Missoula At A Glance

By enniskeep, New West Unfiltered 8-04-06

Missoula At A Glance
by: Ennis Keep

The University of Montana bookstore sells a book, a historical documentation, complete with photos and the pioneering stories of dedicated and gifted individuals. The structures, built roughly between 1898-1956, are full of character and class. The women’s dorm had a dining hall and the men’s dorm had a mess hall; rumor has it, a secret underground passage since closed, connected to two. The football uniforms were of the late days’ fashion and the football completely leather without laces. The students looked wise and illuminated.

Thirty years ago in Missoula Higgins was the drag; a popular, friendly, lively place to be.
Nan and Jerry have given me the following account of the drag and community in Missoula.

They said, “Higgins has always been the street. During the summer every night teenagers went up and down the drag in cars, visiting their friends and strangers. Went on the drag Friday and Saturday during the school year nights. The X’s was called the Railroad station. We would always go there. There was a big train engine, the center piece, kind of. Years before people parked diagonally. They did away with that to make four lanes.
The drag used to be brick, in portions. Down where the X’s it was all brick. It was the drag just the minute you got across the bridge to the X’s. So you had to turn around using one way streets. You could spend some time finding another person in another car if they were on the other part of the street. So you’d park at one of the Drive-ins and watch for them to go by.
They had so many drive up restaurants, Brownies and the 99 Stop and Go. You could get a jumbo burger, five times as big as today for twenty-five cents and milkshakes for a quarter. If you didn’t own a car, you could just sit in the back seat of another person’s car. It didn’t matter. You were always able to get there. And most of the cars were not fancy. There were a few (drag racing.) You could call your parents and tell them you were at the drag and it was OK. They would know where you were.
The bars back then that were on the drag- they were for old people. The kids didn’t go to the bars. It was more about some place to hang out that we ended up on the drag. The drag was fancy looking. It’s gotten a little wiser. Back then it was more professional and there was no mall in Missoula. That brought Sentinel and Hellgate together although you did fly your colors a bit.
It (the atmosphere of Higgins) was progressive. When you were at a stoplight, the windows were rolled down. You would be talking at the person next to you and you would tell somebody to meet you at…
And of course there were people honking their horns, but it wasn’t hostile, it was friendly. You would be chatting in the intersection. You kind of felt sorry for the car load of kids with their parents on their way somewhere- how embarrassing. Of course, what really would come up was who won the game. It wasn’t really fun if Hellgate didn’t win. It was a great place to go if you won the football game. People would be flyin’ colors big time and honking their horns. You kind of owned the drag that night.
It went back and forth; there really never was one school that had a lock on any sport. Butte games were interesting. Sentinel basketball. You still had friends or relatives that went to other schools, so you didn’t really hate them. Girl’s sports were coming in.
They had pep rallies. You were proud to go to Hellgate. You were proud to go to Sentinel. Every once in a while a student wouldn’t be involved. You wanted your team to win. You’d take ponytails holders, for the school colors, and ribbons. The turn-out for the games at the fairgrounds was a thousand people. There were so many people there it was unreal.
Something happened when we got Big Sky (high school) and I don’t think that made the rivalry so clear cut as in the old days.
I’d like to hear the drag experience was the same for my younger brother (six or seven year’s difference.)
You graduated from the drag at eighteen because you could go to the bars. The keggers- the rivalry was pretty strong, but the drag was good. The college guys outgrew the drag pretty quick.
Missoula is small in its own way. If you grew up in it, there’s only one degree of separation, I swear, if you’re a native. I don’t ever recall having a problem.
There was one point when they pushed a curfew and a valid reason for being out was being at a movie- so everybody was at a movie. And that was your answer if you got pulled over for curfew. It was pretty easy, but even if you did get sent to the police station they’d just call your parents. They didn’t want a bunch of kids in jail.
There were certain cars they watched for drag racing. It was always the same cars.
We used to motocross and there was drag racing on the freeway. The freeway had a quarter mile marked off. We would go to the freeway quite often.
The snow would be so deep; they would make a pile in middle of the road. It would be a six foot pile. That’s how much snow we used to get.
It didn’t stop us there was usually somebody with a car that could get to the drag.
Montanans have always been into their vehicles. You just didn’t get hit over the head with that stuff back in the day. There was no speed limit on highways in the state of Montana. The speed limit came in for federal funding and road upkeep. 100 miles per hour was reckless driving.
If you got pulled over, it never went on your record. You got a five dollar fine at the time. Reckless driving would happen at 40 miles per hour on icy roads. It all depended on the conditions, the officer, the car, the situation.
Back in our day, this town didn’t offer anything for kids. We made something out of nothing. The Big T, a pool shaped like a T, for everybody. Spartan Pool, we went everyday.
You could be sitting in class at Hellgate High School and smell the fresh bread baking at Eddie’s Bakery, now Rockin’ Rudys. The bread wrapper and five cents bought a movie ticket. It was good. It was a local shop. Everybody had Eddie’s bread. I didn’t know one person…maybe one with Wonder bread, but it was like why would you do that. It’s not baked in Missoula.
Missoula had thirteen teepee burners and they would burn scrap wood. They were sixty feet tall. You could see sparks fly up. The teepee burners you could see from the side roads. Missoula had air pollution in the winter. It was terrible. There would be ash on the cars in the morning. It used to be horrible. Where the mall sits used to be a milling yard. A lot of mills would take hog fuel and run the burners off of steam. They would burn scrap wood, bark, and log pieces.
What was great about the drive-ins was the double features. There would be kids in trunks. They finally got smart, there was a car rate. That was reasonable. There was a little playground right in the front. Parents would bring their kids already dressed in their jammies. There was the State drive-in movie right in the middle of town. The Go West was going way out of town. You have to think of Missoula: the sugar beet factory, no reserve Street bridge across the river. The Go West was at the Y where you go to Kalispell or Spokane.
We weren’t as phone oriented. If you were supposed to be home at midnight, you’d better be home. If you had to call your mom, you’d better be home. If the car broke down, the payphones were not as plentiful as you’d think. We were just getting Atari with Pong. Not long after that came Pac man. Cable was just coming into its own at that point.
It would still be a few years before people had personal computers.


