Montana State University Bozeman - Montanan Yearbook (Bozeman, MT)

Page 12 text:

He did nol look upas I opened the door ol (he dilapi dated saloon. Ions since christened Injun loe's. The drone of a haltered electric fan mixed with Ihe plaintive notes of I'd Rjlhrr Hr a Cowboy, as the jukebox spas medically swung into action Ihe only occupant of the l ar, an ageless old man, tottered on the edge of a metal bar stool. His shaggy, gray head suspended dreamily over a frosted glass ot golden-beer, which he slid back and-forth across the1 much-lingered l ar He seemed to lx made of dust, his entire tx-ing an amorphous haze; there was nothing alxiut him that was distinct. His hair was a formless, gray cloud, crowning a shapeless head His features were blurred, each running into the other as though pressed to escape The nose spread lazily above a meandering mouth, which in turn was covered by the white-cotton candy of his beard: the eyes a blue-gray, looked like window panes during a heavy ram As I reached the l ar, he slowly raised Ihe frosty glass. In a wispy voice, audible only to Ihe | ast, he murmured. !o Charlie. Where have you gone — where have you gone? Draining Ihe glass of its amljer liquid, he set it on the worn surlace of the bar. He turned to mo with a puzzled look in his cloudy eyes. Did you ever see us . did you? Used to be the tx-st in Ihe state, you know Called us the Montana kids, Charlie and me. Ihe Montana Kids. He turned back to the bar and regarded it with a hazy gaze. We were the lx st Weren't nolxxlv who didn't know our names. Boy those were the days. We roped in every dadburn town in this slate — pretty near — Charlie and me. from little ol' Brady right up to the steps of Ihe capitol in Helena. Why we even played for the governor once . . and members of Ihe legislature too. Yes sir’ fourth of luly — last Chance Siam pede. But it wasn't the last chance for us, he chuckled, we were really going strong then. We were a team, you know. Charlie and me. Did rope tricks — every rope trick in the fxxik, and some that wasn't Oh, we was good Why, that Charlie-, he could twirl a rope like nobody's business, and I weren't none loo shabby myself. We was asked to hit h up with Calamity lane's 'Wild West Travelling Show' once. Course wasn't Ihe real Calamity lane, but — well that was quite a show. The old man selected a bottle of Great Tails Select trom ihe cooler and emptied it into his glass. But Char lie an' me. we couldn't leave Montana; it was our home. It wasn't like it is now. back then Back then, things was different! Weren't none of these contrived things; everything was sorta natural, if you know what I mean. Miles-and-miles of open range and clean forest. Ihe streams and lakes was so clear you could see plumb thru them. Course, he snorted, there was always Butte, and places like that. That town — seems like somebody was always trying to dig it up. If it wasn't the- Company, it was somebody else. Nearly tunneled under the whole city. But boy. did those- people know how to have- a gexxl lime! I rememlx-r on St. Patrick's Day — the liquor fairly run in the streets. And labor Day’ But Butte wasn't half as 'citing as it was in Dillon What a celebration' That place was re-ally jumping' Yup. them was the days. He drained his glass. But Montana wasn’t all gexxl times. There was other things tex . Montana must lx-about ihe most beautiful place on earth, lean remember seeing antelope , deer, and elk by the elozen. Wilel flowers dancin' in grassy meadows; blue- sky: must lx lx ut the biggest ever maele. Oh, it was beautitul! But it's changed. The m elays is gone. I'm not savin' it’s not still Ix-autiful. but it's different now. The screen dex r scrc e cheel e |x n, then, clanked shut as a man and woman stepped into the tear. The man was small, thin, anel sweating profusely. Water seemed to spring from every pore, dark stains ringing his unele-rarms and spreading down his back, sticking his Disneyland tee shirt to his skin Rivulets of water ran down his forehead onto his nose, where they merged into a miniature waterfall which he impatiently wiped away. He removed his Grand Canyon souvenir hat and revealed a balding, sweat-coated head; even his bermuda-shorted legs glistened with moisture. Ihe woman was large. She- wore a wrinkled, shapeless dress in muted grays and brownv Her hair was matted-brown, and her skin a murky gray. Both she and the sweating man jpproar hed the bar. We're on our way to Yellowstone Park. the watery man simpered. Is this the right road? We. . And then we're going to see Big Sky, Ihe woman interrupted, can you imagine? We're actually going to see Big Sky. The old man looked from one to Ihe other, a shimmer, of forlornness ran across his dusty face. Yup. Ah. you folks ever hear of the Montana Kidt? Why back in the old days, we were the Ix-st there was . . His voice trailed off as I walked out into the sunshine. Louise Riley