Montana Fixer-upper Revisited

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Dwight Lutsey

To celebrate our 500th post on BigShotsNow we are republishing some of our more popular posts. This post first appeared on April 4th 2013. If you have any suggestions of previous posts you’d like to see again drop a note to dlutsey@enchantedpixels.com and we’ll try and honor that request.

Once upon a time while driving the back roads of Montana I happened to find this abandoned ranch. Apparently it had once been a pretty big deal. There is a substantial house and sheds and a great barn and it is situated near Red Rock lake so there is a lot of water for stock but it has been unused and peopleless for quite some time. I can’t believe someone would just walk off from a place like this, unless it was because the winters are 13 months long and the wind occasionally blows across these high prairies, and what could be the deal breaker for some is there is no internet, I checked, absolutely none.

The house had been added on to at least a couple of times. Was it to hold a large extended family or perhaps a big crew or maybe who ever lived here just wanted an early ranch mansion. This would have been a mighty house for the times. Right now the roof needs a little work and that window needs caulked (as they say out here). But you can see the possibilities.

One area of concern is the barn. That fence is going to need some attention before long and some one will have to address the door issues. There is no way that place will hold animals during a storm if you can’t shut the doors tight. It looks to me like it could get expensive taking care of some of these minor problems. You will need to be handy to live up here.

But then you ‘ve got to consider the views. This is a considerable view by anyone’s standards. Montana is called the Big Sky country and there is a lot of sky up here. I mean it completely fills the entire space above your head and then some. If you’re the type that likes to have neighbors around you may want to rethink your relocation. I drove for a long time and never saw another person. In fact I don’t think many people live out here at all. But if you’re the adventurous type and don’t mind a few inconveniences this could be the perfect place for you. So if you’re interested and want to check it out just go to Yellowstone and turn left, drive for quite awhile then turn right and look for Red Rock lake and there it is. I’d give you the realtors name but their sign was all shot full of holes and I couldn’t make it out.

A Night in Cape Disappointment

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Dwight Lutsey

As usual every Friday we try and present you with some weekend options. Sometimes it’s a fun suggestion like “OK, let’s go to Mars and stay in a Wickiup.” Other times it may be a more cautionary suggestion as in ” Listen, Really, Don’t eat that worm in the bottom of that bottle.” Or simply something along the lines of “Hey Bozo, Get off that couch and go do something. Whataya doing hanging around the house..” but we always try and help you get through the weekend..

Today we’d like to offer you the option of taking a nice quiet couple of days to yourself or with any one you may choose to share it with, so fire up the Gulfstream G600 and head for the Washington Coast. When you get there head for Cape Disappointment State park ( note: Call ahead to see if their jet pads are available. They fill up fast on the weekends.) and get ready for one of the most relaxing times you can have. Only a small dune separates you from one of the largest oceans on earth but don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of space to call your own while you’re there.

If your concierge is worth his salt he’ll have your Lamborghini Urus SUV waiting at your campsite for a little moonlight off-roading. Imagine the relaxation you and that special person will feel as you move down the shore line at a stately 170 mph., racing along the edge of the sea with your moon roof open, chasing the glint of the last rays of the sunset as it sparkles and highlights the outlines of the incoming waves. You could be scattering the seabirds with the wild abandon you haven’t felt since you last schussed down the east side of Everest.

While you were out chasing the stars your porters, another service provided by your campsite hosts, have been erecting your luxury, Ralph Loren outfitted Teepee, imported directly from the Crow Nation in Montana. Rest those weary bones after a scrumptious meal of the finest fresh caught sea food money can buy. Then recline on your double-king size bed complete with freshly tanned Elk skin throws while you watch the game on your 105″ thin-screen TV.

But before you turn in, make sure you head for the beach to gaze upon a very, very special treat. Your campsite hosts have fired up their art deco completely retro-fitted lighthouse with the magic spinning glass beacon, which casts its beams of boat-saving light out across your very own ocean, just as in the days of yore. All of this just for your viewing pleasure. What could be more romantic than that?