At a glance today, Missoula exudes an active quality. This future generation lacks in tradition but has an innovative quality that rides the wave and curl of today’s fluctuating economic and social pace, and moral grind. Missoula’s freestyle wake makes it easy. Though current generations take the wrap for pushing limits, having a progressive nature greases the wheels of tomorrow’s challenges.

Missoula’s Higgins’ has progressed into a great place to meet for Out to Lunch or the Taste of Missoula, the Farmer’s market or to catch a few rays while watching the kayakers coast Brandon’s wave.
I decided to look into the Missoula’s street culture. The Missoula Skate Park opens soon and skateboarding, growing in popularity, seemed like a great gauge on local contemporary thought.
The account of the locals I interviewed follows.

With nothing more than a two-by-four on roller-skate wheels, the sidewalk surfers of the 30s, 40s, and 50s had a straightforward mission: Start at the top of a hill and ride down. The primary goal was just to stay on and avoid collisions; given the humble equipment and rough road conditions, it was no small challenge. Now, thanks in part to improvements in design and materials, skateboarders have a higher calling. Missoula’s freestyle culture exudes an intangible freestyle progressive asset that tickles the taste buds of the adventure seeker.

“If I didn’t have a skateboard in my hands, who'd know?" said Jake Barrows of Edge of tha World, a local freestyle skateboard, snowboard and kayak shop.
"I definitely would not own a business. I had a passion. Something to live my life for.
Snowboarding, you can get as good as, but skateboarding you can always go further. Skateboarding takes so long to progress. You are always going to be challenged. It takes effort and you never reach your goals. That's why it’s so rad. You can always keep pushing the limit."

He continued, “Danny Way, a pro skater, became a pro skater at 14 years old. Now he’s 35 or 36- just aired the Great Wall of China on skateboard. Talk about setting goals on skateboard, no one can touch that.”

