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Mrs. Julia Berray and a friend feeding a bear cub at the Caspar Berrray homestead cabin on Bull River. Circa 1899. Courtesy Frank Berray. |
I'd have liked to be there when Mona Vanek turned her attention to history, tagged along to listen as she flagged folks down or knocked on a front door during Sunday dinner and stayed long enough for the family photo album to appear. From the beginning she seems to have been of a single mind: to record the personal histories of her neighbors and preserve a time that might have otherwise been lost. Her accomplishment, however, extends beyond the boundaries of Montana's Sanders County because it captures the people and the time as uniquely American. The details might differ, but state to state, folks were facing the same challenges. The first-hand accounts are so telling in their simplicity that they go to the core of who we were as a people. Congratulations, Mona. You deserve the continuing accolades. I enjoyed your series immensely.
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