Distinctly Montana Magazine

" Our original intention was to live here for a few years and then re-locate the business to a more urban area, which we thought suited us better. But after living in Big Timber a few years, and finding out what was important in our lives – smaller community, great place to raise a family, excellent schools, volunteer areas of interest etc., when we tried to find a new place to live – we realized we already had exactly what we wanted right here in Big Timber. Big Timber is singularly unique and made up of a friendly, accomplished blend of artists, sportsman, craftsman, professionals, entrepreneurs, and, yes, even some real cowboys. TIM YUZEITIS CUSTOM SURVEY SOLUTIONS Where, indeed. When the business and service are both of quality, there are no distance barriers in today's world. Like Yuzeitis, Oregonian Jeff LaFlore, known locally as "The Beeman" runs a thriving hive business, harvesting 175,000 pounds annually of high grade honey. Down the road, the Indreland cattle operation produces some of the best grass-fed Angus beef in the country, and the Roe fam- ily is often off to places as far-flung as Whitefish or New Orleans where they excel at building and rehabbing Jack Nicklaus and other high-end golf courses. able to provide, but we have something for everyone! Our cost of living and doing business is lower than most larger areas as well. SWEET GRASS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. Businesses do "come and go" in Big Timber, as they do everywhere. Gone are many small town enterprises like the grocery and general stores of old, and newer businesses like Wheelsmith Fabrications, which was sold to a Milwaukee company in 2006. Barbara Van Cleve, an internationally accomplished photographer, whose works are sought after by collectors and museums, has seen these businesses come and go, though her own legacy, the nearby Lazy K ranch has been in her family since 1880. A lifetime of personal transi- tion and of living "off and on" in Big Timber has given her a unique perspective of loss and gain, of a Big Timber where life and business flourish, born of both desire and necessity. 68 " " " Having been raised in or near Big Timber I have always felt that for our size, Big Timber has a great variety of businesses and feel because of this we continue to prosper and attract more smaller businesses. Those businesses may not always have the se- lection that larger towns are CONNIE KUNDA, PRESIDENT, " Big Timber has changed completely over the years. We used to have a laundry and dry cleaning business, two clothing or mer- cantile stores, a five and dime (sundries) type of store, two drug stores, three grocery stores a creamery and numerous other busi- ness. Today we have far fewer small, storefront businesses; but the ones we do have seem stronger, and it seems like we continue to attract the kind of people who are still tough of spirit, willing to run both their businesses and lives in independent ways. BARBARA VAN CLEVE PHOTOGRAPHER Big Timber has often had fame rub up against it like a skittish horse. Both The River Runs Through It and The Horse Whisperer were filmed in the area, and the Discovery Channel has made much of life in the Boulder Valley. But such notoriety and prosperity is temporary and fleeting. What remains in the end is the deep and lasting beauty of Sweet Grass County, the sky-bending beauty of the Beartooth-Absaroka and Crazy mountain ranges, the hyp- notic draw of its rivers and streams…and the seemingly tireless enterprise of Big Timber and its area residents. It is hard to imagine a better place to prosper…or to just be alive. DISTINCTLY MONTANA • WINTER 2011 "

• Cover