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ROOTED at the EDGERanching Where the Old West and New West Collide
by Donna L. Erickson
Published by University of Nebraska Press, Bison Books
Rooted at the Edge paints a portrait of a ranching community steeped in history, conflict, and beauty. In this narrative nonfiction work, Donna Erickson explores the hilly skirt of ground at the northern boundary of Missoula, Montana, separating the town from the wilderness beyond. In the movie A River Runs Through It, opening credits scan across the 1950s town, the North Hills, and the wilderness beyond. The North Hills region represents the critical—and often highly personal—issues at play at the edge of many western towns.
The urban-rural fringe is both valuable and vulnerable. Across the West, a way of life and a way of work are vanishing. Ranchland is simultaneously cherished by families for the lives they’ve made there and coveted by urban neighbors for open space. Community residents may love a place for its scenery and wildlife habitat while others wish it converted to a commercial parking lot. Complex ecological relationships can be bulldozed in a single afternoon. Rooted at the Edge conveys, in a way that statistics cannot, what’s at stake when ranches at the urban fringe are threatened.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
226 W Broadway St, Butte, MT, United States, Montana 59701
