So, got a question about Montana?
I grew up in Montana and have lived in Miles City, Glendive, Missoula, Billings and Helena. I travel all over the state. Want a good fishing access site? Vacation recommendatations? Hotels? Bars? Restaurants?
Why we kill buffalo?
Why I can’t kill buffalo?
How do prairies oysters taste?
The difference between a crick and a creek?
Why coyote only has two syllables?
Have you ever been to Havre?
Isn’t it a miserable little berg with a dying industrial base and absolutely nothing going for it?
(Check the Location field… :))
Have you ever been to Rockin’ Rudy’s in Missoula?
Yep, been to Havre. Never had time to do the “Havre Underground” tour, though I’ve heard it’s cool. Stayed at the Super 8, drank at Lucky Lil’s (sucked, but if you live in Montana you know what it’s like). Had a good supper at the Italian place.
Next time I’m up there and I have time I want to check out the buffalo jump behind the mall.
Usually, when I’m passing through Havre and heading for Helena I space out my left turn and head off for Cut Bank (where my boss ate an alligator tail last week).
Yep I liked it a little bit better in the old place, but since Helena lost all its only independent record store, I only buy music from Rockin Rudy’s.
They will do email or phone orders for a $2 shipping charge. I’d rather pay $2 extra than buy corporate. And corporate places can’t order in some of the same music as Rockin’ Rudy’s.
OK, I posted this in the closed duplicate thread, so now I’ll post it here:
Naah, I’m from Wyoming and I already know all that stuff.
I even know what a “whistlepig” is! 
Wyoming!? Where men are men and sheep are dirty little sluts? I had a friend from Wyoming and when they cloned Dolly he said that the best thing was that at least they cloned a good-looking one.
Had to do the joke.
Alright, alright, I’ll (ahem) bite:
(heckler from the back of the room) *How doooo prairie oysters taste? *
What do you do for a living?
What kind of car do you drive?
Do you wear cowboy boots?
How did the Tobacco Root Mountains get that name?
How come you pronounce Absaroka in that wierd way?
Why does the Boiling River swimming hole (near N. entrance to Yellowstone park) seem to be absent from all park literature?
Did they really stop making Spanish Peaks pale ale? (Couldn’t find it during this summer’s trip.)
Why so little fuss about the Beartooth Highway? (One of the most scenic roads in the US of A.)
Do you mind if I field the occasional question if I have something to add? 
Are there as many militia-types as the media would have us believe?
Will people in Butte shoot you if you make a “butt” joke?
Don’t bite.
Prairie oysters taste like either:
They are chewy, most people take three chews and swallow. What they taste like depends on where you eat them. I’ve ate them at brandings (castrations) when the contest was who could hold them over the fire the least and still eat them. If you order them in a restaurant, they are heavily breaded and are like chewy grizzards.
I’d rather have Blue Points any day. Plus, with prairie oysters you have to eat them in pairs or it’s bad luck.
I work with public school special education programs. I work with the state and get to travel the ENTIRE state. Which is a great job.
I own cowboy boots (1 pair, thank you Bum Phillips) but rarely wear them. I don’t wear jeans and I don’t think cowboy boots look good with the style of dress pants I wear.
I drive a 98 Dodge Ram, 1/2 ton, 4x4 extended cab. I need the pickup box for my raft frame and the dog loves to ride in back.
]How did the Tobacco Root Mountains get that name?
I don’t recall, I’d have to look that on up. I’m trying to avoid “male answer syndrome” on this one.
How come you pronounce Absaroka in that wierd way?
You mean, “Ab-sork-ee” or “Ab-sork-ah”?
It’s different pronunciations of an Indian name. I live in the “Apsaruke” dorm in college.
Why does the Boiling River swimming hole (near N. entrance to Yellowstone park) seem to be absent from all park literature?
Because sometimes the National Park Service doesn’t publicize a good thing. Because when it was open 24 hours a day in the '80’s there were several rapes there. And there was a lot of littering. And because if more people used it, it would get closed because of overuse. I’ve got damn near attacked by elk there. (hypnotic voice) YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE BOILING RIVER. YOU WILL FORGET THE ABOVE CONVERSATION. (hypnotic voice)
Did they really stop making Spanish Peaks pale ale? (Couldn’t find it during this summer’s trip.)
Don’t know, doubt it. And BTW, their bottled beer is brewed in Minnesota. You get fresh at the brewery, but read the label otherwise.
Why so little fuss about the Beartooth Highway? (One of the most scenic roads in the US of A.)
It’s closed from mid-October to Memorial Day. Walter Kuralt called it the most scenic drive in America. And it is, if you’re not following a 45 foot motor home going 20 miles an hour.
Glad you took care of it, whistlepig, it would have come up eventually.
I want to add my 2c to the issue of how Rocky Mountain Oysters taste: like a handful of greasy rubber bands.
So, my question: you getting any moisture up your way? We could sure use some down here. There’s a storm blowing in tonight; I hope it dumps a lot of snow in the mountains.
Nope. Most of the militia has died down, thogh you might want to Google “Kalispell Milita”. Dude had a lot of ammo.
Butte people don’t get “butt” jokes any more than people in New York City would get a “And Why See” joke.
But Butte is a different planet.
I’ve heard it as #2.
Here’s another one: Any truth to this story (told to me separately by a couple of residents of Gallatin Gateway)?
The town of Gallatin Gateway wanted a modern firetruck and stated a fund-raising scheme – bake sales, raffles, etc. Someone had the idea of asking some of the rich part-time residents for donations, and this went pretty well.
Then someone thought of the big daddy of all these: Ted Turner, who owns something like 600,000 acres south of the town. They approached him, but his response was “Nah - best thing that could happen to Gallatin Gateway is if the whole town burned down anyway.”
Is this just some sort of rural legend?
I think it was actually Walter’s cousin Charlie.
Roger on the motorhome – got stuck behind one until he had to drop out with smoking brakes.
It’s still scenic - you just get a lot more time to enjoy the scenery.
:rolleyes:
Probably. Haven’t heard that one.
There is another urban(?) legend in Montana about Ted and Jane being refused service in a popular steak joint because the owner was a Vietnam Vet and wouldn’t serve “Hanoi Jane”. He’s denied that they have ever been in there and that he would deny them service.
Ted Turner is not well liked in Montana because:
he bought a LOT of land and shut portions of it down to public hunting.
he put fences up on said land, which led to some controversy over the ability of elk to migrate through historical corridors;
Ted has said some real stupid stuff about how buffalo cause less land damage than cattle.
Ted (as I recall) worked on some of his New Mexico land to re-intoduce the Mexican wolf. Wolf re-introduction is a controversial subject in Montana.
Where is Montana?
What is it famous for?
How do you pronounce Montana?
This from an Aussie guy who has no idea where y’all are from.
Think Australia with snow.
(hey, couldn’t let France have all the fun 
)