#cascade montana

[kemetic-dreams]

"Stagecoach" Mary Fields, America's first African female postal worker, was known for her fearless delivery of mail across hundreds of miles in the dangerous Wild West.

Born a slave in the 1830s in the South, Fields found work with the help of a nun named Mother Amadeus after the Civil War. Initially, she worked in an Ohio convent, then moved to St. Peter’s Convent in Montana.

Despite working among nuns, Fields was far from nun-like. She was a regular visitor to saloons, smoked cigars, got into brawls, and wasn't shy to use her guns. After an altercation with a janitor at St. Peter’s, she was set up by Mother Amadeus with a job at the U.S. Postal Service in 1895.

Fields, the first African woman and only the second woman overall to hold a mail route in the U.S., demonstrated great resilience and courage. In her 60s, she dutifully protected her mail with a rifle and a revolver, unfazed by danger.

She often traveled 300 miles a week to cover her route. In snow, she would strap on her snowshoes and carry the mail in a sack across her shoulders, ensuring it reached its destination.

Her commitment to her job and strong character made her a local hero in Cascade, Montana. She was the only woman allowed to drink at the local bar who wasn't a sex worker, ate for free at the Cascade Hotel, and the townspeople built her a new home when hers burned down.

After eight years of mail delivery, she started a laundry business. Upon her death in 1914, the Cascade community held one of the largest funerals the town had ever witnessed in her honor.

#stagecoach #stagecoach mary fields #mary fields #mary stagecoach fields #african #afrakan #kemetic dreams #brownskin #africans #brown skin #afrakans #montana #cascade montana #wild wild west

[furnituremontana]

#Lati #wood veneer #custom furniture #cascade montana #Youtube

[samwisefamgee]

Just found out Multnomah Falls are the most visited national recreation site in the PNW and I might flip

#its a cool spot dont get me wrong but you go there once then go again in 10 years and youve done it all #its bullshit cause its right on the interstate and everything else cool is in the mountains COWARDS #washington has tons of cooler shit. idaho has almost as cool shit. does montana not count as pnw anymore cause they outclass everyone #OREGON has cooler shit !!!! CRATER LAKE IS RIGHT THERE #all of the cascades. all of them. the ENTIRE olympic PENINSULA #sun lakes dry falls please anywhere else #its just two waterfalls and a bridge. thats IIIIIIT #THATS IT #lake chelan OR crater lake if you dont fear the infinite unchecked depths of 1000+ deep freshwater lakes cmon there are way cooler spots #then TWOOOOL WATERFALLS #the HALL of the MOSSES #boundless old growth forests begging you BEGGING you to hold a towering red ceder so so close #western red ceders are so pretty they make me cry #endless fields of sagebrush by vast cool lakes in barren central washington #the HOH RAINFOREST PLEASE

[xtruss]

Cougars are Ambushing and Killing Wolves—and No One Knows Why

These rare kills in Washington State have biologists searching for answers. “Everyone always assumes wolves have the upper hand,” says one scientist. “But that’s not always the case.”

— By Kylie Mohr | August 25, 2023

Fighting like Cats and Dogs? As Washington State Cougars target Wolves, scientists are grappling to understand this unusual behavior. Since their reintroduction to the American West in 1995, wolves have expanded their range. Though some neighboring States have five times as many wolves, Washington is documenting far more of these kills—almost 30 percent of the 21 documented natural wolf mortalities in the state. "That's huge if that trend holds," says Trent Roussin, a Washington biologist. Photograph By Bob Gibbson/Alamy

A female wolf padded down an old logging road in northeastern Washington last summer. The yearling would have barely made a sound as she trotted through brush and dry pine needles on an overgrown path that dropped into a steep canyon. Somewhere in the shadows—possibly tucked away in the bushes or hunkered down behind a boulder—she was watched by amber eyes. They belonged to a cougar, which pounced.

The two tangled in a blur of fur, claws, and teeth, with evidence showing the fight came to an abrupt end, about a hundred yards downhill, when the cougar's sharp bite punctured the wolf's skull. The feline nibbled on the wolf, then hid the carcass for a later meal before slinking off into the forest.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff have documented cougars killing six collared wolves since 2013—almost 30 percent of the 21 documented natural wolf mortalities in the state. "That's huge if that trend holds and is representative of the entire population [in the state]," says Trent Roussin, a WDFW biologist. The kills involve multiple wolf packs in different areas of Washington.

Such kills are rare elsewhere in the U.S. West, where more wolves are on the landscape since their reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park, which is mostly in Wyoming, and central Idaho in 1995. Today Montana and Idaho have over five times more wolves than Washington.

