For centuries, on prairie grasslands, dusty streets and racing ovals, everyday Montanans participated in the sport of kings. More than a century after horses arrived in the region, Lewis and Clark's Nez Perce guides staged horse races at Traveler's Rest in 1806. In response to hazardous street races, the Montana legislature granted communities authority to ban "immoderate riding or driving." Helena led the way to respectable racing, with Madam Coady's fashion course hosting the first territorial fair in 1868. Soon, leading citizens like Marcus Daly built oval tracks and glitzy grandstands. By 1890, a horse named Bob Wade set a world record for a quarter mile in Butte, a mark that stood until 1958. Horsewoman and historian Brenda Wahler highlights the Big Sky's patrons of the turf and courageous equine champions, including Kentucky Derby winner Spokane.

Explores the drama and history of one of the West's premier rodeo and cultural events, the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale. Begun in 1951 as a way to sell "spoiled" and unruly ranch horses for use in rodeos, the sale has evolved into a four-day celebration that features horse racing, country music, a parade, and rodeo riding. Includes more than 60 photographs.

"Montana Moments offers historical vignettes on topics ranging from axolotls, archaeology, and epitaphs to tourism and time zones"--Provided by publisher.

Containing full pedigree of all the imported thorough-bred stallions and mares, with their produce.

The Making of a Copper King! Born in 1841 to tenant farmers, Marcus Daly came from rural Ireland to New York as a boy. Having learned the big city’s harsh lessons, he traveled west to the gold and silver mining camps of California, Nevada, Utah and Montana. Then, a spectacular discovery in the Anaconda mine him one of Montana’s famed Copper Kings. Yet, his early life remained shrouded in myth. Famed for his machinations in state politics and shaping Butte into the “Richest Hill on Earth,” his path from farm boy to mining king has been overlooked. For the first time, author Brenda Wahler brings his secretive and formative early years to life.

Agriculture developed into Montana's top industry from humble beginnings. In 1841, Father De Smet planted a small plot at St. Mary's Mission. Thomas Harris, the territory's first farmer, harvested oats at Fort Owen for "sustenance and trade" in 1854. Within thirty-five years, beef and wool were being exported out of the territory to satisfy national and European demands. In the intervening years, the mechanical engine and rural electrification dramatically transformed agribusiness. Billings became home to America's largest monthly horse sale. And the modern cooperative model is lauded for sustaining agricultural operations and rural communities. With untold and forgotten stories, the American Doorstop Project co-founders and authors Jody L. Lamp and Melody Dobson spotlight the technological advancements and legacies of those who blazed trails, broke sod and built farms and livestock ranches that shaped the Treasure State's agriculture history.

Riding 2,000 miles on horseback from Montana to New Mexico sounds like a crazy but thrilling dream or pure hardship and exhaustion. According to Bernice Ende, the trip was all that and more. Since swinging her leg over the saddle for that first long ride in 2005 (at the age of 50), Ende has logged more than 29,000 miles in the saddle, crisscrossing North America on horseback - alone. More than once she has traversed the Great Plains, the Southwest deserts, the Cascade Range, and the Rocky Mountains. Along the way, she discovered a sense of community and love of place that unites people wherever they live. From 2014-2016, she was the first person to ride coast to coast and back again in one trek, winning acclaim from the international Long Riders' Guild and awe from the people she met along the way. Bernice Ende's memoirs are illuminated by accompanying maps of her routes and photos from her journeys, capturing the instant friends she meets along the way, and her ongoing encounters with harsh weather, wildlife, hard work, mosquitoes, tricky route-finding, and the occasional worn out horseshoe. Ende reveals her inner struggles and triumphs - testing the limits of physical and mental stamina, coping with inescapable solitude, and the rewards of living life her own way, as she says, "in her own skin." Saddle up and come along for the journey of a lifetime.