Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
All day long we’ve been driving in Montana, which is cowboy country and mining country. To assist folks in distinguishing these from say the Midwest kind of country which also may have horses and cows, here are some distinguishing marks and features of cowboy country. You know you’re in cowboy country when you see:
• Cattleguards at the freeway entrances. Now, I grew up on a cattle ranch, and just about every rancher had a cattleguard at the main ranch entrance. It’s made of steel or wood beams with gaps in between them so that people or cars can pass over, but cattle can’t.
However, until today I’ve never in my life seen a cattleguard at a freeway entrance … must be cowboy country. However, the best guide to whether it’s cowboy country or not are the want ads … here were some clues from today’s local newspaper:
• The first three sections in the want ad of the local paper are “Horses”, “Livestock”, and “Pets”. Don’t want to waste time going through ads for furniture to get to the good stuff, I guess.
• The largest section in the want ads is “Farm and Ranch Equipment” … followed closely by “Guns”.
• The first two ads in the “Miscellaneous For Sale” section of the local paper are for sausage stuffing machines … definitely cowboy country.
• There are advertisements like “LIFE SIZE Tom Mountain Lion Mounted on a Rock $550”.
• The “Homes For Sale” section of the want ads includes trailers.
• You can be sure that you’re in cowboy country when the “Antiques” section of your newspaper offers you the unparalleled opportunity to buy an “Antique Manure Spreader, Built Early 1900”, for only $800 …
• And the final clue that we’re in cowboy country? The fact that the day after the finals of the FIFA World Soccer Cup, there was no mention of soccer in the paper anywhere … quite refreshing, actually.
How about signs that it’s mining country? Well, big holes in the ground in the middle of cities are kind of a clue … here’s a giant open-pit mine in the city of Butte, Montana, which sprung up on the place called the “Richest Hill In The World” because of the precious metals taken out of it …
The next clue was the name of the biggest bank building in town …
Yeah, that’s mining country.
Then you have the fact that about one bar in three in Butte is an Irish pub … given the number of early miners who were from Ireland, I suppose that’s no surprise.
Finally, I learned that you can tell a mining town from other towns by their preferred choice of anaesthetics …
Today was another day when the emergent phenomena controlled the temperature. It was clear in the morning. Then when it got hot, we got cumulus clouds to reflect much of the solar energy back to outer space. And finally, as the earth heated even more, we got a whole complex of thunderstorms, with cold rain and winds that knocked the temperature right back down again.
We’re in Missoula, Montana tonight. Tomorrow, we roll north to Flathead Lake, and the next day to Whitefish to see David Raitt and the Baja Boogie Band …
My best to all of you, dear friends, and my sincere hope that your lives are as full of antique manure spreaders and Overland Rye Whiskey as is mine,
w.
Strictly speaking, a manure spreader shows that you’re in farming country, not cowboy country.
Dr. Doug,
Too true. In fact, to a cowman a manure spreader is, well, simply a cow.
You’re in cowboy country if you’ve become proficient at disassembling and reassembling corrals in order to cheat your 4X around locked gates. No, I’m not a rustler, please don’t shoot! LOL!
“My best to all of you, dear friends, and my sincere hope that your lives are as full of antique manure spreaders and Overland Rye Whiskey as is mine – W”
And to you Willis. No lack of the antique manure spreaders in my family, and though we generally prefer Scotch, we’ll take the Overland in a pinch. Bless you and yours and have a safe trip.
It’s been fun to see how many readers here can claim: you know you are a cowboy when… or, you know you are a redneck when… Always a diverse and fun readership on this website.
Cowboy logic, costs money to remove the cattle guard. Born and raised.
@ur momisugly Steve from Rockwood: My final comment on this, All those mining districts you mentioned are much bigger than the Butte Mining District. I doubt you will find any mining district in the world as compact as the one at Butte that has produced as much mineral wealth as it has. And since the City of Butte sits on the hill that lies above the mines that were there; I think a valid case could be made that it is/was “the Richest Hill on Earth”.
“And, as for the “richest hill in the world title” ? might be a few contenders there, I would say South Africa, South America parts of Asia and my own homeland of Oz might be in the running…..” –
South Africa and many other places have certainly produced more value than Butte. But not from one single mineral district… much of the value comes in the silver, at nearly three-quarters of a billion ounces, probably #3 in the world. If you can document a single mineral district – not a combination, not a nation, etc. that compares in value to Butte’s 5 square miles, feel free to come forth. Until then, we will claim to be the Richest Hill on Earth. Even if proven wrong, Butte’s richness goes far beyond the mineral riches…. 30 nationalities and ethnicities,astonishing labor history, compelling architecture (more contributing historic properties than any National Landmark in the US)…. 🙂
Hey, what about Evel Knievel? Doesn’t he count?
Wikipedia lists Butte, MT as historically the second greatest silver source in the USA behind the Coeur d’Alene District in Idaho. However, for a single “richest hill” one might have to consider Mt Davidson atop the Comstock Lode (Virginia City, Nevada).