Yellowstone biologists documented only two cases of cougars killing wolves in the past 28 years (the last in 2003). Idaho also recorded only two kills (the last in 2012).

In Montana, five wolf deaths due to cougars were documented between 2009 and 2012. "We have not seen anything like that since that time to my knowledge," said Brian Wakeling, game management bureau chief, by email.

"It just goes to show how rare it is in those states,” says Roussin. “We have a much smaller population, but we've documented it far more frequently." Wolves had naturally dispersed into Washington by the summer of 2008; recent counts found 216 wolves in 37 packs, mostly in the Cascade Range and the state's wooded northeastern corner.

Roussin points to the cougar's signature on this wolf skull: two punctures where the cat’s teeth pierced it. Photograph Via WDFW

The Lone Wolf Factor

While a wolf pack tends to have an advantage over a single cougar—sometimes running it up into a tree or kicking it off a carcass to scavenge for themselves—a cougar excels in a one-on-one ambush. All but one of Washington's wolf kills involved lone wolves.

"Everyone always assumes wolves have the upper hand," says ecologist Mark Elbroch, the leader of Panthera's Puma Program. "But that's not always the case." (Cougars are interchangeably referred to as pumas and mountain lions.)

Washington’s first known wolf death by cougars, in 2013, was an underweight yearling female traveling on a ridgeline in the Cascade Mountains. A cougar killed another wolf in the same Teanaway pack, a two-year-old male, in March 2014, near a creek. It happened again, a month later: a six-year-old breeding male of the Smackout pack, within sight of the den. Researchers also documented more recent cougar kills: a seven-year-old female wolf in 2019, the yearling female in early September of last year, and then a wolf pup later that month.

A Clue From Tracking Tools

Radio collars tipped off biologists to this trend. "The use of collars certainly brings some of these stories to light," says Dan Stahler, a biologist who leads wolf and cougar research in Yellowstone National Park. When an animal doesn't move for eight hours, its collar sends a signal. Scientists hustle to retrieve the collar and piece together what happened.

Investigators first look for signs of poaching by humans, a common cause of death. They also examine the scene for animal tracks, scat, and the wolf’s body positioning. A neatly hidden carcass suggests a cougar, while a mess of scattered limbs could be another wolf. Biologists then take the wolf carcass, or sometimes just its head, back to the lab for more tests. Necropsies reveal the distinct cougar signature: two punctures in the skull.

When the two species interact, it tends to be over prey, but only one of Washington's documented wolf mortalities by a cougar involved a moose carcass—a messy situation where researchers believe a cougar killed a wolf pup while its pack was feeding on a moose.

All but one of Washington's documented wolf kills by cougars involved lone wolves. The state counts around 216 wolves in 37 packs, mostly in the Cascade Range and its wooded northeastern corner, where this pack is located. Photograph Via WDFW

Could Terrain Be Key?

Interactions between wolves and cougars appear to vary by habitat. Researchers found wolves killing numerous cougar kittens in the Teton Range, and a 2020 study there found wolves affected cougar populations more than recreational hunting or prey availability. Cougars fatally attacking wolves, lead author Elbroch says, is "the rarer of the two potential outcomes."

But biologists haven't documented wolf kills of cougars or their kittens in Washington. And while wolves have killed a few cougars and kittens in neighboring Yellowstone National Park, researchers found wolves didn't have a major effect on cougar populations there. In fact, cougars continued to increase in number following wolf reintroduction.

Data collected in Yellowstone before, during, and after wolf reintroduction provides a window into how the species have found a way to warily coexist by partitioning the landscape. Cougars shrunk their home ranges as wolves expanded in the park, selecting areas that were craggier, steeper, and more densely forested.

"This is what allows them to be more sneaky, to work their way through and still survive in this landscape that's dominated by wolves and bears," says Toni Ruth, a biologist who studied cougars there from 1998 to 2006 for the Hornocker Wildlife Institute. Wolves hunting in packs prefer open country where they can outrun, tire, and surround their prey.

Wolf tracks on a Washington road. Wolves generally prefer open areas such as meadows while cougars inhabit craggy ravines and forests. One theory holds that Washington's landscape may be giving cougars an upper hand, though this hasn't yet been formally studied. Photograph Via WDFW

Without a large enough sample size to draw more definitive conclusions, Roussin suggests habitat differences could help explain Washington's higher wolf mortality from cougars. The state has steep mountains, tight ravines, and fewer open rolling meadows—which might give cougars an upper hand. Experts say other factors could be at play too, like cougar density, wolf pack size, or even wolves' relative newness to an area. Roussin plans a formal analysis if more incidents occur.

Meanwhile wolves and cougars will continue overlapping, as they have for thousands of years. "These two species coexisted a heck of a long time before we began interfering with things," Elbroch says.