Well there you have it. It’s all there, waiting for you right now, all you have to do is throw a few things in the bag and hit the steps. Don’t be a couch lizard this weekend when you can go out, have some fun, spend that IRA that has just sitting there waiting for some attention, and have a nice little weekend. What are you waiting for?

Light In The Meadow

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Dwight Lutsey

After a mind-clearing journey of over 4000 miles through the Pacific Northwest and Canada I’m back in the Director’s chair here at the Institute. One of the largest conclusions I have come to is that there is an incredible amount of green out there in the Pacific Northwest. Everything is green, from the mighty trees that grow right down to the ocean’s edge to the green eggs and ham I got at a local eatery, it’s green. Many, many shades of green, almost too many if one were forced to make a judgment about it. I like green. Don’t get me wrong, it’s one of my favorite colors, but I had never been inside a green explosion before and it took some getting used to.

The trip was fantastic. The Bokeh Maru seemed to respond to the lighter touch of just one person at the helm instead of the four-hour watch routine we had on our Montana adventure where almost all of the crew took their turns at the wheel. Consequently she performed flawlessly. No hesitation, no refusal to go a where ever I directed her and she seemed to enjoy the new scenery as much as I did. I even began to suspect she may have been there before but being a gentleman I didn’t ask. A lady must have her secrets.

There were new things to see nearly every minute of the day and it was pure bliss to camp next to the ocean with only a small sand dune separating us from the ability to turn left and head for Japan. The waves were relentless and the sound of the rain on the roof during the night was mesmerizing. As a treat I let the Bokeh Maru wet her wheels in the incoming tide and you could hear her squealing in delight as the salt water washed the remnants of the long road trip from her undercarriage. After we left I watched her closely so that she didn’t surreptitiously try and turn back to the sea.

We traveled through the Columbia gorge, then along the seacoast of Oregon and Washington using the famous highway 101 until we could go no further then loaded on to a car ferry aptly named the USS Scratch and Dump to go to Vancouver Island in Canada. Upon entry I had a chance to visit with the charming and polite customs official who was most interested in whether I had a gun aboard, or owned a gun which might not be aboard, and whether I kept guns in my home here in the USA. An interesting question asked was whether I supported the right to own guns. I answered all the questions as truthfully as I could with, No, No, No, and Hell yes. I t was enough to get me into the sovereign country of Canada but not without some suspicious looks as I slowly eased onto Canadian soil. I was asked about the gun thing by Canadians at several of the campgrounds I stayed in while in Canada. It something that our Canadian friends seemed to be very interested in.

I took a whale watching boat out to see if we could locate Orcas or Killer whales as the more bloodthirsty among us like to call them and we did, plus Humpback whales and a rare white-sided dolphin that had the boat crew all excited. Apparently seeing one of them was akin to seeing a white buffalo here.

I also took the opportunity of making a surprise visit to the new managers of the eastern Oregon satellite office of the Institute. Things are progressing somewhat slowly there as far as the remodeling and refurbishment of the old site goes, but I was assured that as soon as Spring hit they would begin the transformation in earnest. Meanwhile I was fed and watered as one of the family and soon forgot why I had even stopped there in the first place. I even had to stay a second day after the promise of a meal of free-range, fresh cooked fish, Steelhead or it might have been Halibut, that had been swimming freely in the river moments before. I even tried the old trick of feinting extreme malnutrition by sucking my cheeks in and holding a pillow in front of my less than svelte stomach, hoping to get more food the next day but although my new management team lives in a backwater of the Wallowa valley they are smart enough to quickly catch on to my ruse and went out for cigarettes and didn’t return until they saw the end of the Bokeh Maru turn on to the highway. Disappointed but impressed with their ability to spot a flim-flam man I headed back towards Colorado.

