Why Montana Is Turning Blue

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But the old-timers are turning bluer too--perhaps as a result of choking on the polluted air that issues from the state's assorted smelters, refineries, pulp mills, oil and gas wells and non-emission-controlled exhaust pipes. The inevitable legacy of almost everyone doing pretty much anything he wished is a huge environmental mess, from the copper mines of Butte, where the water table is thick with heavy metals, to the asbestos mines of Libby, where laborers are dying in large numbers from chronic respiratory ailments. No wonder Montanans legalized medical marijuana last fall. The stuff is said to ease the pain of battling cancer, and up in Libby at least, that pain is great.

Freedom has a price indeed and not only in times of war. Montanans know that well by now, but even as they try to lower the costs of enjoying so much liberty for so long, a lot of them--me, for one--are suffering from a nagging sense of loss. The open range was fenced in long ago, but the hell-raising atmosphere lingered on. It was a smoky, boozy atmosphere, unfit for sensitive, rigid, allergic types, but it did allow a person to breathe deeply. And to cough a lot too, of course; that was also part of it (maybe that's a reason cowboys wore red neckerchiefs). Those breaths will be easier now--in bars, especially--but perhaps our hearts won't beat as hard. •