As wolves newly repopulate in areas such as Oregon and California, a better understanding of how they interact with other species, including us, is key. "We're in an era of carnivore restoration in the western U.S. that's unprecedented," Stahler says. "The big question that's unanswered is how do we as humans fit into that story."

#Cougars #Wolves #Ambushing #Killing #Washington State #Biologists #Scientist #Unusual Behavior #American West #Neighboring States #Trent Roussin | Biologist #Washington | Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) #Yellowstone National Park #Wyoming #Montana #Brian Wakeling | Game Management Bureau Chief #Cascade Range #Mark Elbroch | Panthera's Puma Program #Teanaway Pack #Smackout Pack #Dan Stahler | Biologist #Cougar | Moose | Mortalities #Teton Range #Toni Ruth | Biologist #Hornocker Wildlife Institute #Oregon | California

[luca19632]

Acqua #valdaosta #valledaosta #valledaostanelcuore #valledaostaimmaginiemozioni #acqua #acquafresca #water #eau #wasser #agua #cascata #cascatella #waterfall #cascade #cascada #wasserfall #montagna #mountain #montagne #montana #berg #primavera #printemps #spring #springtime #frühling #lucacortese (presso Parco naturale del Mont Avic) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce28hh0IwpU/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#valdaosta #valledaosta #valledaostanelcuore #valledaostaimmaginiemozioni #acqua #acquafresca #water #eau #wasser #agua #cascata #cascatella #waterfall #cascade #cascada #wasserfall #montagna #mountain #montagne #montana #berg #primavera #printemps #spring #springtime #frühling #lucacortese

[george-weasleys-girl]

The prompt

“Hey, don’t throw that red bow away! It has a double use.” “Like what?” “Maybe you should use it to tie me to the bed instead, yeah? It’s long enough.”

but.... it's Fred saying to the reader 😀 JKKKKK

❄️Yuletide Celebration❄️

Warnings: smut, a few curse words

Prompts courtesy of @dumplingsjinson

18+ only

Red Velvet

Y/N used her wand to clean up the mess of wrapping paper and boxes, watching as the items floated gracefully through the air and into the trash bin. Suddenly, Fred jumped up, grabbing a velvety red bow as it passed over his head.

"Hey, don’t throw that red bow away! It has a double use," he grinned.

Y/N turned to look at him, eyebrows drawn together. "Like what?"

Fred's eyes twinkled, and his grin grew even wider, "Maybe you should use it to tie me to the bed instead, yeah? It’s long enough."

"Tie you up, huh?" She bit her bottom lip and grinned.

~•~

Y/N hovered over him and loosened her hair, letting it cascade down. Only then did she lean down to place a line of kisses along the line of his jaw, then down his neck, slowly working her way down his body. Her hair trailed behind her, raising goosebumps on his skin.

A soft groan escaped his lips when she grazed his nipple with her teeth. She looked up and grinned, then continued her slow journey down the length of his body. Stopping to give his rock-hard cock a teasing lick from base to tip, causing him to buck his hips with a soft whimper, before moving down to tease his balls, taking one in her mouth, gently sucking and rolling her tongue around it. Then, moving to the other and doing the same drawing out even more desperate whimpers.

"Fuck," he groaned in frustration.

"All in good time, my love, all in good time," she winked and moved back up, taking his cock in hand, to swirl her tongue around the tip. Fred pulled against his restraints as he tried in vain to push more of himself inside her mouth. But she was straddled across his legs, preventing him from moving.

"You're killing me, woman." Fred writhed beneath her.

"Regretting your decision?" She said, now teasing his tip with her thumb.

"Getting there," he groaned.

Y/N giggled. "Perhaps I should end your torment, then?"

Once again, Fred tried to thrust upward into her hand and once again failed. "Please..." He begged.

With a grin, she shifted to angle herself perfectly above twitching cock, before sheathing him slowly, bit by inscruitating bit and drawing a loud, obscene moan from her husband that went straight to her pussy.

"Oooh, Merry Christmas to me," she teased, raising up and slamming back down onto him.

"Something... resembling... speed," he groaned.

Y/N gave him a wicked smile, continuing her slow torture for several seconds longer before picking up the pace. She'd never seen Fred go this feral. Every inch of him writhed beneath her, straining against his bonds and uttering the hottest fucking moans she'd ever heard coming out of his mouth.

Within minutes, Fred groaned out an earth shattering "FUCK" and fell apart under her, filling her to the brim and bringing her over the edge with him.

~•~

"Damn... that was amazing," Fred chuckled after a few minutes.

"Wanna try it again sometime?" Y/N asked while she untied the last bow

"Oh yeah, definitely," he grinned, shifting on top of her and pinning her down. "But now it's your turn," he winked and began tying her down.

