Distinctly Montana Magazine

76 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • FA L L 2 0 2 3 tiful mountains, streams, rivers, lakes, and wildernesses and peo- pled by hard-working folk. Could a close reading of the facts reveal a counter-narrative? Might we find that Hoover, who had never been to Butte himself, was sending his ill-favored enemies to a paradise as a punishment? Take a 1941 issue of the FBI's employee magazine, called The Investigator. There, in the section where each field office reports the news from their territory, we find this charming dispatch: "During the past winter SAs JERRY CAMPBELL and BILL NITSCHKE in covering an expedite lead, went into Yellowstone Park to the Yellowstone Can- yon Hotel by snowshoe and have photos to prove it, some of which will be soon be forwarded to this pub- lication. They report that winter scenes in the Park surpass those seen by the summer tourist and are ex- tremely interesting for the reason few persons have had the opportunity to make such a trip. The wild game consisting of elk, deer, moose, mountain sheep, antelope, and buffalo were in abundance and viewed the two agents with some curiosity and, in some in- stances, from exceedingly close range. 'Nimrod' NITSCHKE, who incidentally has secured one of about ever kind of wild game in this section this year climaxed his remarkable performance with bringing down an elk, a large portion of which was consumed in a 'feed' while all 'hands' were in Butte during the last conference." And, of course, this whimsical description of springtime in Butte's FBI: "...[S]pring has no doubt arrived which is much more than reports from some of the so-called banana belts indicate is taking place in their respective lo- calities. Any Bureau personnel passing through this territory are cordially invited to attend the swimming "The truth is that agents end- ed up liking it. IT MAY SEEM LIKE THE END OF THE EARTH TO SOME, BUT FOR FISHERMEN AND HUNTERS, IT WAS WONDERFUL."

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