Archaeology interprets past cultures and economies by studying material remains and environmental data. Long associated with analyses of classical civilizations such as Greek and Roman, it is also applicable to more modern times. For example, in 2001 the University of Arizona Press published Rubbish: The Archaeology of Garbage, an analysis of contemporary America’s disposal culture. […]
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Last week I had the good fortune to witness and share two contrasting experiences reflecting Montana’s past. One, a hallmark of our region, is easy to appreciate. The other has been neglected, but it may have a more lively future. First, consider the easy one, a roping clinic. Our neighbor, Scott Foster, recently built a […]
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Bozeman consistently ranks high among American towns. Unless one is allergic to cold, committed to scuba diving, or loves big cities, Bozeman is wonderful. Cultural and natural beauty abound, while considerate behavior and civility are normal, not aberrations. Community involvement with music and the arts is exceptionally high; consider support for the Bozeman Symphony, Intermountain […]
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Montana’s culture, economy, housing patterns, transportation, and politics all evolved assuming we’d enjoy cheap and plentiful energy over the long-term. Low priced energy guided our development and social patterns. I recall occasionally driving to Butte just for dinner in the ‘70s. Many Bozeman friends did likewise, and Billings was a casual destination with little thought […]
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Here’s a fact that astounds many of my friends: the average person in 1800 was not materially better off than his counterpart 10,000 years earlier. Prior to about 1776, wellbeing measured by food, clothing, shelter, and heat varied across societies, but was generally miserable. Last April, Yale Press published historian Emily Cockayne’s Hubbub: Filth, Noise, […]
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Each year we winter a few dozen horses on our ranch. A good neighbor arranges this with his friends who have horses but lack winter pasture and want to avoid the cost and bother of feeding hay. The horses have good, inexpensive feed for six months. We derive modest income while our rangeland benefits from […]
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Title IX of a law passed in 1972 bans discrimination on the basis of sex in schools receiving federal funds. It has received wide attention when applied to college sports for it mandates equality of treatment and numbers in arenas long dominated by males. Positive reforms, however, often have negative implications, some serious. When the […]
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently delisted the grey wolf from the ESA. This generated outcries from many directions and it’s no wonder; few western issues are as emotionally charged as wolf reintroduction, recovery, or regression (to the 1800s). One’s choice of words speaks to his position on this controversial issue. All can cheer […]
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Trust is a precious and often underappreciated quality in political, personal, and business relations. Trust fosters productive exchange and minimizes the burdens of cooperation. When trust is high, monitoring costs are low, surely a good thing, for when handshakes suffice, formal contracts are redundant. Trust fosters long-term success. Consider Owenhouse, perhaps America’s best hardware store, […]
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I occasionally meet truly remarkable individuals. Sometimes, I have the good fortune to work with them. Rarely is it over decades. When such folks pass on, America is a lesser place. Such a loss occurred when Myron Vinger died April 12. He was a top hand, a real mensch, a good friend, and a patriotic […]
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