~•~

@milivanili99 @fancy-pantaloons @turvi @zvummyummy @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @georgie-weasley @nighttimemoonlover @jsjcue @wzrd-wheezes @fredweasleyyyyy @hufflepuffie @alexistonks @anvaaryn @samshifts @asuperconfusedgirl @superduckmilkshake @mysticsheepsoul @gemofthenight @1lellykins @junerprsh @sierraluvz @wolfkill16 @smallsweetvanillabean @costheticbabe @thatonepersonwhocantwrite @charmedfandomgal @loveosewood @hanne-montana @rhunew @greenapplegrass @lizzytrees @spididerman @Havenater1920

#fred weasley #fred weasley x fem!reader #fred weasley x y/n #fred weasley x you #fred weasley x reader #fred weasley smut

[curiositydooropened]

Ranged • Masterlist

After Hell brought Horror to the Heartland, America’s dirt roads and open woods began to fall to rot and ruin. To prevent further inter dimensional slips, the government dispatched several workers, such as yourselves, to travel the country saving small communities. 

Pairing: special agent!Steve Harrington x special agent!Reader

Wordcount: TBD - This fic is on-going, some long chapters, some blurbs. Think of it as a serial, episodic.

Warnings: very slowburn, coworkers to lovers, angst, hurt/comfort, canon-typical violence, canon-typical gore, weapons, fighting, murder, viruses, decay, monsters *See individual chapters for warnings.

I will be updating this fic whenever I feel like it.

This blog is 18+ only. I do not give permission for any of my fics to be duplicated, reposted, or put into AI. Thank you!

Navigation • Masterlist

---

Moodboard • WIP Wednesday

Episodes:

00: Prologue - Western Montana

01: Firetower - Cascades

02: Home [Coming Soon]

Blurbs:

---

[Author's Note: This is my little answer to X-Files or Supernatural but in the Stranger Things universe. Think of each episode as like a monster-of-the-week, where Steve and his partner jet off to various areas of the US to stop the Spread of rot and kill demo-beasts. Thanks, as always, for reading. xo]

#stranger things fic #steve harrington fic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington angst #steve harrington hurt/comfort #stranger things #steve harrington #wip fic #amanda's wips #ranged fic

[contemplatingoutlander]

The heat index reached 152 degrees in the Middle East — nearly at the limit for human survival

As the Northern Hemisphere approaches summer’s peak, heat is testing the limits of human survival in Earth’s hottest spots — and demonstrating the extremes that are increasingly possible and probable against the backdrop of accelerating global warming. In recent days, China set an all-time high of nearly 126 degrees Fahrenheit, while Death Valley hit 128 degrees, two shy of the highest reliably measured temperature on Earth. Phoenix was expected to observe a record-breaking 19th consecutive day at or above 110 degrees Tuesday. And in the Middle East, the heat index reached 152 degrees, nearing — or surpassing — levels thought to be the most intense the human body can withstand. Such conditions are more than enough to overwhelm the body’s ability to regulate its internal temperature, experts said, and offer a glimpse of dangers only expected to become more prevalent as global warming increases extremes in heat and humidity. “We know these extreme temperatures are killing people right now,” said Cascade Tuholske, an assistant professor at Montana State University.

Can the fossil fuel oligarchs who fund the Republican Party FINALLY acknowledge that climate change is real and contributing to more extreme, deadly weather events?

Wealth can only protect one so much from extreme weather events.

Isn't it time for even these greedy people to understand that their continued denial of the problem (and the denial of the Republican politicians they have bought) is contributing to the destruction of life on the planet at a much faster pace than we initially thought?

#climate change #extreme weather #extreme heat #152 degrees F in the middle east #fossil fuel oligarchs #the washington post

[topgun-imagines]

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Requested: yes

Summary: A vacation in the mountains leads to you and your fiancé enjoying some alone time.

Word count: 1.5k

Warnings: Slight smut. Sexual innuendos.

Pairings: Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky x fem!reader

Snow cascaded down around the car. The long driveway up to the cabin was slightly slippery due to the ice that covered it. Your hand was clasped in your fiancé’s as he drove up to the cozy-looking cabin. You and Ice had planned to take a trip up to Montana for Christmas, choosing to spend the holidays in a cozy cabin with snow rather than a tiny bungalow with lots of sand. The cabin was beautiful. It overlooked a vast mountain range covered in green trees. Fog rolled softly over the bottom of the valley.

