Motorcycles on Main Street.

…. “We park the cycles and unpack them to remove warm clothing.“

Downtown Business District Red Lodge, MT. Here on a sunny day, it was very comfortable in the sun, but somewhat cool in the shade. Most certainly motorcycle riders would be putting on their coats for the ride into the mountains! However, the motorcycle riders I saw here usually did not have on coats.
********************

CONTINUED RED LODGE HISTORY Which Happens To Be In =>
….A Review of A Good & Revealing Book =>
RED LODGE AND THE MYTHIC WEST: COAL MINERS TO COWBOYS. ….. by Bonnie Christensen ….2002 ….. ISBN 978-0-7006-1198-0.
..*************..

…. “IN SEARCH OF" A PUBLIC IDENTITY: THE CASE OF RED LODGE, MONTANA.” => A BOOK REVIEW BY W. Thomas White.
******
…..The West, like America in general, has been shrouded in mythology. For centuries as newcomers (as well as newcomer hopefuls and those who sought to attract them) imposed their own notions and sense of identity upon the land for a wide variety of reasons…. From New York to Anaheim, Americans have constructed a plethora of identities for particular locales. … In this study, Ms Bonnie Christensen takes a close look at the changing persona of Red Lodge, Montana, from its founding in the late-nineteenth century to the close of the twentieth century. There, local opinion makers first denied, then embraced notions of the Old West. Not surprisingly, they did not base their quest on empirical research. Rather, they followed a process similar to their counterparts in other small towns.
....This small mountain town had its beginnings as part of the industrial West, built on coal mining for the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1889. . That activity, replete with newly arrived European immigrants, absentee corporate ownership, and labor-management conflict, defined the reality of the town until the late 1920s. The first generation of boosters, however, invoked images of a growing, progressive town and agricultural center--cowboys and their employers as well as Native Americans were decidedly unwelcome in Red Lodge's first public persona. Although they embraced the aging mountain man John "Liver-Eating" Johnson, who served as constable at the time, opinion makers eschewed the popular Wild West imagery, preferring to attract settlers by touting a peaceful, progressive Main Street that offered opportunity to all.
...When the Northern Pacific finally closed its mines, . however, survival required new attractions and new industry. Tourism, and with it a new public identity, quickly surfaced. To meet those demands, Red Lodge entrepreneurs quickly embraced the once despised Wild West. Merchants erected false storefronts, former miners donned Western garb (or at least what popular opinion decreed was "true" Western clothing), and the town established its widely publicized rodeo. Even images of Native Americans appeared in signage, such as that of the Red Lodge Cafe, publications, and souvenirs, as the town struggled to attract visitors.
This Book Review Re “Public Identity” of Red Lodge, Is Cont Next Photo.

*************************

(Photo = Summer2006 0469 ...... ZMM Page = 109 ...... WayPt = 126`|k|' 5553ft)