From “True West: Myth and Mending on the Far Side of America,” (October 2023) courtesy of Torrey House Press.
Most Western towns aren’t resorts, and most Westerners aren’t billionaires. It was only certain corners of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Nevada that saw an influx of people during the pandemic. In many rural communities, life seemed to change little — no mask-wearing, no telecommuting, no private jets. People lived day-to-day, as they always had. Still, a deep seismic movement was afoot. In a period of quarantine, the rural West became more culturally and politically isolated, largely due to the discord being sown via social media and news networks. As with the rest of the country, people grew ever angrier as political aisles widened and lies fueled mistrust. As people severed relationships, either intentionally or inadvertently, with those who saw things differently, the result was a divergent sense of reality. I saw this in Idaho, where polarization created splinters in the community. Parts of Montana show signs of following suit.
This brings me to a story about a cowboy — the real McCoy, not a cartoon version portrayed by John Wayne or Kevin Costner. On the day I met him, it was hard to tell if Lance Kalfell was completely enraged, or just on a roll. He seemed spitting mad, telling me how he hated President Joe Biden and the Democrats. This was a man who had lost faith in any federal policy intended to address issues affecting him and his community. Kalfell was raised in the town of Terry, Montana, the seat of Prairie County, a little place built amid the breaks and sage, and folded between the Powder and Yellowstone rivers. The Old Milwaukee train depot in the middle of town once served passengers coming west, but now Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains sail through without stopping. There are a great many stories inscribed on the lands around Terry, from the conflict between Sitting Bull and his Lakota people with the U.S. Army to the state’s deadliest train wreck.
