Couple aims at Wild West return to Montana

Helena’s losing its Wild West appeal, one local couple says. "They (visitors) don’t come to Montana to see a small, cosmopolitan town," says Melony Bruhn. "They come to Montana to see the Wild West."

By Jason Mohr – IR Staff Writer

http://helenair.com/articles/2004/11/22/helena_top/a06112204_01.txt

To remedy that, Melony and her husband, Tom, have created their own company to produce the Wild West Fest, a four-day cowboy extravaganza slated for Labor Day weekend at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds.

Think of it as "Sturgis with horses and guns," Tom says, equating meticulous Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners with Western history buffs and die-hard re-enactors.

If all the pieces fall into place, it’s quite a lineup.

The centerpiece is the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association Regional Championships, where riders dressed in vintage garb blast balloon targets with single-action, short-range .45s. Oh, and did I mention the competitors do it while steering their trusty steed through an obstacle course. Brady Carr, who publishes the CMSA bimonthly "Rundown," describes it as the most "complex and complicated horse sport I’ve ever been involved in."

There’s a lot more at the fest to pique your interest, like shootouts at high noon; a tent saloon with honky-tonk piano players and dancing girls; a formal ball with hoop skirts and military dress; cowboy poetry and old-time music; a William "Buffalo Bill" Cody-style show with trick riders and ropers; demonstrations and crafts at a frontier encampment and wagon roundup; and vendors and concessions on trader’s row.

Perhaps the most interesting event is the Ridin’ For the Brand ranch competition, which will test wranglers’ mettle in a variety of traditional ranch skills, like barbed-wire stringing, wood chopping and rattlesnake shooting. The idea is to get every Montana ranch to to head to head.

Melony, Helena’s Habitat for Humanity director, and Tom, a builder, said they love all things Western. They own three horses and live on a little hilltop ranch in the Helena Valley. Formerly of Washington state, they’re regulars in local horseriding, horse-and-buggy and historical re-enactment clubs.

"We’ve always been cowboys," Melony says. "(That’s) one of the reasons we chose Helena and Montana."

The Bruhns say they’re riding a popularity wave in all things Western. The well-established Festival of the West in Scottsdale, Ariz., draws 65,000. The Bruhns will settle for 7,500 visitors — and something for folks to do over Labor Day weekend. Horse riders, their families and their mounts from up to 18 states are expected to attend.

There’ll be no event like it in Montana, the Bruhns say, adding they welcome and encourage local vendors, entertainers, and concessionaires to contact them

"It’s romance and it’s fantasy. It’s going back to a simpler way of life. It’s going back to when there was good guys and bad guys and a clear definition of the two," Melony says.

Those of you yearning for the ‘poke-and-dogie days’ can saddle up and lend a hand. The Bruhns can be reached at 458-3700; a Web site, http://www.montanawildwestfest.com, will be up and running some time this week.

"On the Record" appears on Mondays. Lob comments, criticism or kudos to city-county reporter Jason Mohr at 447-4075 or [email protected].