We, The Bokeh Maru and I, had been out for nearly three weeks and it was time to get back to work. Before that work could commence however I had to change the color palette in my head from the greens and greys of the Northwest and replace it with the local one so that I was reoriented again. That a meant a quick trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park to firmly plant the yellows and reds and gold that was the aspens and meadows of Fall back in the front of my mind.

The image above is the late afternoon sun streaming through the aspen grove at the edge of Moraine meadow. It was enough to get my mind right again. As time goes by I will be posting images from the trip to the Northwest with the usual accompanying stories that a few of you find interesting. The rest of you that simply look at the pictures then go do something interesting will also not be forgotten as I try and post something to stimulate your attention span. It’s good to be back.

A quick note. As this is a busy time of year for me with the fall color change and the rut happening I will be not be posting every day until I’m home and winter has me locked in. So although I will try my best to get posts out there I will be gone several more times as I try and get the photography done while the opportunity presents itself. Thanks to all of you who patiently put up with my inconsistencies. I will make sure all of you get entered in my will.

Captive Beauty: Grey Wolf

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Dwight Lutsey

For those of you wanting to see a slavering, vicious, cold-hearted killing machine I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed. What we have here instead is a highly-intelligent, extremely social member of the grey wolf pack at the Grizzly and Wolf sanctuary in West Yellowstone, Montana.

This is a captive pack made up of individuals who for one reason or another cannot be returned to the wild. They’re kept in a large enclosure that as accurately represents the environment that they would be in if they were in the wild, as possible. Except for the fence that is. But in providing for these animals some compromises are made. It’s always a give and take deal in a situation like this. It would be nice if there were no fences but these are not domesticated animals and some things, like fences, are necessary for the well-being of both sides of the equation.

As I’ve noted before, my agenda here, if you want to call it that, is not to debate animals in captivity, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent, but to present those animals in a way that shows their strengths and character as well as their beauty. Which is why these posts are always titled “Captive Beauty.” And they are beautiful. When you view this wolf all you see is pure unadulterated wolf. No hidden additives, no tricks, no phoniness, just wolf. Look at the expression on its face. This guy enjoys being a wolf.

If you’re new to the blog or just want to see past posts of other captive beauties, just enter Captive Beauty into the search box at the top of the page and check them out.

2014 Crow Nation Fair and Rodeo Day 5 The Camp

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Dwight Lutsey

This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

This is a brief look at the camp. It isn’t every day one gets the opportunity to explore a gathering of over a thousand teepees and the people who occupy them. As dawn broke and the sun started its journey through the sky it was still very quiet. After a night where dancing and singing lasted into the early morning hours everyone was still asleep. Occasionally you could hear the nickering of a horse tied near one of the lodges and soon the answering call from another across the camp. There was an absence of camp dogs, although some people had brought pets there didn’t seem to be any free ranging dogs running about the camp to raise the alarm that there was a stranger among them.

The images selected below are from dawn through mid-day and into the evening. The camp stretched for nearly three miles along the Little Bighorn river. Some of the lodges were set up very near each other forming a densely packed small town near the very center of the camp. This is where the Arbor is and where all the festivities took place, the dancing and the singing, the presentation of honors and any other important event, and was central to all the festivities. As you walked through the camp the lodges began to be spaced wider apart where small family groups set their teepees up together, and as you got farther away from the center of the camp you would find the occasional single lodge set up amongst the trees or out into the grasslands surrounding the camp.

The sun is just beginning its daily voyage and as it rises it begins to illuminate the lodges. It is very quiet and still now. My foot steps are the loudest noise you hear and I’m trying to be very quiet.

It’s about 5:30 in the morning and the birds are just waking up. You can hear the horses shuffling about. They know the day has started.

Those with stock penned near their lodges have already been up and started the feeding.

Still and quiet these horsed are taking the opportunity to relax. It’s going to a busy day.

