Literary Heritage

A river of stories runs through Park County. Long before the current wave of writers arrived here, before Tom McGuane acquired the Raw Deal Ranch, before a movie based on Norman Maclean’s memoirs lured literary anglers to Montana’s trout streams, our home place had a literary tradition. The land spoke first. The mountains, moraines and braided riverbanks convey an ancient narrative of shifting rock, volcanoes and glaciers that surged down from the Yellowstone plateau and carved out Paradise Valley. Native Americans, who hunted the herds of bison and elk that came to graze on the rich bottomland, filled the valley with the sound of drum circles and storytelling. The Apsaalooke (or Crow) people called the wild waters flowing north and east through their territory the Elk River. The first European trappers went home with their own stories about the strange highlands to the south; of geysers, boiling mud pits and buff-colored canyons. They gave the land and the river another name: Yellowstone. What became Park County is mentioned in William Clark’s journals, and in the plaintive letters home from cowboys and prospectors who followed cattle and gold into Paradise Valley. During the mid-to-late 19th century, the U.S. Army pushed out the Crow and other tribes; Yellowstone was made into the world’s first national park; and the railroad arrived, bringing settlers, merchants and tourists who created their own myths and stories.

By the time Montana was dubbed “The Last Best Place” by Bill Kittredge and Annick Smith, the state had nurtured an impressive batch of writers, including Wallace Stegner, A.B. Guthrie Jr., Ivan Doig, Donald McCaig, Dorothy Johnson (“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”), James Welch, James Crumley — many of them centered around the University of Montana in Missoula. Park County had its own mystique. Tom McGuane arrived in 1968 looking for the right combination of great fishing, cheap property, and colorful watering holes. He found his sweet spot in the mountains and streams of Park County, where the trout were plentiful and 24-hour saloons served whiskey ditches to ranch women and long neck beers to cowboys, railroad workers, and hippies, touching off some epic brawls in the streets of Livingston. McGuane set a number of his novels and short stories in places that sounded a lot like Livingston (AKA Deadrock). Jim Harrison, McGuane’s buddy, visited him in Park County and eventually settled here. Other writers followed McGuane, including Richard Brautigan, William “Gatz” Hjortsberg, and Russell Chatham — charter members in what became known as the Montana Gang. An assortment of actors joined in — Peter Fonda, Jeff Bridges, Warren Oates, and Margot Kidder — which only added to the creative aura. The next wave of writers and artists to roll in included Tim Cahill, Richard Wheeler, Toby Thompson, Walter Kirn, Amanda Fortini, Maryanne Vollers, Thomas Goltz, John Taliaferro, Todd Goddard, Doug and Andrea Peacock, Rich Hall, John Lowell, John Mayer and Michael Keaton. Jamie Harrison carries on Park County’s literary tradition along with nonfiction writer and editor Scott McMillion, who has the distinction of being actually born here. We have a deep bench of poets, as well, including Marc Beaudin,Tessa Moeckel, Max Hjortsberg, Yetta Stein and Michael Earl Craig, who embodies the self-reliant spirit of Park County writers, listing his occupation as poet/farrier.

Elk River Arts & Lectures aims to keep the words flowing to honor our heritage while inspiring a new generation of writers. Circling back to the first traditions, we inaugurated a series of storytelling events for teens and adults. We inspire creativity in elementary school students through our Poetry In the Classroom program. We’ve designed our Lecture Series and Writers Workshop to introduce Park County residents of all ages to a dazzling variety of voices from around the country. And we have much more planned for the future – so watch this space as ERAL finds new ways to strengthen our community and find connection through the allure of literature.