One of the most forefront names in Americana, Todd Snider returned to the Wilma earlier this month for his First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder tour after almost a year-and-a-half break due to the Covid pandemic. Named after his weekly Sunday live-streamed performances, First Agnostic Church of Hope and Wonder deviates from Snider’s typical folk sound. Instead, it … [Read more...] about With Todd Snider and his experiment with funk and folk in Missoula

The headlines, once again, are filled with canceled flights and crowds of stranded passengers at airports. The latest case was Southwest Airlines. Many of us have experienced delays in the past, so we know firsthand how miserable it can be. But our modern-day ability to travel wherever and whenever we like is actually pretty amazing – a rather cushy life compared with the … [Read more...] about Harmon’s Histories: Dread winter travel? Imagine the snowbound peril a century ago

Most of life’s decisions are routine and inconsequential. Then again, some turn out to be life-changing. So it was with two brothers from St. Johns, New Brunswick, who moved to western Montana in the 1890s. Austin Hartley found work as a timber cruiser for the Northern Pacific Railroad. His younger brother, Napier Hartley, established a very popular confectionery shop … [Read more...] about Harmon’s Histories: Meet Austin Hartley, early Missoula entrepreneur … sorcerer

Hello, history fans! I’m Jim Harmon, and I’m back from my near month-long “R & R” with a story that I’d like to call, “Life, Death and a Love Letter to my Angels.” For reasons that soon will be clear, I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of medical knowledge in the late 19th century, and the fate we all would have faced. Imagine living back then and having a … [Read more...] about Harmon’s Histories: Life, death and a love letter to my angels

Editor's note: Jim Harmon is taking an additional week off for R&R. The old codger puts forth a convincing case that just one more week off will provide him with that long-sought-after Fountain of Youth feeling – and I’m such a push-over. So today, Jim offers up one more golden oldie from his book “The ‘Sneakin'est’ Man That Ever Was,” featuring 46 short headline stories of … [Read more...] about Harmon’s Histories: Lots and lots of lawyers argued the Case of the Crocheted Tidy