When the car stopped, Ice got out first, moving toward the trunk of the car. You followed suit, your hip bumping into his when you stood new to him. That brought a grin to his face. You both grabbed your bags before heading toward the cabin. Ice unlocked the door, looking down at you with a smile that mirrored your own. The inside of the cabin was even more gorgeous than the outside. A beautiful light fixture hung above the beautifully decorated living room. Next to it sat the kitchen and dining room, all furnished with what you would expect to find in the mountains of Montana. It gave the cabin a very homie feel.

You and your fiancé dropped your bags off in the bedroom. Ice lead you back to the living room, sitting down on the couch and pulling you to his chest. “What do you wanna do, baby?” He murmured lowly in your ear, sending shivers up your spine. You tilted your head to the side, allowing him to pepper kisses over your neck and jaw. The soft scratch of the stubble he had been growing out recently caused you to giggle quietly. You could feel Ice smile into the crook of your neck.

“Hmm,” You hummed quietly, turning your head to capture his lips with your own. His tongue nudged against your bottom lip softly. Pulling back from the kiss, you half-smirked at the groan that came from Ice. He rested his forehead against yours. “How about we eat then check out the hot tub?” You suggested. The trip up to the cabin had consisted of two days full of driving. You had gotten up early in the morning that day, meaning that you had arrived just before you would usually have dinner. He nodded softly, pressing one more kiss to your lips before standing from the couch.

The pair of you began to make dinner, Ice searing the pork while you tossed the salad. It appeared to be a smart idea to stop for groceries before coming up to the cabin. Dinner was done shortly after. You and your fiancé sat at the large dining room table next to the windows that overlooked the valley. You smiled softly when Ice lit the candles at the center of the table.

A calm and peaceful ambiance filled the cabin. The only sounds that could be heard throughout it were the soft scraping of forks and knives and your soft chatter with Ice. When you were finished you stood from the table and headed to the sink. The dishes were washed in silence. Suddenly, a genius plan entered Ice’s mind. When you were distracted with drying your cutlery, he tipped his plate at just the right angle, sending streams of water toward you. He chuckled heartily at your surprised shriek. When you pouted at him playfully he only grinned and pressed a sloppy kiss to the side of your face.

The rest of the dishes were washed without incident, leading to where you and Ice were now. Standing across from each other on opposite sides of the bed, you were each digging through your suitcases in search of your swimsuits. Of course, seeing as you live in sunny Mirimar, you had many swimsuits that were perfect for the warm weather. However, seeing as you were going to be in a much colder climate for the next week, you had only brought one of your more insulated swimsuits. Your fiancé, strangely enough, seemed to have a strange affinity with ice baths, which is why the only thing he brought was a pair of loose-fitting trunks. If you had to guess, you’d estimate that he didn’t just plan on simply relaxing in the hot tub. Knowing him, he had a much dirtier idea in mind.

You pulled the swimsuit from your bag before glancing up to see Ice. You were instantly lost in your thoughts, mind reeling as you tonight about how much you loved him. It wasn’t a secret to anyone that Ice usually wasn’t a very affectionate person but you were the one to change that. Ever since Ice had met you, it was as if he decided to abandon the reputation he had made for himself years ago. You knew that before you came into the picture, Ice was very well known for not being close with anyone except Slider. But the second he met you, any presence of his cold exterior melted away.

An arm winding around your waist and a gentle kiss against the side of your head pulled you from your daydream. “Whatcha thinkin about, baby?” He murmured softly against your skin. A soft, domestic smile grew on your face. When you glanced up to meet his eyes, you saw a similar one beaming down at you. You only hummed, reassuring him that it was nothing, before kissing him lightly. He chased your lips when you pulled away, eyes half-lidded. Ice groaned when you pulled away fully. You only grinned, stripping out of your clothes. That seemed to change his attitude rather quickly.

The two of you got changed wordlessly, Ice unable to help himself from stealing glances at you every now and then. When your fiancé was finished getting changed, he headed to the bathroom to retrieve two of the large, fluffy bath towels. He entered the room, stopping short when he saw you bent over, ass very prominently showing through the fabric of your bikini bottoms. You strained yourself out, turning to find Ice staring at you starstruck. With a cheeky grin, you turned back around. Slipping your bra from your shoulders, you can feel Ice’s eyes burning into your back. “Can you help me?’ You question in a sickly sweet voice once you had pulled your bikini top on. The next thing you felt was his warm fingers softly brushing against your skin as he carefully knotted the strings.

Moments later you found yourself in the hot tub, nestled up beside Ice as you drank from the spiked hot chocolates you had made. The two of you were sitting in comfortable silence, watching the snow fall over the valley in front of you. You shuddered slightly when you felt his fingertips brush over your shoulder. You thought it was innocent, how his hand drew small shapes into your skin, almost causing you to nod off. However, when his fingers began tugging lightly at the knot he had tied, you instantly knew that you had been wrong. With an amused smile, you turned to face your fiancé.

