Brendon Galbreath’s death was covered by most major news stations in Montana. He died after being pulled over. At first, it wasn’t clear if a cop shot and killed a 21-year-old citizen of the Blackfeet Nation in Missoula or if he died by suicide in that moment. But this isn’t a story about that. It’s about the beautiful moments we share with our friends, the kind that never show up in news stories.

Reported and narrated by JoVonne Wagner, alum of UM Journalism currently at Montana Free Press

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Everyone from Dillon knows about the elephant struck by lightning and buried on the spot in what’s now the fairgrounds. But few are as obsessed with telling and remembering the story of Old Pit as Jack Kirkley, who taught for many years at the college there. He thought it would be a good idea to dig up the bones and display Dillon’s elephant in a history museum, but he found out others might dig him up one day if he tried that. Pit came by circus train to Dillon and never left. This is her story.

Reported and narrated by Jacob Baynham, alum of UM Journalism and current Adjunct Professor there

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The headline on Ruth Anderson’s obit in the New York Times defines her as a pioneering electronic composer. In certain circles, she was a famous artist and professor. Her partner, Annea Lockwood, was famous in her own rite in those circles, too. But to each other, they were partners with inside jokes and shared memories, many of them based at Flathead Lake near where Ruth Anderson was born. In this unconventional obit, a different Ruth from Montana finds Ruth Anderson on late-night radio and then unpacks how we think about a loved one’s legacy.

Reported and narrated by Ruth Eddy, alum of UM Journalism currently at Yellowstone Public Radio

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