"The sunset holds infinite promise. Fire sweeps up
from behind the Rockies to consume the universe,
kindles the whole horizon, and all the great sky is
flame; then suddenly it falters and fades atop the distant peaks and lonely buttes, ebbs and is lost in secret
coulees. The Montanan is both humbled and exalted
by this blazing glory filling his world, yet so quickly
dead; he cannot but marvel that such a puny creature
as he should be privileged to stand there unharmed,
and watch." ~ A. B. Guthrie, Jr.
rolls out like an immense tawny carpet cut by deep
coulees, bone dry arroyos, and wind-sculpted sandstone formations all the way to the Dakota line.
Balanced equally against the innate harshness
and unforgiving qualities of the Big Dry is the land
itself, it's immense hidden beauty, quiet solitude,
occasional grandeur and unequaled sense of open
space. The Big Dry is a geography born of old oceans
coming and going as geologic time ticked by. For
the aspiring artist colors—red, yellow, cream and a
hundred shades of brown—layer like the pages of
a book. In places like Makoshika, Terry Badlands
Medicine Rocks, Warrior Trail, Bighorn Canyon,
Sand Arroyo and the sacred Sweet Grass Hills further
north a striking beauty reveals itself juxtaposed by
the unfolding of a relentless human story.
w w w. d i s t i n c t ly mo nt a na .co m
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