You found him staring off into the valley with a not-so-subtle smirk on his face. “What are you doing?” You chuckled quietly. His only response was to turn his head and nuzzle into your neck, finger still attempting to undo your top. The stubble on his cheeks rubbing against your neck and face caused you to giggle. You tried to tuck your head, immediately becoming ticklish. ‘Ice stop,” You tried, giggling relentlessly. You could practically feel his smile against your neck as he started peppering kisses on it. Laughing even louder, you tried to move away from him only to find his arm wound around your waist. “Please, that tickles,” You tried one last time. He only shook his head, mumbling something into your skin that you couldn’t quite hear. “What was that?”

When he pulled back so you could hear him clearly, you nearly fell into the hut tub in a fit of laughter. “Suck my candy cane,” He murmured. You were laughing even louder now than you were when he was tickling you. His fingers which had been tugging on your top for the past three minutes had finally undone the strings. You were kind of amazed that it had taken him this long. When your top fell into the water your fiancé’s head shot upwards. There was a teasing smirk on his face as he spoke. “So, what are you waiting for?” Shivers ran down your spine.

“Yes sir.” You replied quickly, already pushing him up to the next ledge of the hot tub. His hand found its way to your hair. You had high expectations that you would be in for a long night.

a/n: Thank you for reading! Requests are open.

#tom iceman kazansky #iceman x reader #top gun #tom kazansky #tom kazansky x reader #top gun 1986 #top gun fanfiction #top gun x female reader #iceman #top gun x reader #iceman top gun #iceman x female reader #tom iceman kazansky fanfic #ice x reader #top gun fluff #val kilmer #ice #top gun maverick #iceman fic #iceman fanfic #tom kazansky top gun #top gun 86 #tgog #iceman fluff #iceman smut

[sunnydaysinamusicalhaze]

She drank whiskey, swore often, and smoked handmade cigars. She wore pants under her skirt and a gun under her apron. At six feet tall and two hundred pounds, Mary Fields was an intimidating woman.

Mary lived in Montana, in a town called Cascade. She was a special member of the community there. All schools would close on her birthday, and though women were not allowed entry into saloons, she was given special permission by the mayor to come in anytime and to any saloon she liked.

But Mary wasn’t from Montana. She was born into enslavement in Tennessee sometime in the early 1830s, and lived enslaved for more than thirty years until slavery was abolished. As a free woman, life led her first to Florida to work for a family and then Ohio when part of the family moved.

When Mary was 52, her close friend who lived in Montana became ill with pneumonia. Upon hearing the news, Mary dropped everything and came to nurse her friend back to health. Her friend soon recovered and Mary decided to stay in Montana settling in Cascade.

Her beginning in Cascade wasn’t smooth. To make ends meet, she first tried her hand at the restaurant business. She opened a restaurant, but she wasn’t much of a chef. And she was also too generous, never refusing to serve a customer who couldn’t pay. So the restaurant failed within a year.

But then in 1895, when in her sixties, Mary, or as “Stagecoach Mary” as she was sometimes called because she never missed a day of work, became the second woman and first African American to work as a mail carrier in the U.S. She got the job because she was the fastest applicant to hitch six horses.

Eventually she retired to a life of running a laundry business. And babysitting all the kids in town. And going to baseball games. And being friends with much of the townsfolk.

This was Mary Fields. A rebel, a legend.

[atallephoculary]

—- G o s p e l —

[ @extristitiavenit ]

Hope County was truly a beautiful place; the cascading mountains and rolling hills of fertile farmland seemed to stretch for miles and miles, disappearing into lines of thick spring pines that dotted the horizon. It seemed like it was such an idyllic place; Marion often found herself reminiscing about her childhood home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana whilst on her lunch breaks due to the overwhelming amount of very beautiful but very foreign scenery… A swampy transplant into an arid tundra, a fish out of water. Being sent all over the country was hard enough as it was, but never being able to stay in one place long enough to grow some roots was harder. It was always something- a new job, a boyfriend, loss of income— something- something- something… Deputy Fuller had hoped that a change of scenery into the God fearing farmlands would strike down whatever wandering roots that would grab soil. Maybe this could actually be the place she settled down and called it good. Maybe it was the place where she would live and die quietly after she finished with whatever dumb prospect this job was.

