By Lochiel Edwards
Montana is a land of immigrants. Some of us descend from the first to arrive, maybe 600 generations past; some are first generation. We all came for the land – what was in it, on it, under it, above it. We came as tourists who decided to stay, if you will.
Earliest human evidence in Montana is currently dated around 13,000 years back, which is a younger date than nearly everywhere else in the Americas. I guess this was the “Last Best Place” long before the marketing people coined it. Most of the native American tribes in our state did not immigrate until much later, starting around 350 years ago. The Blackfeet and maybe one or two other present-day tribes were here much earlier though. Some other tribes were tourists who did not stay. The Nez Perce and Shoshone, especially after they acquired horses around 1700, took summer bison hunting trips over the Bitterroots into Montana. They never stayed long, as the resident Blackfeet made them feel unwelcome.
Most of our native Americans came from the east. Was this because of European pressure or because of the new access to horses? Face it, anyone who has driven from Minneapolis to Glacier Park knows it’s an effort to get to Montana, and even seasoned travelers have been reduced to the level of a preschooler wondering “are we there yet?” Our state may be the youngest place in the world, in terms of how long it’s been “settled” in the modern definition. Fact is, it has been hard to get to until recent times, and in most parts of this state, is a character-builder to live in.
A few weeks ago, I flew to Ft. Worth, Texas for a meeting, grabbing a hotel in the Stockyards district. Judging by the room rate, I figured I was holed up in a toney part of town, but looking up and down the street I was reminded of the few remaining homestead shacks populating my Lonesome Prairie back home. Maybe they have a building code to keep it authentic, but it looks like a fire waiting to happen. I learn, from the Spanish-speaking housekeeper, that the Cattleman’s Steakhouse across the street was purchased a couple years ago by Taylor Sheridan (producer of the series Yellowstone and various spinoffs) so he could film some scenes for the new Landman show with Billy Bob Thornton. I checked it out, and one really good steak (overpriced) later, I kind of liked the place. I had nothing better to do on the plane ride back to Montana, so I watched the first couple episodes of Landman. Typical Sheridan formula- money, power, sex, and violence. I don’t know if I’ll pursue watching more of that but I’ve reflected on the effect Yellowstone and its ilk has had on Montana and potential immigrants.
There has always been two Montanas. In those early days the tribes who owned the bison, and those who had to beg for them. Then, the tribes who owned the bison and the Europeans who sought what was in the earth, or maybe an alternate use for the grass that grew. Following that, the crops that could be grown vs the grass for livestock. Now, it has become the viewscape and the dichotomy between those who only appreciate the view and those who scratch a living from the earth.
This is neither right nor wrong, as the warring tribes of native Americans can bear witness to. Hordes of new immigrants (some from the west of California) value our viewscape and have driven up the value of anything with a Yellowstone/mountainous/pine tree portrait beyond what the productive treeless plains of Montana have to offer.
Agriculture in Montana continues to be the largest economic driver of our state, but we are destined to be a state of short or long term tourists, as we find our place.
To be continued… For a few millenia.