Always walk facing the traffic. There were several ponies roaming free around the camp. At least as long as the kids were still in bed. As soon as the kids were up these ponies would be commandeered by any of them that could catch them and ridden all day long.

Prairie grass and teepees. With all the people here and the constant coming and going you would think you wouldn’t find any grass still standing but the areas around the lodges and the camp in general were surrounded by the natural state of things. Maybe after a summer here things would look different but right now the effects of the camp were minimal.

It’s getting on towards mid-morning. The sun is rising higher in the sky and it is starting to warm up.

One of the outlying lodges is highlighted by the sun. Their horses are tethered in the high grass which was belly high. They are sleek, beautiful looking animals.

These are larger than normal lodges for families and gatherings of many people. There is a method to setting these lodges up. I was given a class by a wonderful family on how a teepee was erected. Every step has meaning and purpose but is rooted in practicality. These lodges can be set up in a very short period of time and taken down just as fast.

As you get further away from the camp center the teepees are set up for easy access. There are lanes and even small roads created by the placement of the lodges. The closeness of the lodges to each other usually means there is a family group or close friends staying here. Then there will be a space and the next family sets up. It all seems to work very well.

Late morning and near noon. Those living further out from the camp center have started getting ready for the afternoons dancing and are traveling towards the Arbor to begin the gathering.

A family in full regalia. If it weren’t for the pickups and cars in the background what year would this be.

I was invited into this courtyard to see part of the dance regalia being preparing for the afternoons festivities. The young man explaining its purpose to me was nervous as this was his first time dancing at an event like this. He wanted everything perfect.

One of the outlying camps. there were many of these wall tents used along with the teepees. Perhaps these were liberated from the soldiers they fought in the old days.

This is a selfie. The Bokeh Maru refused to start unless I took her picture and promised I’d include it in the posting. She is so vain.

Mid-afternoon. It’s hot now, in the high 90’s and it feels good to ride fast and let the wind blow through your hair.

Half the kids in camp were spending the afternoon swimming and playing in the Little Bighorn. This long easy bend made a perfect swimming hole. Every once in a while the older kids would ride their horses through the water scattering the others like leaves being blown by the wind. Out of frame there were several adults sitting up on the bank in the shade, supervising the activities.

This is an overview of the camp taken from a small knoll that was the highest point around the camp. You can see how far the camp stretches. About two miles or so from the left side of the picture is the site of the Battlefield of the Little Bighorn monument and immediately to the right of the image is the town of Crow Agency, Montana. Down through all the cottonwoods flows the Little Bighorn. This must have been similar to the sight the members of the 7th had that bad day very long ago.

This is the countryside just a short way East from the camp. You can see clear into the last century if you look close enough.

Very few of the lodges were decorated but when they were they were striking. Behind the lodges is the knoll where you can see the entire encampment spread out below. The Bokeh Maru was hesitant to make the climb up to it but when I brought the word ‘shame’ into the conversation she immediately made the ascent and then acted like “What was the big deal? No problem.”

Late afternoon and the shadows are beginning to creep into this camp. There are horses tied to the left of the tent and they’re whickering, wondering why they weren’t at the center of things.

It is very nearly night now. The sun is heading down to the horizon and darkness is about to overtake the camp once again. There are no streetlights in an Indian camp so you need to fire up your night vision if you’re going to get around. I noticed many of the residents utilized flashlights to augment their night vision but of course I had left mine in the Bokeh Maru and she was several miles away. But then by depending on the kindness of strangers I was able to get back to the center of camp and soon the comforting 12 volt lights of the Bokeh Maru.

