Kit and Carol on the Road

Montana sun toasts the grasses that cover the hillsides. Montana wind can blow incessantly. Montana land, says Mike, our host, cannot be left wild but must be grazed or irrigated and harvested—to keep the fire at bay. Montana storms bring fire to the land. (The interstate was closed west of here for a time early this month and just yesterday our neighbors saw fire to the east.) Montana rivers seem to teem with fish, but are drained to fill the irrigation canals that line the landscape. (Land without water rights is barren) Montana trees hug the shores of streams and rivers, and huddle around established homesteads. Montana cows are all black, none of the gentler dairy breeds here. Montana sheep, we are told, still dot the land… but we have not seen them yet. Many Montana ranches have been in families for generations, but many also now belong to wealthy easterners. Ranches nearer the growing cities have been subdivided into 1 acre plots.
Montana rains damp the dust and rumble through the night. Going east, surprise! There are trees on the hills--but up over a hill into real prairie.