The Story Behind the "M"

The "M" is 620 feet above the Missoula Valley floor. It is 125' feet long and 100' feet wide. University of Montana forestry students cut the switchbacks into the side of the hill in the early 1900's. The first "M" was assembled out of whitewashed rocks in 1909, and given a fresh coat of paint by freshmen every year, until 1968, when all those rocks were cemented together with concrete.

Photo by Nelson Kenter, kenterphotography.com

Archive for the ‘All Lifestyles & Entertainment’ Category

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of Sept 1

Check out the various bands and live music all over town sprinkled with an occasional farmers market and fundraisers. ... more

Tom Sawyer Headlines MCT’s Fall Performing Arts Classes

Tom Sawyer! What do you do with a boy like that? The Missoula Children’s Theatre kicks off the 2014-15 school year with Tom Sawyer, the fall after school performing arts class. ... more

U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Come to Kalispell Aug 30-31

By DILLON TABISH - The Mountain Madness Airshow, featuring the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, comes to Kalispell August 30-31 at the Glacier Park International Airport.... more

Back to School: That’s Good, Right?

By BOB WIRE-Ah, the lunches have been packed, the driveway mugshots taken, and our kids have officially slammed the screen door on another summer vacation. It's back to school time!... more

Lifelong Learning Class Teaches How to Self-Publish

By CASEY DAWES-According to some sources Missoula is one of the cities in the United States with the most writers per capita. Do you have a book inside you screaming to get out? Learn to self-publish.... more

Rediscover Your Spark with UM Workshop

By AIMEE RYAN- “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Join us on Thurs., Sept. 25, for a hands-on, experiential workshop that will help you answer that question.... more

How to Make the Most of What’s Left of Summer in Missoula

By MATT ANGLEN- If you're like me and are desperately trying to make the most of these last few weeks of sunshine here in Missoula, here is a short list of things to get excited about: ... more

A Wild Idea: Celebrating 50 Years of the Wilderness Act

By TRISTAN SCOTT-Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, advocates look toward the future... more

This Week’s Missoula Arts & Culture Scene | August 25

A recap of all things Arts & Culture--for the week of 8/18-- brought to you by the Missoula Cultural Council.... more

MCT Presents The Last of the Dragons, Sept 11-13

In the kingdom of Middlefield, there is a tradition that when a princess celebrates her 16th birthday, she is tied to a rock, kidnapped by a dragon, rescued by a prince and lives happily ever after. ... more

Tourism Mishaps

By KELLYN BROWN-As a 20-something slinging trash for the park service in the early 2000s, I was privy to my fair share of tourist mishaps, from the comical to the tragic. ... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of August 25

Check out the various bands and live music all over town sprinkled with an occasional farmers market and fundraisers. ... more

Missoula South Side, Your Beer is Here

By BOB WIRE-As a man whose love of beer is well-documented and occasionally used against him, I gotta say I'm tickled with Missoula's newest brewery, Great Burn.... more

9th Annual River City Roots Festival Aug 23-24 in Downtown Missoula

Grammy Award winner Sam Bush headlines the admission-free, 2014 River City Roots Festival Aug. 23-24 in downtown Missoula. Welcome Home UM students! ... more

Appreciating Life More at 60 Than at 16

By LIZ MARCHI - Life is about the lens you choose. Age can give us a refined sense of what’s important, beautiful and meaningful. I loved the glasses I wore last week.... more

This Week’s Missoula Arts & Culture Scene | August 18

A recap of all things Arts & Culture--for the week of 8/18-- brought to you by the Missoula Cultural Council.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of August 18

Check out the various bands and live music all over town sprinkled with an occasional farmers market and fundraisers. ... more

Metercraeft: the Art of Verse and Poetry

By WILLIAM MUNOZ - “Metercraeft” is an Old English word that described the art of verse and poetry. The term intersects with the metrical foot concept and the 1660's term “poetry of the foot” which desc... more

Scars: The Real Man’s Tattoos

By BOB WIRE-I don't have any tattoos, so now you know where I stand on tattoos. What I do have is a growing collection of scars. The real man's tattoos.... more

The Average Joe’s Guide to the 2014 Zootown Fringe Festival

By MATT ANGLEN-The Zootown Fringe Festival is completely unjuried and uncensored. Anyone with a performance or art instillation can apply and do whatever they want.... more

Downtown Dance Collective to Perform at Missoula Fringe Festival, Aug 16

(PHOTO GALLERY) Renowned Seattle choreographer, Zoe Scofield is teaching an intensive with the Downtown Dance Collective with a performance to follow at the Missoula Fringe Festival, Aug 16. ... more

Smokey Bear Turns 70, But Don’t Bring Candles

Smokey Bear is turning 70 on Saturday — but don’t bring any candles to the party, please. Here are some little-known facts about Smokey Bear on his big day.... more

YWCA Lecture Series: How Mobile Technology Has Influenced Rural Zambian Women

Fri. 8/15 from noon to 1 p.m. at YWCA Missoula, UC Santa Barbara Professor Lisa Parks looks at how increasing access to mobile technology has influenced the lives of rural Zambian women.... more