It is full night now and darkness is complete. The sun is gone for the day and there isn’t the hint of a moon. The lodges are being lit by the glow of campfires and in some cases the hissing and flickering of a Coleman lantern. You can hear quiet conversations being spoken, some of which were in the people’s native tongue. You couldn’t understand what was being said but it seemed normal and right to hear it. In the background was the constant beating of the drums and some of the high-pitched singing coming from the Arbor. It was an eerie and alien sound at first, especially in the inky blackness of the night, but as you adapted to its cadence it soon became the only background sound that should be here. As you looked about and saw the lodge poles silhouetted against the dark sky and saw the comforting yellow light against the lodges this all seemed perfect. There was no music being played from a radio or TV, just the sound of their culture resonating through the camp. It was the only soundtrack that was needed.

2014 Crow Nation Fair and Rodeo Day 1

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Dwight Lutsey

An incredible event takes place on the third week-end of August at Crow Agency, Montana. Just a couple of miles from site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn where Custer and his men met their ends, literally thousands of Indians from various tribes but primarily Crows, put on a Fair and Rodeo. The event is not connected to the battle, in fact I didn’t even hear it mentioned in any of the activities. The purpose is for fellowship, gathering, displaying their lodges or teepees, and celebrating their culture.

The event is also known as the World’s Largest Gathering of teepees in one place, and Crow Agency is known as the Teepee Capitol of the World. This weekend there were over 1000 teepees set up along the Little Bighorn river stretching for close to three miles. That was not a typo. There were over 1000 lodges erected. I walked among them early one morning for nearly an hour from one end to the other and still didn’t cover it all. In places they were packed so tightly together you couldn’t walk between them. In other places you would find a solitary teepee nestled in among the trees, or set up alone out in the grasslands that surround the river.

Surprisingly, to me anyway, there were very few decorated lodges. The majority were made of the plain white canvas you see everywhere. That didn’t affect the impression made by seeing so many together however. At times, during sunrise or sunset, the canvas would take on some of the colors of the sky and were wonderful to see in their own rights.

Another unexpected impression was seeing the number of cars and pickup trucks surrounding each lodge. My first impression was it looked like a parking lot where the parkers were all drunk, with the vehicles being parked haphazardly around each lodge. I suppose I went there with certain expectations, fostered by scenes from Dancing With Wolves and other movies, of the way an Indian camp should look. A romanticized impression that had no basis in fact in the modern Indian world. As I came to terms with the reality versus the movie version of camp life I started to realize the cars and trucks were the modern equivalent of horses tied to the front of each lodge. It was simply these horses had four wheels instead of four feet. After a bit it began to seem normal to see them parked there. I do have to admit though that it made me feel good to see the occasional horse tied in front of a lodge. Adapting to facts doesn’t take the romanticism out of the romantic.

The other surprise, and it shouldn’t be a surprise at all, was the incredible friendliness of the Crow people. I didn’t and don’t have any prejudice for Indians, I just had never spent any time amongst a large group of them. They have a different culture, a culture that dovetails with the rest of modern American culture but is strikingly different in some aspects. I never felt like I had entered an alien place even though there were times I didn’t understand the language being spoken, or the reason for some of their traditions. Every person I approached with a question or comments was more than ready to help.

I was lost one time, turned around in the maze of teepees and narrow little lanes, where the passing pickup trucks narrowly missed running over the stakes used to secure the lodges to the ground, (yes, even the Director of one of the largest Institutes in the scientific-speaking world gets disoriented sometimes) and approached a group of serious looking young fellows standing there smoking and watching the chaotic life going on around them. If you had seen this group of young men standing around in a back alley in some city I seriously doubt whether you would have approached them. I asked them where I was and how did I get back to the center of camp where all the dancing was going on. It was getting dark, making the maze I was in even more confusing, and their directions were not very clear. The guys were laughing and teasing me about being lost but in a good-natured way, when one of them decided what I needed was, in his words, an Indian guide to get me back to civilization. A really nice kid walked back with me to the center of the camp where I regained my bearings. He said he was getting ready to go off to college and was a little worried about how all that was going to work but looking forward to it none the less. I wished him well, we shook hands and that was that. It left me with a different perspective about these young people, Crow or other wise, who with all the markings of the modern world, tattoos, piercings, superficial attitudes, were still just young kids worried about life and how to get through it.

