The Bozeman boom is a named phenomenon, frequently discussed on social media, where posts track the sounds and folks all over town report where they heard them. There was a boom on June 5, 2022, at nearly 6 pm. A loud, cacophonous noise was heard in Bozeman, Belgrade, Four Corners, West Yellowstone, and Livingston, with no official cause ever discovered.

They say freezing to death can be quite pleasant once delirium starts to set in. That is, pleasant enough at least when stacked up against nastier alternatives. We’re talking the real doozies. And since Montanans need little impetus to brag about the peculiarities of our state, the editorial staff of Distinctly Montana have prepared a very short list of the absolute worst ways to die here.

There is an interesting rock formation located a little ways outside of Whitehall, Montana, jutting out of the earth in a way that resembles nothing so much as a prehistoric wall—appearing to be made of cyclopean slabs piled on top of each other with startling exactitude. In places, you couldn't slip a credit card in between.

Over in Glendive, GiGi’s Café makes the list. So does Shellie's Country Café in Helena, open 24 hours. Jordan has its Summit Corral. Even tiny Lima, Montana has Jan’s Café. And though there is not a tree anywhere nearby, Denton boasts its Shade Tree Café.

"My wife told me that I needed a project to stay busy, and I think she meant for me to paint the bathroom or fix the railings on the back porch," he said. "But instead, I began restoring a full-size steam locomotive."

Awakening at 3 a.m. to jingling keys and the unmistakable ripping of Velcro from the unfastening of a bullet-resistant vest was always a peaceful predawn ritual for me. It was so much better than the silence that prevailed through the darkest part of the night.

The war between the Thunder Birds and the Water Monsters involved ranged warfare; they fired missiles at one another which the Sioux called kangi tame, or the blackened remains of lightning bolts.

Joe was raised along Post Creek, north of Saint Ignatius, bordering historic Fort Connah on the Flathead Reservation. He was the great-grandson of Angus McDonald, a Scottish fur trapper who settled in the Mission Valley and established Fort Connah in 1846

Over breakfast, we chatted about the days of Lewis and Clark, and although he didn’t have any wild stories like Frank, he told of how he enjoys living off the beaten path and giving guests a glimpse into the life of Montana in the early 1900s. 

Topographically, Wibaux County is mostly prairie, but not plain in the dull sense. The land rolls, breaks, drops, and cuts into coulees and badlands formations. The website Peak Visor lists eleven "mountains" in Wibaux County. Note that the tallest of these "mountains" is less than 3,100 feet, and the most prominent rises only 443 feet above the valley floor.

The bustle of city life hasn’t yet knocked at the door of this community. Harnessed to its past, Willow Creek’s main purpose is denoted by its roads leading out of town through the pastureland—to ranches and farms.

As Montana's response to the national "Good Roads" movement of the 1920s, Highway 200 gained popularity, along with Highway 89, as the border-to-border travel corridor for tourists bent on exploring the state by motor vehicles. The aim of the Good Roads initiative was to connect isolated rural communities and promote social and economic vitality.

Many, about to embark on the wilderness, therefore chose to seek lodging in Livingston. H. F. Sanders wrote in his three-volume History of Montana (1913) that visitors "will usually find themselves directed to the Grabow Hotel, one of the finest hostelries in the state..."

I suddenly felt a wildfire in my eyes. Town leaders had brought tear gas to America's birthday party. It did not go over well.

"I don't know how much I can improve playing Billings 16 times," Montana forward and current Golden State Warriors Assistant Coach Terry Stotts told the Kansas City Star at the time. "Basically I'm playing against Marlon Redmond 16 times. He knows my moves. He knows I'm going to fake and turn. I know he's going to drill it."

After leaving the Air Force he became the flight team director for Air Force One, one of the most prestigious assignments in the military. Raynor was in charge of the detail that flew President Kennedy's Boeing 707 to Dallas on that fateful November day in 1963. Air Force One returned to Washington the next day carrying JFK's body while Lyndon Johnson was aboard, being sworn in as President.

The museum has a number of other remarkable planes, including a 1929 Travel Air 6000 on loan from founder Dick Komberec (one of only six still-flying Travel Airs in the world), a Bell 47G helicopter, and an A-26 Invader prominently featured in Steven Spielberg's supernatural smokejumper romance Always (1989), which was filmed in Montana.

I let my eyes wander over the colorful forest of fish tempters, which have been hung in the order they were found, resulting in a random array of shapes, sizes, colors and styles. A sleek, white, torpedo-shaped plug with black dots for eyes hangs next to a segmented silver minnow jerkbait.

Daly spent about $2.5 million on the Anaconda campaign, while Clark spent $500,000 on his own campaign for Helena. Helena won the second referendum, helped out by 40% of the Butte vote and overwhelming support from eastern Montana.

Perhaps the most famous resident of Sanders County is David Thompson. Sent by the British Crown with the aim of beating Lewis and Clark to the Pacific, Thompson has been described as the most important geographer you’ve never heard of. He founded a trading post near the town that bears his name, Thompson Falls, the seat of Sanders County, and many other county features bear his name.