First Fridays: Donna Erickson

ROOTED at the EDGE
Ranching 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.

You may also like the following events from Butte-Silver Bow Public Library:

• Next Wednesday, 3rd September, 06:00 pm, After Hours Book Club in Butte
• Next Thursday, 4th September, 12:00 pm, Cooking the Books: Harvest of the Month in Butte
• Next month, 11th September, 05:00 pm, Cooking the Books: Chef's Secrets in Butte

Also check out other Entertainment events in Butte.