Ednor Therriault | Montana Curiosities
Published: August 31, 2010
Montanans, as well as all the folks that stream through the state each year, will find Ednor Therriault’s compendium of “quirky characters, roadside oddities and other offbeat stuff” an indispensable travel companion.
Even though the first third of the book is devoted to Glacier Country – the portion of this extra-large state that I’ve call home for most of my life – it still holds some fresh discoveries. Who knew, for example, that a used car lot on Evaro Hill is home to a “wild-and-wooly,” homemade miniature golf courses, with “downright devilish” obstacles made from mostly recycled materials? And I’m still wondering how I’ve missed the giant purple spoon in East Glacier, the full-size replica of Stonehenge near Fortine, and the flower-covered VW Beetle tugging a tiny travel trailer near Columbia Falls.
East of the Divide is also brimming with peculiar attractions. My list of strange places to see in the next decade includes the grave of Pitt, an ancient elephant who was struck by lightning in 1943 during a circus performance in Dillon; the mysterious Rocky Mountain hyena, enshrined in a glass case at the Madison Valley History Association Museum in Ennis; a stuffed, mounted display of what may have been the World’s Largest Steer at the O’Fallon Historical Museum in Baker; and the Hobo Art Caboose, with its elaborate quotes and illustrations crafted by “a Bible-quoting bum” and now parked at the Culbertson Museum and Visitor Center.
The Missoula author and musician writes a column for NewWest.org under the name Bob Wire, and plays “maximum honky-tonk” with his band, The Magnificent Bastards. His book was published by Globe Pequot Press and sells for $17.95 softcover.
– Kristi Niemeyer
