal and be given the key to Montana’s Evel Knievaldom all in one. (The photo at right is sort of like Horse Skijorning, but without the horse.)

Plus, get your photo pasted smack–dab on this page. What more could you want?

Can’t make up your mind? WAIT!

 

 

If you’re a sissy and would rather ride a snowmobile instead of a bronc, our 40 mile Snowmobile Fun Run is also on tap for Saturday starting at 9AM and lasting until 4PM. Either way, you’ll be exhausted and ready for dinner and a dance at Fetty’s in Wisdom this Saturday night February 2.

Assuming you can still stand on Sunday, you can enter the Cross Country ski competition behind the Hot Springs Lodge in Jackson. This will be exceptionally well attended by people who have never seen a silly football game in their lives, and don’t plan to change this aberration.    

Global Warming be damned. Winter has arrived in the Big Hole Valley of Montana and with it comes The Big Hole Valley Winter Fest of 2008!

Hope to see you this weekend!

For more details, registration times and locations, call: (406) 834-3264.

Or go to www.bigholevalley.com.

Hard to believe that the town of Wisdom has skated through much of its history without a library, but alas it is shamefully true. Bar stools and food counters have been the dispensary of free flowing male dominated knowledge for decades. And if you could show a talent for speaking while tongue-rolling a used toothpick, you might even be considered educated by default.

A few of our sage individuals have been elevated to community seer-status for unusual reasons: framed diplomas from unknown universities hanging on walls, mounted National Geographic Society membership letters, or a strange ability to use words of more than four syllables in complete sentences. Unfortunately, fact-checking the true wisdom of these local, mostly male, lunch-counter Wisdomites has been a near impossible task. Until now.

He’s so narrow- minded he could see through a keyhole with both eyes.

Recognizing that the word Sage has at least two definitions…and one of them is not a common shrub of the high plains…the Women of Wisdom chose to identify the problem and then solve it. “What we have here is failure to communicate”, they recently claimed. And with that they re-institutionalized our local Wisdom Library, the doors of which were first cracked in 1932.

At last, the local Women’s Club has corrected Andrew Carnegie’s oversight in granting a free library to Anaconda instead of Wisdom, Montana. No longer will local cowboy pundits be able to claim educated authority on the politics of the day by avoiding footnotes to their comments. Now we can run to our own library and fact-check their buts…and ands, and ifs. In effect the women of this town have demanded a higher level of educated dialogue from our community members. No more blow-hard pontificators at the lunch counters. No more bloviating know-it-alls. We’ve upped our standards. Now up yours!

Go forth and educate yourselves at our new Wisdom Women’s Club Library. It is now open, on Wednesdays only from 4pm to 7pm. The cost is $5.00 to join or $10.00 for a family group. There is no phone yet, but contact Denice Strickland, Box 65 Wisdom, Montana 59761

When the biggest event of the summer is whupping cow pies between golf strokes, you know you’ve got a giggle that will keep on giving.

If you’re a serious golfer…no wait…if you are serious about golf, but need an irrepressible chortle once in a while, bring your clubs, a fork and a swizzle stick to Wisdom, Montana this weekend. It's the only international golf tournament in the world that is started with a shotgun blast: The Annual Big Hole Valley Cow Pasture Open Golf Tournament, Cowboy Ball Dinner, Come-On-Dance and Silent Auction. And it’s almost too dang fun to fit in a single sentence!

You can read up on our internationally ignored golf tournament and check out more photos from previous years here. This event is not exactly a walk in the park, so bring your high-top golfing boots. You’ll have time to clean the cleats between holes.

Remember, we’re not called The Big Hole for nuthin! This region was named by an excited golfer way back in the 1700s!

Some of the greatest names in golf and government have been associated with our annual competition: Every year the President of the United States is invited to our match. Jack Nicklaus has flown over our 18 hole course on countless occasions and for many years Arnold Palmer has played at the same time as our august open tournament.

In fact, this wild event has already become TOO popular. (We were written up in Delta’s Sky Magazine don’t you know.) For the 2007 tourney we decided we couldn’t even handle all the PGA golfers who would need to stay at our motel. So we’re arbitrarily limiting the number of international golfers and dignitaries on our course at any one time. This year more Montana golf stars will be able to attend! And you can be two of them if you bring a pal with a wedgie.

There’s a no roast cocktail hour at 5:30 on Friday followed by eats at 6:30. But wait! There’s more or less a dance too! Followed by a silent auction in which everyone will be gagged at the door.

All of this takes place in the non-denominational Mason Temple, which is a chip shot and a two putt from Main Street or a hook off a 2-iron from the north edge of town.

While the rest of Montana suffers the heat of August, Wisdom (elevation 6028) is Big Sky’s big escape to the high sage plateaus. (If you’ve never been here, check some of the photos in earlier posts by scrolling down trhough the Local News link. This is the land where Mooses Drool.)

