Essays
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Gathering strength from the Continental Divide
A summer in the Rocky Mountains helps a child learn to stand up against the bullies in her life.
by Jane Koerner, Sep 13, 2012 -
Love and tomatoes -- a natural combination
Diamonds aren't always a girl's best friend; sometimes a fresh, ripe, local tomato is.
by Jeremy N. Smith, Aug 23, 2012 -
Of balloons, littering and birthday parties
When you're a curmudgeon in Nevada's high desert, you regard deflated, abandoned balloons as an especially vile form of trash – until it's your daughter's birthday party, and she "needs" to airlift some balloons.
by Michael Branch, Aug 05, 2012 -
In praise of ancient tree stumps
Snoqualmie, Wash., is scattered with giant stumps that tell the area's history -- except in a brand-new development, where such signs of "real" Western life have been removed.
by Becca Hall, Jul 22, 2012 -
Following Dad down the road
The author reminisces on an itinerant childhood and her family's travels up, down and across the country -- and how she now clings firmly to one place called home.
by Diane Sylvain, Jul 19, 2012 -
Tracking Ice Age people in Oregon
Craig Childs goes time-traveling in the buttes and basins of south-central Oregon, and ponders signs of early human occupation.
by Craig Childs, Jul 10, 2012 -
Shooting at The Gun Store in Las Vegas
Move over, Elvis impersonators, and step aside, blackjack. Machine gun rentals just may be the next big entertainment fix in Sin City.
by Marian Lyman Kirst, Jun 24, 2012 -
Learning a landscape by tracking its rivers
A newcomer to Montana tries to understand the state's place in the West by figuring where its rivers flow.
by Lauren Koshere, Jun 11, 2012 -
Dancing with wolverines
A wolverine snuffling at your throat commands your attention, even if you're in a relatively safe enclosure at a clandestine refuge for the animals.
by JoAnne Tompkins, Jun 08, 2012 -
Kayaking memories on the White Salmon River
Will all of a kayaker's memories of Washington's White Salmon River change once the river changes, now that Condit Dam is gone?
by Mike Barenti, May 24, 2012 -
Imaginary journeys on a rowing machine
When a writer buys a rowing machine, her 3-year-old daughter's enthusiasm turns exercise into an adventure as they imagine rowing to reach the island of Yap in Micronesia.
by Michelle Nijhuis, May 03, 2012 -
Could doing chores save the world?
While living at a remote commune in the wilds of New Mexico, author Emily Schosid learned what real sustainability means. And it’s not at all what you’d expect.
by Emily Schosid, Apr 08, 2012 -
Traveling Arizona Highways, in your dreams and on the ground
In 1960, an Illinois mailman falls in love with the desert through the pages of Arizona Highways and hands on his dream -- and a piece of Mohave County --to his son and grandson.
by Tony Fitzpatrick, Mar 29, 2012 -
Watching the weather in California
A Californian becomes a volunteer weather-spotter, in part to heal the memories of the storm that destroyed her house when she was a teenager.
by Cameron Walker, Mar 08, 2012 -
I don't love my dog
It's hard to love your dog when she keeps rolling in dead animals and bringing half-eaten deer parts into your formerly tranquil home.
by Laura Pritchett, Feb 24, 2012 -
Following the Oregon Trail, digitally and on foot
Following a childhood fascination with the computer game Oregon Trail, a young archaeologist meets the real thing during a rugged, exhausting Wyoming summer.
by Laura Herrington Watson, Feb 15, 2012 -
Residents of Montana's High Plains are angry - but not at the real threats
Though climate change and the economy are the issues threatening their livelihoods, many of the High Plains people are angry at almost everything else.
by Joe Wilkins, Feb 02, 2012 -
No matter how long you live in your small town, you'll never be a native
In the West's rural lands, you might think you're invisible, but the old-timers -- and their dogs -- know you are there.
by Craig Childs, Jan 12, 2012 -
What is that dead deer thinking about, and why is he hanging there?
A close encounter with a deer head on the wall of an inn leads to musings on death, immortality, ancient Egypt, Lenin and Trigger the Wonder Horse.
by Andy Seiple, Dec 22, 2011 -
Fighting the wind on a Montana camping trip
If you want to be driven crazy by the wind, try canoeing and camping on Montana's Marias River.
by Jeremy N. Smith, Nov 27, 2011
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