As of January 27, 2007, eBay has a 30 day bid on a "chrome postcard" of the Big Hole River. Nice photo by the way. The reference to "chrome" momentarily confused us until reading the explanation. Ah yes, photo-chrome! We'd almost forgotten.

But post card collecting is alive, with explanations and detail at Stefano Neis' site.

Photochrome Era (1939 to present)

The Wizard of Oz affirmed America's love for color

images. A new type of postcard, the color "Photochrome"

(called Chrome) appeared around 1939. These "Chrome"

postcards started to dominate the scene soon after they were

launched by the Union Oil Company in their western service

stations in 1939. They were easily produced, of high photo

quality and most importantly, they were in color. Their spread

was momentarily slowed down during WWII due to supply shortages,

but they replaced both linen and black & white postcards by

1945 in the roadside postcard racks. Linen firms converted to

photochrome postcards or went out of business. Black & white

postcard firms merged with larger companies or disappeared.

From the back of the card:

Big Hole River Valley, Fisherman's Paradise and world famous cattle producing country. About 50 miles from Butte, Mont., between Divided (sic) and Wisdom, on Highway 43.

Diane Havig and her husband Dennis operate The Big Hole Crossing restaurant on Main Street in Wisdom, Montana. When the outside temperature plummets to minus 35, locals tend to grab their blankets and stay home before the fireplace. So during recent southwest Montana cold spells and the consequent lulls in restaurant traffic, Diane and Dennis have been thinking of ways to keep their employees busy.

Winters aren't just Chili in Wisdom. Now they're Jams and Jellies.

Over Christmas, visiting relatives suggested that the Havigs whip up some high quality canned preserves with the home-made goodness you typically find at our local fairs and farmer's markets. That was all it took for Diane and Dennis to take the idea national. Well, regional…for the time being.

Dennis got to work designing labels while Diane collected a Best-Of -Show recipe list from friends, family, and County Fair winners. Other extended family members contributed ideas and suggestions that have now evolved into a yummy collection of Made-in-Montana strawberry rhubarb jam, bluebarb jam (rhubarb and blueberries), fruits of the forest jam (rhubarb, apples strawberries, blackberries and raspberries), and jalapeno apple jelly.

Now, as the temperatures heat up into the minus 20s, and restaurant visitors return to their familiar booths, the Havig's 10.6 oz. jars of canned delicacies have been greeting their old clientele. Free and generous home-made jam and jelly samples are the welcome-back surprises given with every toast order. It doesn't take much to warm the tummies of Montana natives and visitors alike.

Wait wait! There's more.

The specialty canned jams and jellies are already top sellers. But there is something even more unique about each jar. To identify every new set of winter canning delights, the Havig's have stamped the batch-date and outside temperature on each jar. Instant Collectible Jam and Jelly Delights from Montana: Minus 20, Minus 17, and of course, who could forget Minus 35. Cool indeed. Makes your mouth water just thinkin' about it.

Want a special gift batch of Big Hole Crossing's Homemade Jams and Jellies for friends and family? Well, you can order them directly through the Havigs in Wisdom, Montana. Call Diane directly at the (406) 689-3800. Or send an e-mail to: wdm3275 @ smtel.com (no spaces). Or better yet, stop by and pick them up yourself when you next come to Wisdom. She'll keep a batch on the shelf for you.

Living in remote areas of Montana carries inherent risk. Down river from Wisdom, alongside the frozen Big Hole, a house under construction burned to the ground last night. Luckily, nobody had taken residence.

Read the story in the Montana Standard.

Interesting to read that Teddy Roosevelt visited our Big Hole Valley in the early 1890’s a decade before his presidency. He wrote about the adventure in his book The Wilderness Hunter published in 1893.

The British Spectator said the book "could claim an honorable place on
the same shelf as Walton's Compleat Angler." The Wilderness Hunter
remains perhaps the most detailed account of the grizzly bear ever
recorded.

Chapter 7 of The Wilderness Hunter begins:

Late one August I started on a trip to the Big Hole Basin, in Western
Montana, to hunt white goats. With me went a friend of many hunts,
John Willis, a tried mountain man.