So throw the old bag in the car and point yourself to Wisdom this Friday, or leave now if you’re in Peoria. Golf tourney registration starts at 9:00AM Saturday and you can get teed off at 10AM. If you’re an eager golfing-nobody, you are still welcome to build some prestige by winning our top prize, which will be presented by The President if he attends this year. (At this point, we have received no notice that he will NOT be here!) Whenever we decide to re-publish our once thriving local newspaper, we also promise to put your picture on the front page. Simply call (406) 834 3264 to register ahead of time.

And if you need more information about Wisdom, Montana go to our Wisdom, Montana Home Page, where you’ll find lots more cool stuff to do during this hot summer.

 

Friday, August 24, 2007

5:00 PM – Nez Perce Horse Club will ride into Wisdom in traditional Nez Perce regalia and horse trappings.

5:15 PM – Nez Perce will speak about the Nimiipuu Trail and about their history and culture – Outside Masonic Temple

6 PM to 7 PM – No Host Cocktail Hour at the Masonic Temple

6:30 PM – Prime Rib Dinner
    Ages 14 and up - $20.00
    Ages 8-13 - $10.00
    Ages 7 and under – FREE!

7 PM – Dance to the music of Disc Jockey Doc Savage
    Free and Open to the Public

Saturday August 25th

International Cow Pasture Open Golf Tournament
    Fred Hirshy’s Cow Pasture, located one half mile north of Wisdom

    Sign Up: 9 AM – 10 AM
    $25 per person
    Tee-Off Shot Gun Start at 10 AM

    Contact Jeanette at (406) 834-3264
 

How can you close a River?

I wonder what William Clark would have said if he discovered a"River Closure" sign on the Big Hole when he sauntered through here 200 years ago. "Get Outta Here!" Or something of that nature.

So it's happened.

http://fwp.mt.gov/news/article_5861.aspx

 

Daryll Jacobson and friends recently took the steep, hour long hike up to Hidden Lake near the Continental Divide and on the west slopes of the Big Hole Valley. This is rugged country, so the great fishing is a prime incentive.  Brook trout are plentiful here and currently less stressed than in our lowland rivers. You can forget counting after the first 30 or so.

Photos below were taken by Heide Peterson and include, Guy, M.D. and Sam Peterson as well as Daryll.

You could have set your alarm six months ago because we clearly knew we were at risk for another bad fire season.

As of noon on Wednesday the Pattengail Creek fire over the mountains northeast of Wisdom is only 4% contained and already covers more than three thousand acres. If that was all we could expect this summer, we might sleep easier.  But with snow depth at record lows, triple digit high temperatures over extended days, and the inevitable summer lightning storms, we’re in…gulp…deep doo. The smokey haze of other Idaho and Montana fires already looms above.

Follow Montana Fire incidents by the minute at InciWeb, and read a bit more about the Pattengail fire in the Montana Standard. 

 

One of the best preserved and most interesting ghost towns of America is Bannack, about 25 miles from Dillon in Montana’s remote southwest corner. Over sixty structures remain and each one prompts different images of old west life and history. Disney could not have designed anything better for a family adventure into the old west.

This year’s Bannack Days celebration takes place on July 21 and 22. Read more about the annual event at www.VisitMt.com and the Bannack State Park website.

“Return to the early days in Montana’s history with a celebration of mining and life in Montana's first territorial capital. While here, take part in a stage coach ride, candle making, Main Street gunfight, old time dancing, pioneer craft demonstrations and lots of music and family fun. A variety of food concessions are offered throughout the day, including lunch and snacks. Bannack Days offers plenty to do and see for the entire family. “

 

The headlines will never read: Montana's Big Hole River is Now Open for 137 Miles of Fishing. Instead, gloom will take the lede, because 19 miles in the upper reaches of the Big Hole River have just been closed to fishing.

The heat wave and low winter snows have once again forced a limited closure of the nation’s premier fly fishing river. We’re talking of a river stretch from Rock Creek Road, about five miles south of Wisdom, to the mouth of the North Fork, fifteen miles north of town. The portion affected includes the habitat of the arctic grayling, the last remaining river-dwelling population of grayling in the lower 48 states.

So what’s the truth? One of the most informed status reports on Big Hole River fishing always comes from Big Hole Trout and the Great Divide Outfitters: “I had several calls today asking about the river and if it was closed. I wish they would close that upper portion permanently so we wouldn’t have to deal with this B.S. every year. A couple fisherman who floated with me last week had also fished the Missouri, Madison, and Beaverhead in the last 10 days. They said the Big Hole by far was the best fishery especially on top water and these guys are men of the cloth who live by the truth. What type of cloth is another matter.”

 

 

 

 

Shucks. This is about as close to Red White and Blue as you can get:

Fourth of July in Wisdom, Montana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forty hearty souls beat the birds out of bed to arrive for the 14^th Annual Flag Raising ceremony and Pancake Breakfast sponsored by the Havig Family and the Big Hole Crossing Restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year’s special guest speaker was Jackson rancher Walter Zobell who talked of the sacrifices our young men and women have made to keep this country safe through 231 years of independence.

 

 

 

 

 

Diane on the bugle at 6:30 AM, America the Beautiful at 6:45, and Pancakes at 7:00.

What a country.