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Donna L. Erickson (pictured riding her horse, Blue) grew up working, riding, and exploring the family ranch. Easily seen from downtown Missoula, her family’s hundreds of acres in the North Hills, known as Skyline Ranch (above, in early days), form a bucolic backdrop at the city’s edge.

Her book, Rooted at the Edge: Ranching Where the Old West and New West Collide (University of Nebraska Press, 2025), describes ranch life and examines its future through her connection to landscape, from the endless rock picking and fence mending of her youth to research and consulting.

Erickson’s family not only sank deep roots in the North Hills, they also became a vital part of the economy, from supplying food to running the busy Stockyard Cafe in town as well as assorted side hustles.

Later, as a landscape architect, professor, and author, Erickson developed a wide-ranging perspective about how land evolves, taking into account the many pressures on historic ranch acreage — from development to wildfire, and economic forces to curious hikers. Everyone loves a beautiful expanse and room to explore. 

The Flathead experiences similar tensions of the urban-rural divide as ranchland becomes platted subdivisions, families shrink, and heirs face the cost and challenges of inheriting large parcels, just to name a few.

In her visit to the Northwest Montana History Museum, Erickson will read from, and talk about, the issues and ideas raised in Rooted at the Edge: Ranching Where the Old West and New West Collide, and describe a variety of outcomes for land squeezed between settlement and wilderness.

Join us for a stimulating evening centered on land use and its many values with someone who has lived, researched, and thought about it for a lifetime.

Details: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8; free admission 
(regular museum hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays)

Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. East, Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

In 1975, the death of a young logger in a remote area of Northwest Montana focused attention on the need to reach victims as quickly as possible. In response, ALERT (Advanced Life-support and Emergency Rescue Team) was formed as the first rural air ambulance service in the United States.

The Northwest Montana History Museum’s new exhibit It’s Go Time: ALERT Marks 50 Years opens Sept. 30 and pays tribute to members of the local logging industry and medical community who recognized the need for an air rescue program similar to the medevac helicopters used during the Vietnam conflict.

In 1980, Clyde Smith, owner of Smith Logging Company, offered his business as collateral to help purchase a helicopter to be owned by the hospital to replace the previously leased aircraft. Since then, the program has advanced into an elite lifesaving air rescue system.

Visitors will see artifacts from one of the first flight nurses (Alvina Hix, pictured), including an orange jumpsuit (below) worn in the 1970s, a photo of ALERT’s first mascot, and original forms, instructions, and paperwork issued during the early years of protocol development.

The exhibit contains little-known trivia about the ALERT program, such as its rescue of a business tycoon in Glacier National Park. Items on loan from the early days of ALERT also are featured.

One of the original flight nurses will be present at the opening reception, offering a personal connection to history.

It’s Go Time: ALERT Marks 50 Years opens 50 years and five days after ALERT’s first official flight of Sept. 25, 1975.

Details: Opening reception 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30 
(regular museum hours 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays)

Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 Second Ave. East, Kalispell; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org

Give where you live! (To cut to the chase, click here to donate right now to the museum.)

There are two weeks left in the Great Fish Community Challenge, which rallies support for 85 nonprofits that make life in the Flathead Valley even better. The Northwest Montana History Museum, which draws more than 10,000 visitors and hosts nearly 150 events a year, is proud to be among the nonprofits selected for the campaign.

The annual campaign, orchestrated by the Whitefish Community Foundation, raises millions for valley nonprofits, providing a percentage match for organizations that raise at least $10,000. All donations to the museum raised through the campaign go to the museum, in addition to the match. Your donations are maximized through the campaign and provide a much-needed boost to help the museum maintain operations and expand programming.

The museum is more than halfway to qualifying for the match! Can you help?

In 2025, the loss of four historic funding sources, including Humanities Montana, means the Great Fish Community Challenge is more essential than ever.

Visit here to donate online, or stop by one of the remaining pop-up donation stations from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., listed below.

The campaign ends Sept. 12. Thank you for your support regardless of how, where, and what you give!

Aug. 28: First Interstate Bank, downtown Kalispell
Sept. 2: Stockman Bank, Whitefish
Sept. 4: First Interstate Bank, Whitefish
Sept. 9: Park Side Credit Union, Columbia Falls
Sept. 11: Three Rivers Bank, East Idaho Street, Kalispell

More background on the campaign here.

Please join us and 84 other hardworking Flathead Valley nonprofits for the Great Fish Community Challenge!

On Aug. 12 the campaign kicked off to support the work of 85 standout nonprofits. What an incredible turnout from and for the community as the ballpark concourse pulsed with do-gooders of all stripes and specialties.

At the Northwest Montana History Museum booth we introduced visitors to woodsmen along the Whitefish River in 1904, and museum Executive Director (and longtime bookbinder) Margaret E. Davis taught dozens of people to bind a short history of the museum they took home with them.

The party also will pop up throughout the valley before the campaign end on Sept. 12 to cheer community boosters and spread the word. Come on out for events from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., say hello and support the people who make the good life in the Flathead even better.

Visit online for more details about the campaign and click here to donate to the museum from the convenience of your keyboard. All donations to the museum go to the museum and once the $10,000 mark is reached, the Whitefish Community Foundation adds a percentage match. Win-win-win!

Thank you to all our supporters regardless of when and how you give.

More details to come, but for now save Jan. 5 and 19 and Feb. 2 and 16 for four Sundays of learning and socializing with expert presenters from Jack Gladstone (pictured) and Denny Olson to Aspen & Cameron Decker and Sally Thompson.

Reserve your spot by coming into, or calling, the museum. The ability to make online reservations is coming soon.

Last time Mark T. Johnson came to the museum, in April 2023, the Notre Dame professor and author (who lives in Helena) came to speak on the Chinese experience in Montana. His research for his book, The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky (shown), uncovered the lives and stories of many who came West and contributed significantly to the development of Montana. At one point Chinese residents accounted for more than a tenth of the state’s population.

During his time in Kalispell, Johnson toured Demersville Cemetery and looked at materials in the Northwest Montana History Museum archives. His findings on Flathead Valley resident Mar You became part of a talk he delivered at the Montana History Conference in Helena last year.

Now Johnson returns to bring in the Year of the Snake with a talk about Keeping Chinese Culture Alive on the Montana Frontier.

In his words, “From the earliest days of non-Native settlement of Montana, Chinese pioneers played a key role in the region’s development. Navigating life in this new land, Montana’s Chinese residents gained comfort through the continuation of their spiritual and cultural practices. Yet, publicly practicing cultural traditions invited unwanted attention from anti-Chinese forces who sought to expel the Chinese from the region. This talk details how Chinese Montanans persevered to maintain cultural continuity and togetherness through these practices while resisting tensions and threats from their detractors.”

Details:
6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025; free admission (books available for purchase and signing)
Northwest Montana History Museum, 124 2nd Ave. E., Kalispell, MT 59901; 406-756-8381; nwmthistory.org
More info about Johnson and his book: https://www.bigskychinese.com/