The following is a caption on Danny Ways career.
Danny Way already held the world records for distance (24 meters / 79 feet) and unaided height (7.14 meters / 23.5 feet) while skateboarding, but that wasn't enough.
Danny Way set a new world record. Danny Way is the first person to leap the wall without a motor vehicle and land successfully. Not only that, today Danny Way pulled off the jump of the Great Wall of China five times in front of a crowd of Chinese dignitaries and officials, along with his family and friends and thousands of locals.
The jump was at 5:30 p.m. Beijing time. The Beijing Mega Ramp™, the biggest skateboarding structure built yet, was built towering over the Great Wall's Ju Yong Guan Gate. Danny's going for two world records---speed on a skateboard and high air out of a ramp. "It's big. Really big," said Danny, describing the ramp. "It's definitely going to make me go a lot higher, a lot faster, and a lot further than I've ever been before... When I clear the Wall and hit the landing ramp, I'll be going close to 50 miles per hour... I'm going to hold on for dear life, do the biggest air I've ever done, and hope for the best..." (Quotes courtesy of DC Shoe CO USA, Danny Way's team company)
"I came to China with a goal and that was to jump over the Great Wall," said Way. "I have accomplished that and I feel like my job is done. I was aware of the dangers and my heart was pumping in my chest the whole time, but I managed to pull it off with the help of my team, and I'm honored to have my visions embraced by the people of China. Skateboarding has yet to realize its full potential, and by bringing this event to the people of China and the rest of the world, I hope I've contributed to the future of skateboarding and helped bring my sport the global attention it deserves." Danny Way fell on his first try, but not before clearing the 61 foot gap, so he was all right. He landed the jump perfectly on his second try, but he had three more to go. So, Danny decided to add 360 spins while airing over the Great Wall of China and land perfectly. (From Quiksilver)
After the jump a ceremony was held where the head of the Ministry of Culture in China, Mr. Wang Jianjur, gave Danny Way a piece of the Great Wall.
Danny Way is one of a handful of professional skateboarders legitimately hailed by his peers as a legend. A child prodigy, Way went pro in 1989 at a mere 15 years of age, and to this day the Carlsbad, California resident is renowned for his technical innovation and for his pioneering use of skateboarding's first over-sized structures. In addition to being the only person to ever leap from a helicopter into a vert ramp on a skateboard, Way has also set and broken six world records. He currently holds the world records for highest air out of a quarterpipe at 23-feet, 6-inches, and distance on a skateboard at 79-feet. He set the last record in 2004 at X Games X with officials from Guinness World Record on-hand. (From DC Shoe Co USA )
(Danny Way Jumps the Great Wall of China. From Steve Cave, Your Guide to Skateboarding. Jul 9 2005.)

Barrows continued, “When you think about skateboarding, you don’t think about pushing down the street. You think about Tony Hawk busting air out of a bowl at a skatepark. Or kayaking- doing loops (flips) down at the park,” Jake Barrows EOW. “That’s where we as a shop are trying to cross over kayaking for a day and skating a ramp in the evening. We’re in a community where we can pull that off.”
“Anywhere else skateparks and wave parks are popping up. We’re seeing a relation between going to kayak and skateboarding. Kids don’t have to have driver’s licenses or money. They just grab their deck or kayak and go down to the park.”
“Most pro kayakers are from Missoula or Bozeman, Montana. Some of the best kayakers in the world come from Missoula. Missoula kind of sets trends for kayaking. When I call other kayak suppliers, they’re asking ‘is the green selling in kayaks?’ We’re definitely at the forefront or the progression of kayaking.”
The Missoula Skate Park Association has raised roughly 700,000 dollars for the Missoula Skate Park, opening soon, in McCormick Park on Orange Street.
The skatepark was started with the notion, “we want a free city sick place to skate. That’s not the only reason. The whole beginning was ‘we need a sick place to skate. But being the biggest skateboard community in the state, it turned into ‘we need a place for these guys.”
He continued, “We basically had 4 different designs and we got the town kids to vote on it. It was a group effort and the sickest in the state for that reason. We basically said this is what we want you to build. This is what all the skaters in town want. We don’t care how much it costs, cause’ this is our passion. This is our lives were not making any money on it.”

