Big Sky Blog

This appeared in today’s Daily Inter Lake:

Campaign aims for Kalispell veterans memorial
by Candance Chase

AFTER SOME brainstorming, the two figured they needed help from an artist to take the next step. They contacted C.A. Grende, a well-known sculptor in Big Arm.

Grende developed a clay rendering of a combat soldier kneeling in front of a comrade’s hastily dug grave. His gun, with bayonet stuck in the ground, marks the site.

“Resting on the butt of the rifle is the helmet with dog tags,” he said. “In front of the rifle will be the empty combat boots.”

Veterans who saw the model loved the idea. Olson did too.

“The guy is honoring his fallen comrade,” he said. “When it’s in bronze and the sun is shining, it will be beautiful.”

A base of black granite would support the bronze statue of the soldier executed at 125 percent of life size. Eight feet wide by 12 feet long, the base will rise 8 feet with “We will never forget!” etched on the front.

The granite base was designed large enough to include all the names of Flathead County servicemen who died defending the nation, with room to accommodate any lost in the future.

Fred Wheaton heads the list as the first from the county to make the ultimate sacrifice. He died in combat in the Spanish-American War.

Kane Funke and Matthew Saltz were the most recent, losing their lives in Iraq.

Read more here…

Hi,
My wife and I currently live in Houston, Texas, but have visited Montana twice (2001 & 2003) while vacationing in and around Yellowstone N.P. We immediately fell in love with the area and have been itching to relocate to Boseman, MT ever since.

Recently, a job opportunity has presented itself that might make this possible. However, the offered salary of $31K/year is marginal and we wonder whether a couple can live on this in Bozeman or one of the other nearby towns or cities? We don’t mind living a more spartan lifestyle, but also don’t want to go bankrupt trying to realize our dream of living in the Mountains where we can more readily pursue our hiking and outdoor photography hobbies.

We would love to get some feedback from local residents on local area cost-of-living and how much income it takes to live in your neck of the woods. I should mention that we would most likely rent an apartment for the first year or two, but we’d eventually like to build or buy a home in the area.

-George

May 29, 1944

Army Captain William Wylie Galt of Judith Basin County, is Posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry in action against the Germans during World War II at Villa Crocetta, Italy. Captain Galt’s citation reads, “Nearing the enemy positions, Captain Galt stood fully exposed in the tank turret, ceaselessly fired his machine gun and tossing hand grenades into the enemy zigzag series or trenches despite the hail of sniper and machine gun bullets ricocheting off the tank destroyer….He personally killed 40 Germans and wounded many more he was killed.”

From Montana Dateline by Ellis Robert Parry

May 28, 1993

Residents of the town of Ismay decide to rename their town Joe, as in Joe, Montana, for the upcoming National Football League season after quarterback Joe Montana of the Kansas City Chiefs. On July 3, the name becomes official with a Joe Montana Celebration. In October, twenty-two of the town’s twenty-eight residents are flown to Kansas City free of charge to meet the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
This was not the first time citizens of Ismay consider changing the name of the town. In 1912, in the aftermath of the Titanic disaster, Ismay residents discuss a name change in response to the cowardice of J. Bruce Ismay, a White Star Line executive who boards a lifeboat during the sinking while women and children drown in the icy Atlantic.

From Montana Dateline by Ellis Roberts Parry

I missed posting this on the 26th but I think it’s interesting enough to post it a bit late. What do you think?

May 26, 1864

The territory of Montana is created when President Abraham Lincoln signs the legislation forming the new territory.
More than just a simple legislative act, the designation of what we now know as Montana has two key people from Ohio playing important roles. Sidney Edgerton, appointed as chief justice of Idaho Territory, effectively petitions Congress to designate the crest of the Bitterroot Range as the western boundary of Montana after spending the winter of 1863-64 at Bannack. In the early spring of 1864, Edgerton returns to Washington, D.C., to lobby his many friends in Congress for the creation of a new territory. Edgerton’s intent is to convince Congress that the Bitterroot Range is a significantly greater and more logical barrier than the Continental Divide. Powerful interests in the Idaho Territory want the Continental Divide to serve as the boundary between the two territories, but Edgerton prevails. The territory of Montana is created, and Edgerton is named first territorial governor.
A congressman from Ohio, James M. Ashley, is the man responsible for the name, Montana, based on an ancient Latin word, and now Spanish, meaning “mountainous.” Ashley appears to favor this word although his congressional colleagues suggest a number of Indian names. Ashley first brings up this name when Idaho Territory is formed a little over a year before Montana, but other congressmen prevail. In 1864, when debate begins about the new territory name, names such as Jefferson and Douglas are mentioned along with Indian names, but Congress cannot agree on these due to political partisanship. Ashley insists on Montana, and his persistence pays off.

From Montana Dateline by Ellis Roberts Parry

Many people who seldom travel look forward to international holidays and this don’t want to travel by train. It is best for them to consult travel agents and apply for travel insurance as well.

Here in Great Falls, we just received word from the Great Falls Tribune that we are getting a new resident:

A registered high-risk sex offender recently moved from Belt to Great Falls. Evan Ray Mayer, a Tier III sex offender, is now living at 1615 13th Ave. S. in Great Falls. He was sentenced to five years in prison in 1993 in Missoula County for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl. Registered sex offenders are required by law to notify local law enforcement when they change addresses. Agencies are then encouraged to release the information to the public if the person is considered “high-risk.”

No matter where you live in Montana, though, you can always view the complete list of registered sex offenders (and violent offenders) at the registry maintained by the Montana Department of Justice.

OK, this doesn’t quite fall into the category of “Big Sky,” but I suspect that it will be of interest to many Big Sky Bloggers who enjoy writing, particuarly of the Western/Montana type. I received the following e-mail from Reif Larsen:

Dear David,

I just wanted to let you know about a unique writing workshop that I will be teaching in July which may be of some interest to you and your blog readers. The workshop will take place at Granite Creek Ranch, a guest ranch in eastern Idaho that also has a working cattle component to it. The workshop participants will spend their mornings writing and discussing literature of the “new west” and in the afternoons we will ride horses through the Idaho Tetons. The schedule will be intensive, and I see this inter-change of communal outdoor activity and private, reflective writing time as central to the ethos of the workshop.

And if the subject matter isn’t enough to convince you to attend, then perhaps the location will. Although I won’t be able to attend, I look forward to hearing from any bloggers that participate.