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D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E
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S P R I N G 2 0 2 3
4 5 2 8 W e s t H i g h w a y 1 2 • H e l e n a , M o n t a n a • 4 0 6 . 5 0 2 . 1 3 0 3
w w w . w a s s w e i l e r . c o m
N o m i n a t e U s
B E S T D I N I N G , B E S T D A T E S P O T & B E S T W I N E M E N U
E a t . D r i n k . V i s i t .
B E S T O F
M O N TA N A
B
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2023
"It really did save my life," he said again before turning to show me his found
19th-century bison skulls.
Jim's Horn House has had visitors from Russia, Europe, Korea, the Philippines,
and, of course, all over the United States. It's been featured by National Geographic
and Atlas Obscura. It inspires a range of reactions, Jim says, from boredom to ecstasy.
Some people can't wait to leave, and others Jim has to drive away.
Finally, I ask him the question that has been absorbing me. Just what is this thing
he's spent a lifetime creating? A science museum or a piece of outsider art?
He answers without skipping a beat.
"It's neither. It's not about me. It's a collection. That's what it's for. For people to
look at it."
* * *
Two weeks after visiting, I wrote Jim an email with the subject line "SURGERY?"
asking him if he'd survived, even though I already knew that no mere heart surgery
would stop him that easily.
He responded promptly: "I left the hospital that evening and came home the
next day. I had it done a week ago and have been walking three miles the last three
mornings."
I can't help thinking that his quest for antlers must have saved his life once
again.
MOST OF THE ANTLERS ON THE WALLS OF JIM'S
WERE SHED BY THE ANIMALS NATURALLY.
AND SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND BY JIM HIMSELF.
JOSEPH
SHELTON