There was an incredible amount of activities going on the entire weekend. It was kind of like an Indian Las Vegas, where many of them never seemed to sleep. Dancing went on throughout the night, and when they weren’t dancing they were partying. Being well past the point where I found that interesting or fun I was glad I had the Bokeh Maru to return to for a much-needed break from the festivities. I’ll be posting more on the Crow Fair and Rodeo over the next couple of days. Stay tuned.

Announcement !

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Dwight Lutsey

We’ve had Dozens upon dozens of people writing in asking, well one anyway, but she wrote in big block letters so it seemed like more, where the blog was. What the hell were we doing? Why haven’t we written, why haven’t we called. It seems that there are some of you out there that actually read the blog and notice when we’re not there. That is daunting and a little scary. Sometimes when I’m sitting up here in the Directors chair, high in the tower overlooking the Institute grounds, not aloof and distant but pampered a little, writing and sending it out into the ozone I forget that there may be actual people out there that read this stuff. Don’t you guys have to go to work? Anyway, Thank You for spending your valuable time with me.

Last Friday as I was working on future posts a small announcement made its way across my computer screen notifying us that The Crow Nation was having the largest gathering of teepees or lodges in the world. The announcement stated that there were to be somewhere between 1000 and 1500 hundred teepees ( that is not a typo) set up along the Little Bighorn river for an Indian Fair and Rodeo at Crow Agency, Montana. The Indians I spoke to thought there were over 1000 but not the 1500 lodges they anticipated being there. Still when was the last time you’ve seen 1000 teepees set up together in one place?

So using the same strategy we always use here at The Institute in planning our expeditions, where we spend an incredible amount of time in researching our destination, gathering the necessary information about logistics, conditions, possibilities, supplies, equipment, staff needed, risks, potentialities, and expected results, I grabbed a few skivvies and my camera gear and threw them in the Bokeh Maru. Twenty minutes after seeing the notice the 2014 Expedition to the Crow Nation was underway.

No extra staff, just me, the Bokeh Maru and the Crow Nation. Eight hours later I was up there, standing on a ridge above the camp staring at the thousand plus teepees stretching out along the Little Bighorn river. I must admit I had a momentary inkling of the feeling that the members of the 7th must have had June 25, 1876. That is a lot of Indians in one place. Fortunately you should not have any apprehension at all. You cannot understand what wonderful, gracious, friendly people the Crow tribe are until you go there and meet them. It was an incredibly interesting and rewarding weekend. I will relate more to you over the next few days and show some of the images from this amazing event.

It is becoming a pattern that up in that part of the country the services that we take for granted down here, and I’m talking internet access mostly, are not as well established as we have in the more crowded part of the country. Consequently finding access is more difficult and I’m always quick to say the hell with it and take in the experience instead, and posting later. Look as you may it’s hard to find an electrical outlet on a horse, and believe me I’ve tried. Then I realized that my new Crow friends were just having a little joke at my expense telling me they had their horses outfitted with AC receptacles, the better to stay connected. The Crow seem to love to laugh. Fortunately I was able to provide them with endless amusement.

So that’s where we’ve been and I intend on going back there next year and maybe setting up a remote site of The Institute, fully staffed, with satellite feed and regular coverage by our trained reporters, having our chef cook regular food, not that corn dogs and frybread aren’t good but they leave a little bit to be desired as a regular diet, and also dancing classes so we might participate more fully. It should be a blast. In fact I might even ask for volunteers to go along and assist us. Anyone thinking about this might look at the postings of The Maiden Voyage of the Bokeh Maru we published not long ago, to get a feel for what the trip might actually be like. Give it some thought anyway.

BigShots Now

A conversation about Photography: Images and Commentary by Dwight Lutsey

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