Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 29 e Hilger Ranch lies under the Sleeping Giant, a mountain seemingly capable of rising and lumbering through the Helena Val- ley thirty miles south of it. Bordering the ranch is the historic Gates of the Mountains, a portion of the Missouri River that flows between high sandstone cliffs marked with pictographs and thousand-year-old trails, so named by Lewis and Clark, who camped along its banks in 1805. When I arrive for the annual sheep shearing, it is an unusually warm afternoon in early March, at least sixty degrees. Outside a large, weathered barn, I meet a grouup of four women, standing around what I recognize as a "skirting table." Jeanne deCoster introduces herself first as the owner of a yarn company based in California called Elemental Affects. She has been buying from the Hilger Ranch for fourteen years. e atmosphere seems one of camaraderie and shared information. DeCoster's company, she tells me, specializes in developing yarns from "primitive breeds of sheep," the North American Shetland and an heirloom Romney, as well as a blend of Merino and silk. Cathy Campbell, owner and manager of this ranch, raises over four hundred Shetland sheep, making hers the largest flock of Shetlands in North America. Shetlands are an ancient breed from the Shetland Islands off the northern coast of Scotland. eir wool is known for being so fine that traditional shawls knit from them could pass through a wedding ring. Like the original wild sheep, they still produce two coats, a soft inner one and a longer, coarser one. In addition, they come in multiple colors. Stapled to a fence post nearby is a list of eleven of them, some in the old Norse language still used for grading: emsket (a bluish grey), shaela (a charcoal grey), musket (a pale greyish brown), mioget (yellowish brown), and moorit (reddish brown). Behind me under a temporary tent, bins are filled with airy piles of shorn wool labeled with these names, as well as with white, black, fawn. Putting on the Dog T H E A N I M A L O R I G I N S O F W H AT W E W E A R by MELISSA KWASNY In Putting on the Dog, Melissa Kwasny explores the age-old relationship between humans and the animals that have provided us with our clothing: leather, wool, silk feathers, pearls, and fur. Kwasny offers firsthand accounts of hunting and farming traditions and manufacturing methods—aboriginal to modern—and descrip- tions of the marvel and miracle of the clothing itself. Below Kwasny focuses on sheep's wool, which accounts for the majority of the world's animal fiber. Wool has sev- eral qualities that distinguish it from goat hair or rabbit fur, though it is made out of the same protein—keratin. Wool is water-absorbent and fire-retardant. It comes naturally in a range of colors and can be easily dyed. Plus, it smells good. Another advantage: it comes from sheep, which are small, docile, easily handled, and cheap to raise. Text © Melissa Kwasny, 2019. Reprinted with permission Trinity University Press. Hilger Ranch SHEEP 'S WOOL ACCOUNTS FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE WORLD'S ANIMAL FIBER.

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