We left the railroad at the squalid little hamlet of Divide, where we
hired a team and wagon from a “busted” granger, suspected of being a
Mormon, who had failed, even with the help of irrigation, in raising a
crop. The wagon was in fairly good order; the harness was rotten, and
needed patching with ropes; while the team consisted of two spoiled
horses, overworked and thin, but full of the devil the minute they
began to pick up condition. …For a couple of days we jogged up the
valley of the Big Hole, along the mail road. At night we camped under
our wagon. At the mouth of the stream the valley was a mere gorge, but
it broadened steadily the further up we went, till the rapid river
wound through a wide expanse of hilly, treeless prairie. On each side
the mountains rose, their lower flanks and the foothills covered with
the evergreen forest. We got milk and bread at the scattered log-houses
of the few settlers; and for meat we shot sage fowl which abounded.

(Read more from this chapter.)

Read the entire fascinating account in Roosevelt’s Two Book Compilation: Hunting Trips of a Ranchman and The Wilderness Hunter. See the link in the right sidebar of the Wisdom River Gallery.

We keep looking for a "normal winter", but they’ve been hard
to find over the past decade.

The drought, now 7 years old, is persisting this winter,
with snow levels in the mountains of southwest Montana below normal so far this winter.

Snowpack in every river basin throughout southwest Montana
are well below the 30-year average and much lower than last year, according to
data from the U.S.
Natural Resources Conservation Service….

“You look at the lower elevation sites as a whole and
they’re running below to well below average,” he said. “What’s keeping the
percentage up is basically the higher elevation snow.” …

If the dry conditions continue, the region is shaping up for
another summer of low river flows, restrictions on fishing and limited
irrigation water.

Read more.

Wikipedia is an Internet encyclopedia that is written and edited by…well, anybody who wants to add their educated two cents. The Battle of the Big Hole which took place just west of today’s Wisdom, Montana on August 9, 1877 has a short and very incomplete write-up. A more extensive review is available at the National Park Service web site. And Stan Hoggatt who writes for Western Treasures of Billings, Montana gives his own political perspective on elements of the Nez Perce Indian Nation that contributed to that battle.

Big Hole Battlefield is in the picturesque Big Hole Valley near Wisdom, Montana, in the heart of the Beaverhead National Forest. Surrounding the Big Hole Valley are the majestic Anaconda Pintler, Big Hole and Pioneer Mountains; and a short distance away are the Bitterroot Mountains and the Lo Lo Pass which the Nez Perce crossed over when they fled Idaho. The Nez Perce frequently camped on the North Fork of the Big Hole River in the valley en route to the "Buffalo Country" of Montana. It was at this campsite where Colonel John Gibbon's forces attacked the Nez Perce at dawn on August 9, 1877. The camp's tipis shown on the cover photo stand as a haunting reminder of the terrible onslaught.

You can find a general history of this region, which includes fascinating satellite photos of the battlefield and Big Hole Valley at the Wisdom, Montana Home Page.

Anyone who has unique information about the Battle of the Big Hole is invited to write at the Wikipedia site.

Now there's a headline you don't see often. But a Montana Winter Pig Roast it was on January 13th next to Fetty's in downtown Wisdom. And a roast not only for the pig but also for local ranchers John and Joann Nelson on their 70th birthdays. A fun party was had by those who remained inside and danced well into the night.

We couldn't help noticing the contrast between two harrowing stories of winter wilderness rescues. One ended tragically in the mountains of Oregon this past December. But the other ended successfully last week after a 55 year old trapper was found stranded following 10 days in the Pintler Mountains, just a snowball's throw from Wisdom.

The Oregon story of a stranded family was headline national news for days, yet we heard almost nothing about the Montana trapper who miraculously survived on his wits. Roger Nagy was stranded just 12 miles north of Wisdom, up Mussigbrod Road. but survived the minus 45 degree temperatures together with his dog, who was also neglected by the dog media channels.

"Nagy went into the Big Hole with his dog on Tuesday, Jan. 2, to check
trap lines, Hansen said. Apparently a transmission fluid line broke in
his vehicle, leaving him stranded on the gravel road he’d driven north
of Wisdom."

Read the whole story.

