The
Big
Dry
12
By
Gordon
Sullivan
Photos by
Gordon
& Cathie
Sullivan
I
grew up in the mountains of western
Montana and somewhere along the
line I began calling the vast, arid
geography east of the Rockies "The Big
Dry." I often find myself there when cot-
tonwood trees along prairie rivers change
color or the fresh scent of new sage saturates the still air or a patch of Evening Primrose blossoms.
Such encounters kindle my appreciation for this intriguing
part of Montana and help me embrace the great irony alive
there.
The Big Dry begins just east of the outlier mountain
ranges, those isolated albeit lofty peaks which serpentine our
homeland north to south. Ranges with interesting names like
Highwood, Big and Little Snowy's, Castle, Crazy, Front Range
and Sweetgrass Hills to the north, Beartooth and Pryor to the
south. From the east facing slope of these ranges the Big Dry
D I ST I N CT LY M ONTANA • FALL 2013