“When did you start this shop?” I asked Jake Barrows.
“March 04, I bought Board of Missoula. Winter 03 to 04, all just random. It just happened out of the blue, kinda weird.”
Jeff just called me one day and said “Hey- you ready to take this pig off my back. Buy the shop.”
“I started working on it right there. I counted everything- researched the value. It took three months to really research it.”
“So I bought Board of Missoula and changed the name. I had a gut feeling. It needed to be done- for the better.”
“It worked out in my favor. I had Board of Missoula for three months and it didn’t feel like my shop. It didn’t feel like home. I knew the shop would struggle if it didn’t feel like my home.”
“For me to come and change the name, any business person would call it dumb. Change the name of Board of Missoula? It was the first snowboard shop in the state and had a big name in the northwest. What happened kept.”
“We’ve heard numerous people say we’ve put the fun back in the sport. So to have people say that, is the best compliment.”
“It’s exactly as I planned.”
“There are times for me when I go out and stress with the numbers- ‘office time.’
We have a blast f’in around. We’re all about having fun. That’s the reason we do what we do. Not because it’s cool. That’s ridiculous.”
“We’re just having blast-Commercials on TV. We’re just a bunch of straight edge dudes having fun.”
“Kind. Elements. I ran those shops and knew the market and knew what people thought of Board of Missoula’s owner. I thought, ‘I bet we'll get those guys back and keep the loyal customers at the same time’.”
“I used to Kayak in North Carolina. Edge of tha World is a skate, snowboard, kayak shop. There is one other shop in the world as far as that goes. Kayaks were sold mostly in outdoor stores. EOW is a specialty freestyle shop. Freestyle kayak popped up in the last five years.”
"I think it feels home-y. I don’t know.
It called me and I called it back.”

Edge of tha World Profile
Outstanding element: ingenuity and wit
Store features: freestyle product
Outstanding feature: spontaneous
Special deals: Ask the Boss



Outside the Big Dipper I chatted with Hanna, AKA Nanner or Sergeant Banana, and Alicia, ‘Pure and Beautiful in Every Way,
‘Skateboarding "just more people use it as a means of transportation, especially longboards. Seattle skaters are mean “punk rockers that will run over kittens. They’re just mean people. Here (Missoula) it’s just chill,” said Sargeant Banana.
I asked Hannah and Alicia, "Does it make a difference what the stores offers as far as unique stuff to buy?”
Hannah replied, ‘It matters if they're "snotty. or don't know how to skate."
It matters if "they know what they're talking about” and “nice.” added Alicia.
Hannah continued the thought, “I'd rather buy a sh'ty skateboard or bad design than deal with some rude person that doesn't know what they are talking about."

They referred me to Premiere skate shop.
I talked with Kolby Zugg.
“Premiere is something Missoula definitely needed just to fill the nitch," said Zugg.
“What we have here is the fact that nobody else has men's and women's urban clothing boutique and art supply. The vendors we have are exclusive to us only, so there really is not a cross over when retail is concerned.”
“The reason we're here is we're just real man- it's about the street culture.
Skateboarding and art is not what we do. It’s who we are.”
“We’re not just looking for rudimentary bandwagon status. We’re not trying for a win by default mall retail program."
"This is hard working effort.”
“We’re enabling people through positive means to experience the lifestyle we live and what we believe in- to taste the adventurous lifestyle we live.”
“Positively influencing the scene, staying rootsy and wholesome; It’s all about the soul.”
“So through skateboarding and art and music I just think we have something special.”
In variety, “we obviously don’t sell cowboy boots or prom dresses- We have something to offer everybody whether they come in to buy something or say ‘Hi’ or they rolled through the wrong door- everybody is treated well.”
“We’re here to say ‘Have a great day.’”
“Our customer service is outstanding, heavily practiced and we take pride in it- for sure.
We’re here to tell people to have a good life.”

