Distinctly Montana Magazine

17 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m fend his master. History does not record what Guthrie thought of the mechanical dance of the grizzly and pup as he and Montgom- ery turned onto the drive that led to Frontier Town proper. Maybe he thought it was a bit of kitsch, the kind of thing you saw all over the country at the time, and which in particular dotted Route 66. But when he saw Frontier Town itself, he was fairly gobsmacked. The whole thing had been built by John Quigley and a couple of old-timers he employed. Quigley also designed it himself, and even spent winters carving chairs and furniture. It opened in 1948, and every year after the tourist season lulled, Quigley went about constructing new buildings and perfecting existing ones. Guthrie loved the place so much he would write a short essay to be featured in a pamphlet for Frontier Town. So, for that matter, did the great K. Ross Toole, Treasure State historian and writer of Montana: An Uncommon Land. Toole wrote the place "stands apart—unique, fascinating, and with a pervasive kind of warmth about it. There will never be another place like it." In his piece, Guthrie compared Quigley to pioneering spirits like Jim Bridger as well as monolith builders like the one-time residents of Easter Island. Quigley, Guth- rie pointed out, had "tugged and lifted and dragged from the country roundabout boulders weighing from five to ten tons and set them one on another. For the most part his only aids were a pry pole and a small pickup truck equipped with a winch." But on Easter Island, he pointed out, "scores of men—not one man—had to struggle with weights." Quigley constructed his buildings with near-total authentic- ity in mind—so total, as a matter of fact, that he even fastened the logs with wooden pegs instead of nails. As Guthrie observed, "The result: probably the best representation of pioneer log con- struction in all North America." Quigley's reach always exceeded his grasp. As Guthrie wrote, "none of these things, in part or in whole, were enough" for the enterprising latter-day pioneer. To imbibers, the crowning achievement of Frontier Town was THE WHOLE THING HAD BEEN BUILT BY JOHN QUIGLEY AND A COUPLE OF OLD-TIMERS HE EMPLOYED. QUIGLEY ALSO DESIGNED IT HIMSELF, AND EVEN SPENT WINTERS CARVING FURNITURE. FRONTIER TOWN A cowboy strikes an amorous pose in the presence of some politely ambivalent showgirls.

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