High Country News

A second chance at love: A review of Liberty Lanes

Liberty Lanes, Robin Troy's second novel, tracks the lives of a group of senior citizens in a small Montana town.

by Phyllis Barber, Jan 22, 2012
Boom! Boom!

An energy boom of unprecedented proportions is transforming western Colorado towns like Rifle, which just recently recovered from the last big energy boom – and a catastrophic bust.

by Francisco Tharp, May 12, 2008
Bootstrapping in Roundup

When the Musselshell River flooded Roundup, Mont., it did damage to everything but the townsfolk's indomitable spirit.

by Wendy Beye, Aug 04, 2011
Coffee with the ladies

Rancher Mary Flitner visits with some female bovine friends before going off to have coffee with the human ladies of Shell, Wyo.

by Mary Flitner, May 05, 2008
Coming home to a Montana town

Karen Brichoux’s pensive new novel, The Girl She Left Behind, recounts the challenges faced by a young woman on her return to a small Montana town

by Sarah R. Craig, Dec 12, 2005
Ego gates get my goat — and that's just the beginning

Why do newcomers to the West need to build such obnoxious entrance gates to their brand-new ranchettes?

by Linda M. Hasselstrom, May 30, 2005
How a small town resembles Facebook

Small towns and Facebook have a lot in common: Both are communities that thrive on gossip and sometimes display old-fashioned neighborliness.

by John Clayton, Jul 14, 2009
Libby is not what you think

Libby, Mont., has known more tragedy than most small towns could ever imagine, and yet it remains a wonderful place to live.

by Moira Blazi, Oct 01, 2009
Mapping the Hi-Line: A review of Honyocker Dreams

Writer David Mogen sets out to understand his childhood and his rural ancestors, who lived along Montana’s Hi-Line, just below the Canadian border.

by Andrea Clark Mason, Oct 30, 2011
Photojournalist Lisa Hamilton explores rural California

For her project, Real Rural, photojournalist Lisa Hamilton traveled throughout California, interviewing and photographing scores of rural people.

by Danielle Venton , Feb 19, 2012