Taming Big Sky Country

Taming Big Sky Country
Author: Jon Axline
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2015-03-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1625853653

Drives this breathtaking did not come easy. Cruising down Montana's scenic highways, it's easy to forget that traveling from here to there once was a genuine adventure. The state's major routes evolved from ancient Native American trails into four-lane expressways in a little over a century. That story is one of difficult, groundbreaking and sometimes poor engineering decisions, as well as a desire to make a journey faster, safer and more comfortable. It all started in 1860, when John Mullan hacked a wagon road over the formidable Rocky Mountains to Fort Benton. It continued until the last section of interstate highway opened to traffic in 1988. Montana Department of Transportation historian Jon Axline charts a road trip through the colorful and inspiring history of trails, roads and superhighways in Big Sky Country.

Taming Big Sky Country

Taming Big Sky Country
Author: Jon Axline
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2015
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1626198527

Drives this breathtaking did not come easy. Cruising down Montana's scenic highways, it's easy to forget that traveling from here to there once was a genuine adventure. The state's major routes evolved from ancient Native American trails into four-lane expressways in a little over a century. That story is one of difficult, ground-breaking and sometimes wrong engineering decisions, as well as a desire to make a journey faster, safer and more comfortable. It all started in 1860 when John Mullan hacked a wagon road over the formidable Rocky Mountains to Fort Benton. It continued until the last section of interstate highway opened to traffic in 1988. Montana Department of Transportation historian Jon Axline charts a road trip through the colorful and inspiring history of trails, roads and superhighways in Big Sky Country.

Detour Montana

Detour Montana
Author: Jon Axline
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 173
Release: 2024-06-24
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1540262421

Traveling through Time While Montana's roadside historical markers give motorists an introduction to the state's colorful history, there's much more to explore. Priests Pass and Helena's Morelli Bridge were displays of ambition and fortitude. Conversely, the story The Black and White Trail represents the folly of one Doc Siegfriedt. Once thriving and strategically located along rails and roads, the towns of Beaverton and Taft are lost to history. While striking geological features like Tower Rock and picturesque byways like Harding Way are enduring vistas. Historian Jon Axline takes readers along the aboriginal trails, territorial roads, historic bridges and fascinating stopping points connected to Montana's lively and exciting transportation history.

Hidden History of Helena, Montana

Hidden History of Helena, Montana
Author: Ellen Baumler and Jon Axline
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2019
Genre: History
ISBN: 1467144010

Distinguished by statesmen and magnates, Helena's history is colored with many other compelling characters and episodes nearly lost to time. Before achieving eminence in Deadwood, Sheriff Seth Bullock oversaw Montana Territory's first two legal hangings. The Seven Mile House was an oasis of vice for the parched, weary travelers entering the valley on the Benton Road, despite a tumultuous succession of ownership. The heritage of the Sieban Ranch and the saga of "King Kong" Clayton, "the Joe Louis of the Mat," faded from public memory. From unraveling the myths of Chinatown to detailing the lives of red-light businesswomen and the Canyon Ferry flying saucer hoax, revered local historians Ellen Baumler and Jon Axline team up to preserve a compendium of Helena's yesteryear.

Montana Highway Tales

Montana Highway Tales
Author: Jon Axline
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2021-06-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 1439672725

Much of Montana's exciting history is visible from its storied highways. Visit a segment of the historic Bozeman Trail overlooking Virginia City, where vigilantes hanged public nuisance Joseph Alfred Slade just as his wife attempted a horseback rescue. Discover the saga of adultery, attempted murder and eventual triumph that occurred at a single stone building in the Browns Gulch area of Butte. On Highway 308 east of Red Lodge, learn more about the tragic 1943 Smith Mine disaster, where a methane explosion trapped and killed seventy-three miners. The catastrophe triggered investigations at the state and national level that resulted in improvements in mine safety. With more than two dozen stories, historian Jon Axline provides a front-seat view of the Treasure State's thrilling past, forgotten characters and overlooked oddities found by the wayside.

The Beartooth Highway: A History of America’s Most Beautiful Drive

The Beartooth Highway: A History of America’s Most Beautiful Drive
Author: Jon Axline
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 137
Release: 2016-08-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1439657130

Traversing the spectacular Beartooth Highway in Montana and Wyoming is an unforgettable experience. The unspoiled mountain scenery along the highway inspired famed news correspondent Charles Kuralt to label it "America's most beautiful drive," yet the story behind this engineering marvel is largely unknown. It is an epic account of man versus nature to construct a road through unforgiving wilderness. Built during the height of the Great Depression and rising 10,947 feet above sea level, the Beartooth Highway sparked an economic boom in Red Lodge, Cooke City and Yellowstone National Park. Understandably, it continues to leave a profound impression on people privileged to drive it. Historian Jon Axline tells the exciting and colorful narrative behind the origins and construction of the Beartooth Highway.

Shakespeare in Montana

Shakespeare in Montana
Author: Gretchen E. Minton
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2020-05-15
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0826361579

Tracing more than two centuries of history, Shakespeare in Montana uncovers a vast array of different voices that capture the state’s love affair with the world’s most famous writer. From mountain men, pioneers, and itinerant acting companies in mining camps to women’s clubs at the turn of the twentieth century and the contemporary popularity of Shakespeare in the Parks throughout Montana, the book chronicles the stories of residents across this incredible western state who have been attracted to the words and works of Shakespeare. Minton explores this unique relationship found in the Treasure State and provides considerable insight into the myriad places and times in which Shakespeare’s words have been heard and discussed. By revealing what Shakespeare has meant to the people of Montana, Minton offers us a better understanding of the state’s citizens and history while providing a key perspective on Shakespeare’s enduring global influence.

Conveniences Sorely Needed

Conveniences Sorely Needed
Author: Jon Axline
Publisher: Montana Historical Society
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780972152266

Although fast-disappearing, Montana's historic bridges are an integral and often overlooked part of Montana's landscape. This book tells the stories of those bridges and how they shaped the development of the Treasure State from the early horse-and-buggy days to the car culture of the post-World War II era.

People of the Big Sky Country

People of the Big Sky Country
Author: Coralie Rees
Publisher: North Sydney : Ure Smith
Total Pages: 216
Release: 1970
Genre: Travel
ISBN:

Collection of sketches of places & people visited (some reproduced from earlier publications); includes brief references to Aborigines throughout; Derby Leprosarium, meeting with Albert Namatjira, Ernabella mission, Central Australia corroboree, legends of Ayers Rock, Goulburn Island Mission, Torres Strait pearling industry.

Big Sky Country

Big Sky Country
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 184
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN:

The rugged mountains and pristine valleys of the Northern Rockies are captured in Michael Melford's photographs - landscapes of power and beauty that evoke a sense of wonder at the infinite variety of nature that can never be fully explored or understood. Included are famous natural landmarks - Craters of the Moon in Idaho, St. Mary's Lake in Glacier National Park, Devil's Tower in Wyoming, and, of course, Old Faithful - as well as the simple structures of the plains - churches, barns, and school houses - that speak to life in the Far West. In the introduction William Kittredge describes the realities of life in Montana, a place he chose in his search for "a genuine world to inhabit".