A beautiful view of lush green, tall evergreen trees lining a winding section of a Montana river, with a man fishing.

Fishing a slow section of a Montana river.

Sitting around the house lately after watching the very popular series Yellowstone that was filmed in Montana, I began recalling a fascinating experience from the recesses of my warped cranium. One of those excursions took me to East Glacier, Montana and my first encounter with a big, friendly member of the Blackfeet Nation.

Had General Custer known how much fun Native Americans can be, he would have never done battle with them. Instead, he could have asked them to take him fishing and the whole course of American/Native American relations might have been less serious and a lot more fun! Unlike Custer’s experience, mine started off with much more positive goals when I was invited to Kalispell, Montana to attend a writer’s conference.

The first leg of my flight from Atlanta started innocently enough until the friendly flight attendants began serving a delicious tasting white liquid with magical qualities, which they continued to refill at regular intervals. By the time I reached Kalispell, the effects of the old firewater had turned me into part of the welcoming and entertainment committee, and I was having so much fun that I didn’t even bother to pick up my suitcase after the flight.

I checked into my room at about 2 a.m., but instead of hitting the sack I decided to go out and introduce myself to the local crowd. The closest place was a 24/7 watering hole and wagering establishment with the quaint name Poncho Magoo’s.

Knowing that the spirits were slowly getting the best of me, I decided to nourish my body with something less magical and more solid. Since Poncho Magoo’s main concern was keeping the sporting crowd around, I found their menu to be inexpensive, so before you could say Coors Light, I was in the chow line ordering a $5.95 T-bone steak.

A head and shoulders photo of Billy Big Springs, a member of the Montana Blackfeet tribe, wearing a headdress.

Billy Big Springs of the Blackfeet sporting a headdress.

While waiting in line, I suddenly felt the hair on the back of my neck bristling and my imagination ran wild as I mustered the courage to have a look. With my heart pounding and perspiration popping out of my forehead, I turned slowly and there before me was a big man with a wide, friendly smile. Despite his big cowboy hat, T-shirt and jeans there was no mistaking the black hair and facial features… he was definitely a Native American!

He introduced himself as Billy Big Springs, Jr. of the Blackfeet tribe, so I quickly hinted of my own Cherokee ancestry in case the smile wasn’t genuine. Also in the event that he hadn’t understood me completely, I said, “When the fight starts remember… I’m on your side.” He just grinned again and asked me to join him at his table. I quickly decided that an offer like that couldn’t be refused.

While consuming the excellent T-bone, I told Billy how I had managed to drift into Poncho’s and the reason for being in Montana. I continued by reviewing my dream of finding a stream so loaded with hungry trout that even I could catch them on a dry fly.

After quietly listening to my story, Billy casually invited me to visit him on the Blackfeet Reservation for a little fishing after the conference. Not wanting to make the big fella mad, I told him that I would call him before leaving and stuffed the number he had written down on a 50 cent Keno card into my pocket.

A pair of hands holding a native cutthroat trout.

A beautiful native cutthroat trout.

The conference was interesting, informative and very hectic, but by the end, I still didn’t have a post conference trip. So, I gave Billy Big Springs, Jr. a call to see what was cooking on the reservation. I assumed that by now he would’ve forgotten the babblings of a slightly loud son of the South… but I was wrong! He not only remembered me, but was excited to tell me that his 12-year-old son Willie had caught an over 8 pound rainbow trout the day before. I couldn’t pack my bag fast enough!

To make a much longer story shorter, my less than dignified trip into Poncho’s that first night and the meeting with Billy Big Springs, Jr. turned out to be a great stroke of luck. He and his family owned a 15,000-acre ranch on the Blackfeet Reservation… including two of the prettiest trout rivers in Northern Montana, and the fishing was fantastic! I found my dream stream with enough trout that even I could catch my fill on the vaunted dry fly. Therefore my Montana experience became the trip of a lifetime, including another side trip into extremely picturesque Glacier National Park!

 

A grayish colored wolf looking directly into the camera.

A wolf on the reservation.

A closeup of a dark brown mother bison with it's light brown baby.

Mother and baby bison on the reservation.

Photos: by Bill Vanderford