Yellowstone National Park鈥檚 paint palette is a vibrant collection of hues: deep purple and fiery red wildflowers, warm gold grasses, cool green sagebrush, and polychromatic geysers. It has inspired artists like Tahoe City鈥揵ased painter Bryn Merrell and many others throughout history, including Yellowstone Bourbon, to pay homage to the park鈥檚 natural wonders.

Established in 1872,聽聽was crafted to honor the sprawling wonder of America鈥檚 first national park. It鈥檚 what first inspired us to create approachably smooth whiskey for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and why we still do it today.

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These days, nobody seems to dream about becoming a superhero anymore; instead, everybody wants to be a cowboy. Thanks to pop-culture phenomena like the hit TV show Yellowstone and Beyonc茅’s latest country album, cowboy culture has hit the mainstream in a big way. For many folks, the trend represents not just the ranching lifestyle but a celebration of freedom from the mundane. The allure of those ideals has some people rethinking their vacations. Over the past few years, we’ve seen more folks saying goodbye to all-inclusive beaches and saying hello to guided hikes and whiskey tastings in the American West. The result is an influx of tourists to places like Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Bozeman, Montana. But while plenty of people are packing their boots and bandanas for their Western vacays, we鈥檙e impressed most impressed by travelers’ dedication to the crown jewel of the aesthetic: the cowboy hat.

On that note, please meet our new favorite Instagram account: . This is a space committed to capturing the sojourners who are determined to travel in headwear that鈥攚hile perhaps practical for herding cattle across the prairie鈥攊s decidedly impractical for air travel. Such wardrobe choices often leave locals scoffing. “People treat traveling to Bozeman like they鈥檙e headed to an amusement park for their own kind of Yellowstone-themed Halloween party,鈥� one anonymous Montanan told 国产吃瓜黑料. “If聽you鈥檙e gonna pretend to play cowboy in a place where plenty of people still make their living running beef, you鈥檙e gonna get a little guff for it.鈥� Hence, the Bozeman Airport Cowboys Instagram account.

We’re not necessarily knocking the trend: it certainly seems nice to escape reality by pretending to be a cowboy while staying at a Hilton Inn with a nice view. And we fully believe that a good Stetson has the power to transport us from the bleak reality of the everyday to a place where we can dare to dream bigger. So consider this an ode to all you Bozeman Airport Cowboys out there. You do you. And in the meantime, we hope you enjoy this snapshot of Bozeman鈥檚 daily arrivals.

Introducing the Instagram Famous Cowboy Hats:

Let the wedding bells ring. This cowboy is getting hitched and has the hat to match in matrimony.

 

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Protect the rim of the hat at all costs.

 

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Forget the luggage, we鈥檙e carrying on a cowboy hat.

 

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This globetrotter has a hat to match every outfit he packed for his trip.

 

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John Dutton? Is that you?

 

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Today鈥檚 cowboy hats come in all shapes and sizes鈥揺ven hot pink with fur.

 

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Cowboy hats are an accessory for every season. We鈥檒l be sure to see a few hat-and-fur-coat combos at the Big Sky apr猫s.

 

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What’s better than a cowboy hat? A cat in a backpack,聽plus a cowboy hat!

 

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While we鈥檙e not sure these patrons understand聽what it really takes to be a cowboy, they do embody the resilience and drive of what it takes to travel with an accessory as delicate as the cowboy hat.

The post Where the Wild Hats Are: The Viral Account Documenting Bozeman鈥檚 Top Airport Accessory appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Growing up in the Tom Miner Basin near Yellowstone National Park, Malou Anderson-Ramirez had few encounters with grizzly bears. However, as conservation efforts led to a growing bear population, her family鈥檚 ranch began facing livestock losses. In response, they adjusted their operation and land ethics to continue raising cattle in harmony with the native predators, inspiring their community to do the same. Despite the challenges, there’s a deep sense of gratitude for life in such a beautiful place鈥攑erfect for raising a glass of bourbon on the rocks and savoring the moment.

Established in 1872,聽聽was crafted to honor the sprawling wonder of America鈥檚 first national park. It鈥檚 what first inspired us to create approachably smooth whiskey for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and why we still do it today.

The post What Life Is Like in Yellowstone appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Photographer and filmmaker Nate Dodge joins Yellowstone Bourbon master distiller Steve Beam for a ride of a lifetime: a helicopter tour of Yellowstone National Park. The two get a bird鈥檚-eye view of America鈥檚 first national park, including sightings of its diverse wildlife.

Gaining an even deeper appreciation for the remarkable landscape, Dodge and Beam get their boots dirty by lending a hand to the National Parks Conservation Association.

Established in 1872,聽聽was crafted to honor the sprawling wonder of America鈥檚 first national park. It鈥檚 what first inspired us to create approachably smooth whiskey for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, and why we still do it today.

The post Wildlife Immersion in Yellowstone National Park appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

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I started watching the hugely popular TV series Yellowstone in 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic. By then, there were multiple seasons available, and my husband and I had nothing but time. We were hooked.

We鈥檙e not the only ones. The second half of Season 5, which came out on November 11, saw more than . Only NFL football had than Yellowstone last season. Character names like Rip and Dutton have seen exponential increases in their use for newborn babies. And, as the recently reported, Americans really want their own piece of the Yellowstone landscape, and the show may be partly to blame.

