August 29, 2009

Many horses of East Glacier Montana

This blog entry has more to do with one person named Many horses or Mouse to his friends then anything else. It was a day that Erin and I happened upon a decision to go horseback riding at Glacier National Park.



Mouse’s roots are here in East Glacier but his story began over a hundred years ago when his father a native Texan rancher moved his cattle into Montana and leased land from the Native American Indians which mouse’s family still lives on today. He is related to Lewis and Clark and two past presidents of the United States. Although his lease to his lands expired 4 years ago he has no intentions of leaving today nor does the Indian nation intend on giving him another lease. The story of Mouse comes from a chance meeting of a chef named Jonny B who I had met in Livingston Montana a few weeks earlier. He persuaded Erin and I to visit East Glacier National Park we had other plans but as fate has directed me in the past it has directed us where we were going now.



Our detour was just another day our chance meeting was not: Mouse an ex bronco riding champion, cattle rustler, horse thief and from what I had heard a real wild child. At 81 his smile and his stories are as real as the champion belt buckle that keeps his pants up, or the scares on his fingers and the calluses on his hands. His knowledge is un-matched and his sparkle in his eyes still glistens with a threat that he could hurt you. We spoke to him for over an hour we learned much from him and then we booked out ride.



Erin and I ran back to the motel changed and then quickly headed back to meet our guide. We were greeted by Mouse’s son in law who also was a bronco champion, horse trainer and guide, Tony informed us that Mouse would be taking us out into Glacier National Park and through and over the reservation for our tour. Nice I respond and then Tony mentions to us that Mouse never takes out tours or people he rarely spends more then 2 minutes with clients, he barely rides so here we are honored by his presence in awe of what has transpired prior and about to be blown away by more of his stories and sites to come. For the next few hours time stopped and we were in Mouse hands and on his prized horses.

August 25, 2009

Cedar Rapids Iowa: July/ August 2009



Along the way I found myself lost in Iowa and I happened to get lost in a town called Cedar Rapids. While going through my images I am lost for words. I have googled Cedar Rapids Flood to find out more details of the flood and why after a year the affected downtown area is deserted and only a few people have since returned to that part of town. A question for FEMA?...



It is August 2009 over a year has past and very little has changed since the water receded. I lost my count while I was walking around town: All the vacant boarded up homes, the retail stores, the chain restaurants, the vacant lots and a few closed churches. What I did not lose count of were the number of images that I shot……………………






Words to live by: Remember to always "LEAVE ONE FOOT EARLY" [Flood Brochure...]