This Week’s Missoula Arts & Culture Scene | August 11

A recap of all things Arts & Culture--for the week of 8/4/14-- brought to you by the Missoula Cultural Council.... more

Auditions for Jekyll and Hyde The Musical

The Missoula Community Theatre is holding auditions for the production of Jekyll & Hyde The Musical on Sunday, August 31st at the MCT Center for the Performing Arts. ... more

Hard Water Problems in Missoula

Hard water is the leading water problem in America and, and Missoula and Western Montana are no exception. Here are few things to know about hard water and what to do about it:... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of August 11

Check out the various bands and live music all over town sprinkled with an occasional farmers market and fundraisers. ... more

Existential Crisis in the Kitchen

By BOB WIRE- Despite what you might hear, I’m an enlightened, evolved male. I possess certain domestic capabilities. Believe it or not, I do know my Swiffer from a hole in the ground.... more

Lily Gladstone’s Beautiful Future

By BRIAN D'AMBROSIO - Born and raised in Browning, Lily Gladstone returned there last year to work on “Jimmy P.,” a film about a psychologically- puzzling Blackfeet World War II veteran, starring Benicio De... more

Pet Fest to Feature Davis’ Muttley Crew from America’s Got Talent!

The 9th Annual Pet Fest will celebrate International Homeless Animal’s Day at the Adams Center, Sat., Aug. 16, from 10am-3pm and features Davis' Muttley Crew from America's Got Talent.... more

Bee Huts

By PAUL WHEATON-I’ve heard that by adding a roof to protect your bee hives, you can increase honey production by as much as four or five fold. The secret: The happiness of the bee matters!... more

This Week’s Missoula Arts & Culture Scene | August 4

A recap of all things Arts & Culture--for the week of 8/4/14-- brought to you by the Missoula Cultural Council.... more

Sailing the Flathead

BY XAVIER FLORY - An evening race with the North Flathead Yacht Club, which was founded in 1976 and currently has 132 members. ... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of August 4

Check out the various bands and live music all over town sprinkled with an occasional farmers market and fundraisers. ... more

What Do Ants Taste Like?

By BRUCE AUCHLY-So does an ant taste like a bitter, or lemony, crunchy morsel to a rainbow trout? Nobody knows, and the trout I’ve talked to, don’t answer.... more

Moksha Aerial Studio Collective (PHOTO GALLERY)

By BILL MUNOZ - Recently I was lucky enough to be introduced to Moksha Aerial Studio Collective (MASC) at the Missoula Farmers Market. Oh what fun it is to shoot these colorful artists. (PHOTO GALLERY).... more

Visit Glacier Park While It Still Has Glaciers!

By BOB WIRE- Plans are underway to change the name of Glacier National Park to reflect its eventual lack of glaciers. 'Large And Somewhat Damp Mountains National Park' is in the running for finalist.... more

First Friday Featured Artist: Sarah Jaeger

By MATT ANGLEN-Art is big in Missoula. If you don’t believe me just head downtown on the First Friday of every month and you’ll see sidewalks overflowing with people eager to catch the latest exhibition.... more

This Week’s Missoula Arts & Culture Scene

A recap of all things Arts & Culture--for the week of 7/28/14-- brought to you by the Missoula Cultural Council.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of July 28

Check out the various bands and live music all over town sprinkled with an occasional farmers market and fundraisers. ... more

Kidsfest 2014 Slated for July 29 at Caras Park

Join Missoula Parks and Recreation for Kidsfest 2014, a free summer celebration for Missoula families at Caras Park on Tuesday, July 29 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.... more

Visit Yellowstone Before it Blows Up

By BOB WIRE- One way to get around Yellowstone is aboard one of the Historic Yellow Buses. They can sometimes be seen roaring around a corner and scaring the bejesus out of some poor buffalo.... more

Flies Really Bite. Are they Bugging the Cows?

By PAUL WHEATON-Biting flies can sure make life miserable for cattle, horses and even people! Big or small, those insects can inflict painful sores. Here are a few solutions for getting rid of biting flies:... more

Monte Dolack: Nature of Art

By MONTE DOLACK-My personal creative and restorative touchstone to nature is not far from our Missoula home. It is The Crown of the Continent ecosystem and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. ... more

This Week’s Missoula Arts & Culture Scene

A recap of all things Arts & Culture--for the week of 7/21/14-- brought to you by the Missoula Cultural Council.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of July 21

Check out the various bands and live music all over town sprinkled with an occasional farmers market and fundraisers. ... more

Rock the Hood: ZACC puts the ART in Block pARTy

By MATT ANGLEN-I love block parties. There’s something about sipping a beer and eating food from a truck in the middle of a normally busy street that just screams freedom.... more

This Week’s Missoula Arts & Culture Scene

A recap of all things Arts & Culture--for the week of 7/15/14-- brought to you by the Missoula Cultural Council.... more

Make it Missoula Monday | Week of July 14

Check out the various bands and live music all over town sprinkled with an occasional farmers market and fundraisers. ... more

Families Invited to play All-Abilities Baseball at McCormick Park

Missoula Parks & Rec is teaming up with the All-Abilities Playground Project to host free baseball games for people with and without disabilities on 7/19 and 8/2.... more