Which got me thinking: How much of the show is based in reality, and is it really affecting what’s happening in the West? The show is over-the-top melodrama, but writer and co-creator Taylor Sheridan obviously chose real-life conflicts in Montana and other western states to base the plot on. Here are four ways the show bears more resemblance to reality than a casual fan might realize.

1. The Series Suggests Big Developers Will Stop at Nothing to Broker Land 鈥淒eals鈥濃�擳hat May Be True.

In Yellowstone, the Duttons are constantly navigating nefarious plots to seize their ranch by out-of-state land development interests. Some, it seems, will stop at nothing to dispossess the family in order to capitalize on the value of their land, creating ridiculously violent scenes.

In real life, there is example after example of complicated land deals in Montana and the West in which developments for the wealthy take up premier land. The Yellowstone Club, which is just north of Yellowstone National Park in Big Sky, Montana, has been a bastion for the ultra-wealthy since it opened in the late nineties. Boasting 鈥減rivate powder鈥� and ruthlessly protected privacy for its members, among other features, the Club was created through swaps with the Forest Service, which turned a checkerboard of public and private land into consolidated acreage for the Club鈥檚 founder, Tim Blixseth.

While the Yellowstone Club is already controversial among Montanans (few of whom can afford the steep costs of membership, which involve a , annual club dues of $36,000, and annual property owners association dues of $10,000), it鈥檚 also trying to expand into a contentious area of the Crazy Mountains. As Ben Ryder Howe reported in New York magazine’s , a group of billionaires associated with the Club has been maneuvering to privatize contested swaths of land that yield access to the Crazies for some time. The Forest Service, ranchers, the Native Crow, the general public, and the Yellowstone Club all seem to have a stake in the outcome.

2. Places Like Bozeman, Montana, Really Are Becoming Overrun with Furs and Fancy Cars.

I know folks who live in Bozeman, and I鈥檝e read plenty of the reporting we鈥檝e done here at 国产吃瓜黑料 (and elsewhere) related to life in mountain towns like Bozeman, where affordable housing shortages, the aftermath of a global pandemic, remote work, and the glamorization of mountain lifestyles have created a rich broth of income inequality that is apparent as you navigate the city.

Writing in 2022 for 国产吃瓜黑料, Maggie Slepian, who has been based in Bozeman for more than a decade, noted the visual changes on the town and the landscape that were being wrought by the influx of new, wealthy, second-home residents. Watching Yellowstone, some of the fashions my beloved Beth Dutton opted for on her runs to town struck me as a bit much even for her unparalleled character. (Silky sheaths beneath a luxe full-length fur coat, anyone?)

Sartorial considerations aside, affordability remains a major issue, and Yellowstone focuses primarily on the more glamorous troubles a family that owns the largest ranch in the area would face, not on the person being priced out of their apartment or the family acknowledging that they鈥檒l never be able to swing it for a single family home.

3. The Duttons Struggle to Afford Their Ranch. So Do Many Real Families.

In the years since Yellowstone premiered, a number of outlets have interviewed real generational ranchers in Montana to get a sense of their view of the show. The dynamics among the family itself often get highlighted as one of the most believable elements. In an Variety from 2023, a third-generation rancher from Idaho, Jesse Jarvis, highlights the familial dysfunction as one of the most realistic elements of the show.

The Duttons鈥� interpersonal conflicts are largely driven by the struggle to afford their 700,000-acre ranch. In real life, the total number of farms and ranches in Montana is down 10.3 percent from 2017, from 2022. And with continued interest from developers to obtain large tracts of land in the area, it seems likely land and home prices will continue to rise. Recent data from the indicates a consistent increase of cropland value in Montana from 2012 on. And this is to say nothing of the capital needed to operate a large-scale ranch.

4. Indigenous Land Is Being Acquired and Compromised by Development.

Fans of Yellowstone see complex dynamics of power and history at play in the dealings of the Duttons and others with the fictional Broken Rock Indian Tribe. As the screw twists and turns, the Broken Rock, led on the show by the Chairman Thomas Rainwater, find themselves on both the dealing and receiving ends of bad land deals and villainous behavior from local and out-of-state actors. This contemporary dispossession of Indigenous people fits into the long and violent history in which legal and extralegal measures are taken by those in power to forcibly remove Indigenous inhabitants from their land.

To cite a recent real example, you can look again to the Crazy Mountains in Montana. The Crazies are filled with significant and sacred sites for the Native Crow. In the current proposal for there, private land prevents the Crow from visiting many of these sites without permission from the landowner. 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别鈥檚 reporting on the Yaak Valley offers another illustrative example of these dynamics.

There鈥檚 likely much more to say about the real power dynamics in the Mountain West and the fights for public lands that overlap with some of what you see on the small screen in Tyler Sheridan鈥檚 fantasy universe. As they say, truth can really be stranger than fiction.

Ryleigh Nucilli got a master’s degree and half of a PhD in literature and culture from the University of Oregon before leaving to pursue a career in digital media. She loves reading and writing about the intersection of popular media and culture.

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