Amy Gamerman

There were the people who honor the land which should belong to no one and everyone.

The people who wanted to profit from the land and make their fortune.

The people who struggled to hold onto the land their ancestors had settled.

And the people whose wealth allows them to own land as a plaything for their own enjoyment.

All these special interests met in a decade long conflict. It started when a rancher decided to lease his land for a wind farm. The income would guarantee his family could hold show more onto the land where they had lived since the late 19th c. The state of Montana required the power company to expand into renewable energy. The Crazy Mountain Range was known for its wind. It seemed a perfect solution.

But the billionaires who had been buying failed ranches fought the wind farm. They may only spend weeks or a month a year at their ranch, but they wanted pristine beauty, to indulge their fantasies.

Rich in detail and with finely drawn portraits of all the players, this is a long read about a complicated story, particular and yet universal in the essentials. It is about class and wealth and the little man. And about power, the power of money and the sway of fake news and the impact of natural beauty. Is the cost of saving the planet from climate change a degradation of its beauty, a threat to the ecosystem?

In the end, for reasons we agree with or not, the court determined who controlled the land.

A fine piece of narrative nonfiction that touches on essential issues.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley. show less

Fantastic Book! Read like good fiction, but outstanding non-fiction extremely well researched and excellent at capturing the dynamics of current day Montana. Compelling read for people living in the USA Western States and especially Montana. Many forces are changing the West with Climate Change always at the forefront causing other issues like changes to the land and agriculture and especially water shortages. The last 200 years of Western US History is full of powerful rich people exerting show more their will on others starting with the decimation of Native Americans and now many generations later the Caucasian people who displaced the Native Americans and settled much of the West as farmers and ranchers are being replaced by Super Wealthy people who have other ideas of how the land should be used. Some more nefarious like fencing it off to outsiders and using it as exclusive playgrounds for the rich and entitled. Some actually care about the land and wish to improve conservation. But the bottom line is that the 1% super rich are becoming dominant.

The Author has written a masterpiece of displaying these dynamics in a way compelling to many readers and getting past the simplistic, incorrect and exaggerated view of Montana presented by the Yellowstone TV series. She has done a fair job of presenting a brief background of the Crazy Mountains and area around Big Timber and the Yellowstone River including the Native American period on the land and then US Government's takeover. She has explained the checkerboard land give away to the railroads that has resulted in huge long term problems that have resulted, and she briefly touched on another battle around public access and Forest Service exchanges that is a huge story of it's own. I was amazed at her ability to learn so much detail on all the parties involved setting out their stories and helping the reader really understand and sympathize with these people and the Community of Big Timber. My only complaint is that the illustration of the sections of land owned by the main protagonists (which I believe was a court document presented by M0nica Tranel) does a poor job of showing the immensity of the land holdings by these and other Billionaires of the Crazy Mountain Island. More analysis and presentation of the amount of land held by a handful of Rich Billionaires of the entire Crazy Mountain range would probably shock the average citizen and reader.

I've heard that Ms. Gamerman has proclaimed there are no villains or heroes in interviews. But as someone who grew up working for ranchers like Jarret and Alfred and lives 50 miles from the area in contention and yet heard little about this from Montana news organizations outside of Park or Sweetgrass Counties, I feel these ranchers are the heroes as well as people like Marty Wilde (despite all his personal faults) and Monica Tranel. The villains are many including NorthWestern Energy, the Montana Public Service Commission, the Court System that allows rich people with lawyers to use delay and intimidation to squash Justice, and especially this group of Billionaires. There are many Billionaires in our Country doing good and trying to give back understanding that those who much is given to, owe much give back. This group of Billionaires is the epitome of Greed, Entitlement, and Hypocrisy!

I hope all citizens of the West will read this book to better understand the time we live in and maybe influence how we vote to prevent a few wealthy oligarchs from ruining our Country much like the rich Copper Kings of a Century ago left us a toxic legacy that we are still dealing with. show less

THE CRAZIES: The Cattleman, the Wind Prospector, and a War Out West by Amy Gamerman. A fascinating look at development in The Crazies, an island of mountains in the plains of Montana. The land was part of the treaty of 1875 with the Crow people, which was reduced significantly in subsequent treaties. The story of various people attempting to hold onto their land as the world changes, no villains or good guys, just some who have a lot more money. Fascinating story with many captivating asides.

The story of the battle between some entitled billionaire babies and Montana ranchers over land and wind rights. I was rooting for the goid guys but we lost.