Category Archives: The West

TOO LATE FOR THE HAIGHT by Peter Nolan Smith

May 30, 2021 – 6:49 am

The bus from Sacramento crossed the bay in light traffic. Most people in the Bay Area had off Memorial Day. The uniformed driver veered off the bridge and entered the TransBay Terminal. Once he parked in the depot, I grabbed my bag from the underneath storage compartment and entered the station. Holiday passengers were forming […]

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GARRISON JUNCTION by Peter Nolan Smith

May 7, 2021 – 1:40 pm

In the late summer of 1972 my college friend and I hitchhiked across across Montana. The interstate was under construction. Ptrov and I got stranded in Garrison Junction for a good reason. Twenty miles farther south was the Montana State Prison. A sign warned motorists about escaped convicts. No one was taking a chance on […]

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DEER LODGE MONTANA

May 6, 2021 – 7:33 am

In the spring of 1994 Ms. Carolina learning to love Montana. She pinned the accelerator of the premiere-class rented Chevy to the floor. We got places fast and left faster. After leaving Garrison Junction she drove down I-90. A roadside billboard announced the State Prison was open for visits. “What you think?” She was already […]

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Rolling Rocks Into The Grand Canyon

April 17, 2021 – 9:59 am

Back in August 1972 I attempted to reach the bottom of the Grand Canyon. My friend and I left the south rim at 7am. We had two full canteen. Nick and I ran out of water around Skeleton Point. The Colorado looked so inviting, but we were parched by the summer sun and quit our […]

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LAST CALL IN BUTTE MONTANA – OCT. 1978 – BAD POETRY

April 6, 2021 – 10:36 pm

1974 I arrived late in Butte Montana. The bartender at the Cowboy Bar shouted ‘Last Call’. I ordered a whiskey and a beer chaser. Someone put on Gram Parsons I looked around the bar for my wife A man in Billings said Mona might be here He might have been right then, But tonight he […]

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