A note from our Assistant Editor, Carson Sprague

When I first heard the news that I had been accepted as a member of the editorial staff for Bitterroot, I was ecstatic. The opportunity to help oversee the development and publishing of an actual, honest-to-goodness, physical magazine was one that I had never imagined I would have, and certainly not at 23.  

After our initial applications, subsequent interviews, and eventual acceptance of our positions, Rebekah, Ty, Dr. Shirley, and I began our work for Bitterroot 2024 in early September. Looking back now, it seems so obvious that we would have picked “GRIT” as our theme for the 2024 edition. Our work and our lives necessitated it. Rebekah commuting each day from Harrison, navigating life as both a rancher and a student, Ty balancing his final semester with a historic Bobcat football season, Dr. Shirley welcoming a new member into her family, and my own bike accident that left me with ½ of the front teeth I had originally. Those were some hectic months, and yet we persevered. We showed our grit. 

Once the theme of “GRIT” had been decided and finalized, the opportunities for Bitterroot seemed infinite. The story of Montana is a story of grit: a tale of trials and tribulations, hardship, struggle, adversity, but also triumph and perseverance, unwavering conviction and the stubbornness to see things through. We knew there would be no shortage of stories to tell regarding grit in Montana. 

Having grown up in Bozeman, grit had always been out in the periphery. It was the haggard, old man bellied up to the counter at the Western Café, sipping coffee alone while I ate breakfast with my father. It was the rusted Ford trucks hauling horse trailers down the highway at 65 miles per hour. It was the bars of small-town Montana my grandfather would take me to, whose walls were decorated with mule deer mounts mangled by years of tobacco smoke. It is the farmer who refused to sell his land despite it being sandwiched between two new subdivisions, and the folks who stick around their hometowns long after the boom cycles of extractive enterprise have left the area.  

However, beyond our communities and history, grit is also a physical property. It is the dirt between your toes that you find when you take off your boots after a long hike. It is the dust in your eyes kicked up from a bucking bull at the rodeo. It’s the “camp-spice” on the food that you dropped in the sand on the banks of a river and the silt under your fingernails.  

To me, grit is synonymous with the history and environment of Montana. Yet, for all the ways I saw grit, I was still amazed by the depth and diversity of stories that our crew wanted to cover for this edition. Throughout the entire process, our team has showed incredible grit from day one, working together toward the ultimate goal of getting this thing financed, revised, designed, and ultimately printed into the incredible work you now hold in your hands.  

I am honored to have been a part of this crew. I could not be more proud of what we have created this semester, and I am stoked to finally share it with all of you. So, without further ado, here is Bitterroot.