Customer Reviews

On the Road Again: Montana's Changing Landscape (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books)

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This is a perfect book. Admittedly, the subject matter may not appeal to a broad audience, but any book so masterfully crafted must get a perfect score.

First, it is important to note that this book is less about roads than it is about landscapes and the meaning of changes to landscapes. The archives of the Montana Historical Society contain photos taken of road projects in the 1920s and 1930s. The federal government was just beginning to provide money for road construction at that time. These black-and-white photos show before and after views of how Montana was spending the money. Mr. Wyckoff selected a group of the photos and traveled the state during 2001-2003 re-photographing the scenes as closely as possible. In addition, he researched each scene by consulting people familiar with the history of the location, reviewing newspaper files, and finding other historical sources. It is obvious that gathering the material for this book required an enormous amount of time and work. The heart of the book is an introductory chapter, 58 two-page modules, and a closing chapter. There is also a Foreward written by William Cronon and what Mr. Wyckoff terms a Bibliographic Essay. Each part of the book is perfect in its own right, even the title.

Second, Mr. Wyckoff is a very good writer. Students at Montana State University must feel privileged to take a class in historical geography from Mr. Wyckoff.

The 27-page introductory chapter takes the reader through an overview of the field of re-photography and the science of historical geography. To illustrate, it analyzes two photos taken from the same spot near Fife, Montana, one showing the scene in 1922 and the other in 2001. The section also provides a sufficient overview of Montana history that a person unfamiliar with the state can easily understand the context of the modules that follow.

Each of the 58 modules has a pair of black-and-white photos taken about eighty years apart. The facing page of text analyzes the photos in terms of changes, or lack of changes, in the scene and what that might mean to the landscape itself or to the people who live there. The comments range from locally significant to those of import statewide or nationally. Some of the scenes are rural and Mr. Wyckoff points out changes in land use, crops, or the ecology of the area. For example, a large number of the photos show an increase in the number of trees on the landscape and the text discusses what happens in the absence of fire. Some shots are urban, such as the downtown scenes in Polson and Wibaux. The discussions highlight the differences that occur depending on whether the town is growing or not. Some modules describe the impact of railroads, mining, and other industries as they wax and wane. In some cases the roads of the 1920s have become interstate highways, and in other places they have returned to sagebrush or farmland. Often the text analyzes the changes in the broader context of Montana's economic, political, cultural, and ecological history.

The concluding chapter pulls together the implications of the changes and how trends established over the intervening eighty years might impact Montana in the future

I am giving the book as gifts or recommending it to people interested in Montana, particularly those familiar with the state's physical aspects. I also find myself recommending it to people with a general interest in history and as an example of how to develop a perfect book.