High Country News

Resurrecting J. Thomas

The crumbling remains of a man named J. Thomas have a story to tell about life and death in the northern Colorado in the 1870s

by Laura Pritchett, Mar 20, 2006
Let me tell you about a real winter

A Wyoming rancher remembers the winter of 1979 -- what it was like tending cattle at 52 below zero.

by Mary Flitner, Feb 20, 2011
Room for everyone

A "hodgepodge of humanity" visits Mojave desert hot springs -- and there's room enough for all.

by Brad Monsma, Dec 05, 2010
Just another giddyup

The New Mexico Gay Rodeo Association’s Zia Rodeo brings out all kinds of cowboys and cowgirls

by Laura Paskus, Oct 30, 2006
Elementary, my dear cowpuncher

In Steve Hockensmith’s historical mystery, Holmes on the Range, Montana cowboys inspired by the Sherlock Holmes stories try their hand at solving a murder

by Erica Olsen, Nov 13, 2006
The movie-magic West rides again

If you want to see the Old West live again, drop by a ranch and offer to help with the springtime cattle branding.

by Mary Flitner, May 28, 2009
The Rise of the Minotaur

Bull riding explodes from its rural Western roots to become a modern spectacle along the lines of NASCAR.

by Craig Childs, May 18, 2009
In hunting camp, the closet is closed

A "gay, wolf-loving, tree-hugging former Marine" writes about Brokeback Mountain, elk hunting, and his own lifelong experience with shame and prejudice

by David Stalling, Mar 06, 2006
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
Down — but far from out — in Drummond

In Drummond: Ranch Life in the West, Jill Brody uses photographs and interviews to paint a vivid portrait of life in a hardscrabble Montana ranching town

by Betsy Marston, May 02, 2005