Coming out of the Perma Curves (2/11)

The valley starts opening up just as a person is coming out of the Perma Curves. In this image, the sun is trying to burn through the cloud layer. The picture shows the slight blanket of snow on the fir tree in the center of the frame. This is cattle country and it is the reason for the barbed-wire fence. 

This sort of fence is common in this part of Montana and it consists of steel fence posts with wooden fence posts between them. The wooden posts add stability and are much cheaper, but wood eventually rots, so an arrangement like this allows for the fence remaining erect even if one of the wooden posts rots and breaks off. In years past, steel wasn’t used and if a few posts broke, the fence in that section would collapse. Cattle could then escape the enclosure. This made it necessary to constantly patrol the fenceline by horseback, a job called ‘running the line’. Needless-to-say, this wasn’t a good job in the middle of winter.