The station was quiet, though as usual there was a gentle chatter over the radio between squad cars and her co-workers idle conversations flowing through the air in a gentle hum while the air conditioning unit whirs quietly overhead. As nice as it was to have such down time, it did put a slight alarm through her. Could it be quiet here for longer than a day? Probably not- there was always something happening over the radio, with those Peggies meandering around the valley and mountains- the ‘Eden’s Gate’ project, or whatever.. She really didn’t care. It didn’t affect her life, (well- it did- it did so much she ended up in Hope County, Montana to fill in a position that was, in fact, permanently vacant); and the ways it did affect her were easily written off with a nice blunt and a cold drink at her small cabin after work. Quitting time was always on her mind- her hazy green hues darting over to the white bubble clock that hung over the dirty front door. 5:15 p.m.- another 15 minutes until she could clock out and head home… Outside, a caravan of white vehicles with that stupid cross painted on the sides of them head down the main thoroughfare- honking and blasting their music loud enough to be heard all the way inside the station offices- “Keep your rifle by our side!” The tune hangs high in the air like a flag, and soon the cacophony of tires and engines and guitars fade into the distance until there was nothing left but the gentle clicking of the clock and the hum of the air conditioner. Marion rolled her eyes, stretched her arms up above her head and let off a loud yawn; hands unceremoniously rubbing her face and pushing back her mess of black curly hair. What a boring day. Nothing but paperwork and emails, two phone calls from the F.A.N.G center and one from the Chief to keep an eye out for a package that may or may not show up. Again. What a thrilling job; (Junior) Deputy Sheriff and she may as well have been a fucking secretary.

Another shift, another day completed; clocking out with an actual time punch was always one of the best parts of the job, one of those ‘little things’ her therapist back in Los Angeles told her when she was in her early years of being on the force.. What a lifetime ago, freshly 18 and just wanting to do the right thing— a road to hell paved with the best of intentions.. The old machine reams the paper with a clunk and Marion is out the door with her bag and glasses in hand, headed out to the old Ford truck in the parking lot.. The sun was setting by now, the sky being painted in brilliant chunks of reds and oranges and pinks.. A nice view for the drive home too, tires whirring down the evenly paved road down into Holland Valley. Farm land, for miles and miles. At least, she thought, it didn’t stink like some parts of the country she had stayed in.. These people out here took good care of their livestock and it showed. When the engine of the trucks begun to rattle and almost scream with uncertainty, it made her flicker back to reality and ease off the road and onto the shoulder; smoke flooding from the hood of the car as the lever under her seat was pressed with trepidation and concern for how she was now going to get home.

Standing over the fried engine, lit cigarette between her lips and flashlight in her southpaw, she felt like a real tool standing out there in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere, nothing but trees and fields and cars that scooted by almost hurriedly as the night settled into the valley. Marion didn’t blame them- things tended to get sketchy at best when night came.

“Aaaah fuckin’… Ya’ piece of shit, perfect fuckin’ timing to die out on me huh. You juss’ loooooove causing me issues.” The bayou woman scoffed and slammed the hood down after settling on a diagnosis: Fried radiator and snapped belt, transmission broken. Absolute destruction. Leaning now with her back to the warmed metal of the hood, she idly flicks through her phone— no signal— no reach. There was nothing out here, and she wasn’t exactly able to take a radio from the station. That was priorly a write up. So with a scoff and a groan and a few more expletives, Marion cleared the cab of her belongings and shoved them unceremoniously into her leather backpack, turned off the lights and slammed the truck door closed with a thud. There was nothing now but the eerie silence and the air current moving through the trees- if she didn’t like the dark at home, she surely hated it when outside. There was a certain fear that comes with walking alone at night, but hopefully, hopefully, the 13 mile walk in almost pitch darkness wouldn’t be that bad.

#| Gospel of Baptism — John } #And we should. — Starters } #| @extristitiavenit } #(( || And awaaaaaayy we go! ))

[furnituremontana]

Limed and Ebonized White Oak Game Table 32" dia. 30"h

#custom furniture #cascade montana #white oak #made in montana #pedestal table #game table #card table

[turtlesandfrogs]

"These trees are the Pacific Northwest’s iconic western redcedars (Thuja plicata). 

To many Indigenous peoples, who used the trees for houses, clothes, weapons, tools, medicines, art and canoes, they’re known as the Tree of Life."

"The government report cites previous research showing that by the end of this century the western redcedar’s range is likely to disappear at lower elevations west of the Cascades and will disappear almost entirely from eastern Washington, shifting north and eastward into the Rockies in Montana and Canada."

"Western redcedars, which aren’t as good as many other trees at slowing water loss during warm and dry conditions, seem to be especially vulnerable to droughts, and the researchers’ findings point in that direction. 

The major climate event impacting the trees, say the researchers, has been the drought. 

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which is cited in the report, both Oregon and Washington have been in some form of drought since the start of this century.

To be sure, the two-decade period included both wet and dry periods.

