True Montana Stories
TRUE MONTANA STORIES
by Carole Mackin
The Montana Sun Doing a Highwire Act
As the United States was about to enter World War II, Montanans on isolated farmsteads were playing baseball. The Outcasts were rag-tag ranchers who weren't good enough for the town teams. So, they formed their own team and won their way into the playoffs at the end of summer.
Montana ranchers during the depression battled hungry deer who destroyed whole stacks of alfalfa hay. Montana's poaching laws were severe and enforced with a vengeance. This pitted the sly wardens against the slippery poachers.
Cheka: When a dog and a porcupine go bump in the night, extracting the quills is a dog owner's nightmare.
Slam: A gentle soul faces down a shark.
Swirls on the surface of Fort Peck Reservoir hinted of what was "down there" blocking an intake to the Ft. Peck power house. Two divers suited up to take a closer look. When they were fished out, their ordeal had struck them dumb.
Epidemics of small pox swept through the frontier and hit homesteaders hard. One young survivor wrote a letter to calm the anxiety of his family.