“The street art scene in Missoula is one of the fastest rising,” stated Wyatt of Premiere.
“Missoula is one of the most accepting as far as having a people look at art and recognize a gift or talent. No matter how much dirt has been put over it.”
“One of the main things is graffiti has often been attached to this group of people by society in a negative way. We try to make a positive awareness. We’re the first store in Montana to incorporate skateboarding with urban hip hop art culture and supply the necessary materials to create urban art at a professional level- creating a positive awareness. So we provide the community with a gallery of a respected form of art, not vandalism.”
Graffiti started in the late 70’s. From spray can to wall to the teckie computer generated pop art today. “The heart and motivation that has kept it going for so many years is the same heart and motivation that started this so many years ago.”
“What Premiere is attempting to do is get kids back to art. That kids know that they have the opportunity, that didn’t have the opportunity, to know the truth and where it came from."
"Offering a safe haven and opportunity, instead of stigma.”

Premiere is having a grafitti workshop. The kids are “super siked and pumped about becoming artists. It’s so big. You can do anything. There will always be something that you haven’t created yet.”

Premier Profile
Outstanding element: savory conversation
Store features: skate and art supply/gallery combo
Outstanding feature: fearless & for the challenge
Special deals: The Real Deal


Emily of Athens, Ohio says “Skaters have a stereotype that they just hate all the time. Once you get past that, “Oh they’re just a bunch of punks, wasting their time.”
In elementary school they had MG classes, mentally gifted, for kids beyond their age group. I was at the top of my class and they were too. I didn’t hang out with those kids because they were popular and I wasn’t or I was popular and they weren’t, but then I ended up skating with them. They were all smart, top of the class. There was one guy that wasn’t that smart, but he was a really good guy.”
“You wouldn’t think a nerd would be a good skater. People shouldn’t worry. There might be just random people that do do drugs, but for the most part they were so into skating- so absorbed.”

"A lot of skaters are also musicians or dance. It’s real common if you skate. You’re probably in a band. It’s the same kind of person. A lot of the kids that come in and hang out have bands. It’s the most common other hobby. Music- It’s all of the same passion. It’s easy for me to relate. I was in a band (a couple of bands?).We would have a gig at midnight and skate til’ 3 am. Skating before to shows and after. It just really goes hand in hand." Jake Barrows of EOW.

I ran down a longboarder outside the Orange Street Market. She said she had a few minutes before work to answer some questions.
Since 2003 and 2005 the number of girl skateboarders has doubles and the ratio of girl skaters is roughly estimated at 15 percent of the whole, I told her. “I love that!” said Kate. “I started when the snow melted this year, whenever that was, when there was no snow. I don’t like driving and it’s a fun. Way fun. After I started skateboarding my roommate built three longboards and my little brother’s longboarding.”
Kate would advise “something like, ‘if you’re gonna skate, do it respectfully.”
She continued, “I think we’ve got it pretty good. People are pretty good about it downtown.”

I talked to another longboarder on the Higgins Street bridge. Emily said "I personally like it cause' i cruise to class and it's better than walking. I personally like it because I just like the wind against my face and it's awesome."

Its great to get a slim glimpse of Missoula street culture, this energetic youth with a “mind of its own.” I found the skaters and people that I talked with expressive, fearless; marked characteristics of today’s generation.

So the next time you hear the rhythmic chunk or chatter of skateboard wheels across sidewalk squares, or the clap of the board on the street after catching air, remember life can be challenging so ‘Go Big and Then Go Bigger.’

There comes a time to shoulder check inertia, give fear the paper thin status it deserves and go for the gold. Yesterday is history.

The Missoula Skate Park opens soon so check it out. Go to missoulaskatepark.org to see park designs and more.
For past global events research Go Skateboarding Day “Wild in the Streets.”
For fresh movement in the scene go to tansworldskateboarding.com. [End of article]