But lack of precipitation alone doesn’t define a drought. Which is why the monitor, and scientists generally, use more complicated metrics that track factors such as soil moisture as well as heat and drought stress on plants, all of which are affected by warm temperatures.

Temperatures over the two-decade period were warm, trending higher than previous decades—leading to dry soils and stressed plants. Buhl says this longer trend helps explain what’s happening to western redcedars."

Source:

#not good #climate change effects

[only-horse-polls]

Fictional Horse Tournament (FHT)

Starting list - Group Linus

#Group Linus propaganda

All media of origin are listed in parentheses and sorted in alphabetical order. Character names are not sorted in any order.

Fury (Fury)

Blue Jeans (Hannah Montana)

Spartan (Heartland)

Calypso (Horseland)

Scarlet (Horseland)

Aztec (Horseland)

Button (Horseland)

Tir Na Nog (Into the Wast)

Pebbles (Kingdom Come: Deliverance)

Sham (King Of The Wind)

Goliath (Ladyhawke)

Firebolt (LEGO Elves)

Silver (Lone Ranger)

Arod (Lord Of The Rings)

Asfaloth (Lord Of The Rings)

Bill the Pony (Lord Of The Rings)

Brego (Lord Of The Rings)

Firefoot (Lord Of The Rings)

Shadowfax (Lord Of The Rings)

Snowmane (Lord Of The Rings)

Jolly Jumper (Lucky Luke)

Maisa (Maisa de dappere arabier)

D-Horse (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain)

Cascade (Midori no Makibaō)

Makibaō (Midori no Makibaō)

Miramis (Mio, My Son, Mio, Min Mio)

Mister Ed (Mister Ed)

Misty (Misty of Chincoteague)

Unnamed horse of Primadonna, Lagoona (Moomin)

Unnamned horse of The Lady of the Cold, The Great Cold, Isfun, Den stora kölden (Moomin)

Scheherazade, Sherry (Mr. Revere and I)

Khan (Mulan)

Mulle (Mulle, Min Häst)

Flicka (My Friend Flicka)

Umako (My Horse Prince, Uma no Prince-Sama)

Bon Bon (My Little Pony Tales)

Bright Eyes (My Little Pony Tales)

Clover (My Little Pony Tales)

Melody (My Little Pony Tales)

Patch (My Little Pony Tales)

Starlight (My Little Pony Tales)

Sweetheart (My Little Pony Tales)

Applejack (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Pinkie Pie (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Princess Cadance (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Princess Luna (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Rarity (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Fluttershy (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Minty (My Little Pony)

Bob (Nancy Drew: The Secret of Shadow Ranch)

Destrier (Narnia, Prince Caspian)

Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah, Bree (Narnia, The Horse and His Boy, The Last Battle)

Hwin (Narnia, The Horse and His Boy, The Last Battle)

Jewel (Narnia, The Last Battle)

Strawberry, Fledge (Narnia, The Magician's Nephew)

The Piebald, The Pie (National Velvet)

#FHT #Group Linus

[soberscientistlife]

Mary Fields (circa 1832–1914), also known as Stagecoach Mary and Black Mary, was the first African American female star route mail carrier in the United States. Fields had the star route contract for the delivery of U.S. mail from Cascade, Montana, to Saint Peter's Mission. She drove the route for two four-year contracts, from 1895 to 1899 and from 1899 to 1903.

Standing six feet tall and true to her fearless demeanor, she carried multiple firearms, most notably a .38 Smith & Wesson under her apron to protect herself and the mail from wolves, thieves and bandits, driving the route with horses and a mule named Moses. Mary gained her nickname “Stagecoach Mary” due to her use of a stagecoach as a method of transportation to deliver the mail. She never missed a day. If the snow was too deep for her horses, Fields delivered the mail on snowshoes, carrying the sacks on her shoulders.

Mary spent eight years delivering the mail as a Star Route Carrier. During this time, Mary became beloved by the locals of Cascade, Montana for her fearlessness and generosity, as well as for her kindness to children. Mary retired from being a Star Route Carrier in the early 20th century. After her retirement, Mary settled into life in Cascade, Montana.

Upon retiring, Mary started a laundry business in town. She also opened an eatery as well as babysat the local children. She remained famous, even becoming the mascot for the town’s baseball team. When Montana passed a law forbidding women to enter saloons, the mayor of Cascade granted her an exemption. Mary was beloved by the people of Cascade, so much so that she drank in saloons for free and ate for free at local restaurants and hotels.

Mary Fields died on December 5, 1914. After her death, the townspeople raised money to have her buried in a cemetery on a road she drove frequently that linked Cascade to the mission. Mary’s funeral was said to be one of the largest in town.

#black history month #blackhistory

[natures-moments]

North Cascades National Park, Montana, USA