One of the great things about the Big Hole Valley is access to so many different outdoor activities, one of which is cross country skiing. Just 28 miles west of Wisdom is Chief Joseph Pass. Here you’ll find outstanding cross country skiing with an unexpected benefit.

The warming hut, as it is called on the ski trail map, is a description that, at best, is a total understatement. The exquisite log cabin has a full kitchen, a wood-burning stove and a large seating area with two long tables. Upstairs, a loft that sleeps eight is available for people who host the warming hut for the day. Their duty is to keep the fire going and to have water on the stove for skiers who come in and would like to warm up with hot chocolate, cider or tea. In return, they can stay the night at the cabin for free. …”For a public facility, this is just an amazing place….”

Read more about this inexpensive Montana adventure in this Montana Standard article Skiing Chief Joseph.

If you want to check the weather at Wisdom right now, you can find a live feed of those conditions on the Wisdom Home Page (at page bottom). As this post is entered, it is clear, sunny and 7 degrees F.

Some unsettling photographs from the Avian Science Center at the University of Montana display the huge relative loss of bush vegetation along the Big Hole River between 1942 and 1995. The reasons for this loss of habitat range “from fire suppression in low-elevation forests to overgrazing of riparian vegetation to the effects of toxic runoff and tailings from past mining activities.”

Using birds as a tool, the Avian Science Center is now helping to monitor the success of a handful of different restoration projects in Montana, one of which is centered on the upper Big Hole.

Read more about this fascinating project and see the photos here.

In support of the “challenge grant” received by
the Wisdom Ambulance/Rescue Service from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust SMTC has donated $5,000.00 toward the replacement of the ambulance which resides in Wisdom. The Ambulance/Rescue Service is counting on donations from residents and businesses as a show of their support. With an approximate need of $45,000.00 in community support, this is a considerable challenge

The Ambulance/Rescue Service is a 501(c)(4) organization. Donations are tax deductible and can be made by check to the following:

Wisdom Ambulance Fund
Wisdom RFD
PO Box 32
Wisdom, MT 59761

Greetings From Wisdom, Montana

Ruth Rudner

“Greetings From Wisdom, Montana” is more than just a local salutation. It’s also the name of a fascinating book by western-outdoors writer, Ruth Rudner. Over many years Ruth Rudner has written for the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA Weekend.

Rudner was a New Yorker for 20 years but now lives in Bozeman, Montana. Her travels in Europe and North America, as well as her life in Montana, are the subjects of her several books, including: Partings and Other Beginnings, Greetings from Wisdom, Montana, Off and Walking, Huts and Hikes in the Dolomites, and Bitterroot to Beartooth: Hiking in Southwestern Montana.

The Rockies in December
Originally uploaded by cjphotohound.

Merry Christmas from the Rocky Mountains of the United States!

gray wolf prowling
Originally uploaded by Featherfoil.

Often heard but infrequently seen in the Big Hole Basin, the Gray Wolf is losing its protected status.

 
BOISE, Idaho - The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday his agency will start removing federal protections from gray wolves in Montana and Idaho by January, regardless of whether Wyoming has submitted an acceptable plan to manage its own wolves by then.

….

Wolves were reintroduced to the northern Rocky Mountains a decade ago after being hunted to near-extinction, and now number more than 1,200 in the region. With the rising population, state officials including Idaho Gov. Jim Risch and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer have been pushing the Fish and Wildlife Service to remove Endangered Species Act protections that the officials say hamper control efforts aimed at stopping the predators from eating livestock, as well as elk that are prized by hunters.

"They will be managed just as cats (cougars) and black bears are managed," said Risch, following a meeting Tuesday with Hall in Boise. "Certainly, there will be a reduction from what there is right now. Because of the explosion in numbers, they've got to be controlled."

The region where wolves would no longer have federal protections would include all of Idaho, Montana, eastern Washington and Oregon and a small sliver of northeastern Utah. Wolves that wander outside those areas would still fall under federal protections, said Mitch King, a Fish and Wildlife Service regional director in Denver.

Under the federal plan, states could have complete oversight of their wolves within 12 months, Risch said.

Idaho is estimated to have 650 wolves in about 60 packs, while Montana has 270 and Wyoming 309.

Read the whole thing.