Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 2 4 - 2 5 10 COVER PHOTO KEVIN LEAGUE is a Helena, Montana-based award-winning pro- fessional landscape, lifestyle and wildlife photographer capturing Montana and the western United States' most beautiful, fleeting and fascinating moments. Inspired by early conservation photographers, Kevin believes his ability to share the beauty of our last best places will inspire others to respect, protect, and enjoy them. This issue's cover captures a golden sunrise from a frozen-over Canyon Ferry Lake in Southwest Montana. I just love the set of fox tracks leading you to this tiny little island with its bonzi-like ponderosa pines. THE OLD BROKE RANCHER PAGE 14 GARY SHELTON was born in Lewistown in 1951 and has been a rancher, a railroader, a biker, a teacher, a hippie, and a cowboy. Now he's trying his hand at writing in the earnest hope that he'll make enough at it to make a down payment on an RV. Hell, scratch that. Enough to buy the whole RV. EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS PAGE 24 DOUG SCHMITTOU resides in Billings and is a freelance writer. His research focuses on travel in the Northern Rockies, evidence-based wellness protocols, and nineteenth-century Plains Indian art, ma- terial culture and ethnohistory. Previous publications appeared in Montana The Magazine of Western History, Plains Anthropologist and American Indian Quarterly. THE LAST RIDE LONG GEORGE FRANCIS PAGE 30 NICK MITCHELL lives with his wife and two children in Kalispell and has always been interested in Montana and Western history. He loves a good book, a tasty brew, and his family, though not in that order. He's only recently started writing, so he'd like it if you'd be easy on him. EVELYN CAMERON, FOREVER PAGE 36 Fourth-generation Montanan RUSSELL ROWLAND is a critically-ac- claimed author of six books, a teacher, and a radio and podcast host. From the written to the spoken word, he is a true voice of the Big Sky Country. WILLOW CREEK PAGE 44 SUZANNE WARING resides in Great Falls and is retired from Great Falls College MSU where she was a faculty member and adminis- trator. She researches and writes about Montanans whether they were pioneers or Montana residents who presently contribute to the state's vitality. She has completed a new novel, Growing Season, due to be out soon. CONTRIBUTORS CONTRIBUTORS CONTRIBUTORS OUR 2023 of B E S T M O N TA N A A S V O T E D B Y R E A D E R S O F W I N N E R !

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