(wind blowing) - [John] Coming up on "Back Roads of Montana", - One five, push.

- [John] Hit the hardwood and learn about this man's interesting journey to helping his sports community.

- [Denver] This isn't a job, this is a passion.

- [John] Roll along with this library on wheels as it reaches bookworms of all ages.

- [Jessica] Everybody should be reading books in my opinion.

- [John] The Sweet Grass Hills hold many secrets, investigate one of them at this remote cemetery, (objects clanging) and see what it takes to make one teenager's dream a concrete reality.

- I'm starting to get called the Mayor of Skating in Ronan.

- [John] Hang on.

These stories will wipe you out.

- [Onlooker] Wow.

- [Narrator] Backroads of Montana is made possible with production support from the Greater Montana Foundation, encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans, the Big Sky Film Grant, and the University of Montana.

♪ Home is where Montana is ♪ ♪ Montana is my home ♪ ♪ From mountain peaks to prairie lands ♪ ♪ Places I have known ♪ ♪ And I'm bound to ramble ♪ ♪ Yes I'm bound to roam ♪ ♪ And when I'm in off the road now boys ♪ ♪ Montana is my home ♪ (gentle acoustic music) - Welcome to Back Roads of Montana, focusing on the fantastic people and places across our state.

I'm John Twiggs, and on this episode, we're not on a back road, but we are experiencing a one of a kind place in Montana.

(gentle music) The Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium is the culmination of a 20 year dream to share and learn about parts of the natural world.

During the show, we'll witness the vibrant colors and diverse array of butterfly species.

Go behind the scenes as caretakers manage this delicate ecosystem, and see how folks get an up close look at the tiniest specimens.

A fun way to share scientific knowledge with the community.

Giving to the community brings its own rewards.

It can provide much needed help, a good feeling, and even some notoriety.

In our first story, we'll meet a northeastern Montana man who continues to give in his own way, and that helps keep his life headed in the right direction.

- Ball in.

(cheerleaders cheering) 32 to push.

(audience cheering) (whistle blowing) - Two zero, over the back.

This isn't a job, this is a passion.

Shooting two, take a breather.

(timer buzzes) - He loves the kids and he is just so easy to talk to.

- If I can take this one home.

Hi honey.

Hi.

Been a long road, but I still loved every step.

- [Cheerleaders] We love you!

(clapping) - Welcome back here at the Frazier High School gymnasium.

- [Announcer] Let's give this man a round of applause.

Estimated over 5,000 basketball games.

- [John] It's a pre-game celebration.

(child singing indigenous song) honoring Denver Atkinson's contribution to the sports community.

- No technicals tonight.

- [John] How Denver got here was a lot like officiating a basketball game.

- Hey, girl.

- [John] He made judgment calls, some good, some bad, with a twist of fame along the way.

(gentle music) Born and raised on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Denver was one of 13 children.

Just like his brothers, he starred on the Poplar High School basketball team.

He graduated to Dawson Community College where he set the single game assist record.

Basketball was good for him, but off the court was trouble.

Growing up, his parents owned one of the rowdiest bars in the county.

- [Denver] We lived right next door to the bar.

You know, we had front row seats, so to speak.

- [John] By high school, Denver was stealing a few beers from the bar, and started drinking.

- When I got to college, it got worse.

You know, I started drinking more, started raising hell.

I've been every, see I've been in five different jails.

- [John] He returned home, met and married Rose and they started a family.

But Denver kept drinking.

(busy traffic sounds) Finally on a winter night in 1989, with Denver in the hospital with pneumonia, friends, family, and the tribal chairman held an intervention to get him into treatment.

- They all left, my wife came back in.

She said, "Denver, please would you do this for me?"

- Then of course I had to cry and say, you know, "This is it.

I don't know where I'm at having another baby."

- She said, "Just try it.

If it don't work, we'll try something else.

But the booze has got you."

So her being the driving force, I said, "Okay, I'll give her a try."

- [John] They started the long road to recovery.

Denver was working on being a better person, but at his kids' basketball games, he was not a better fan.

- I was the worst, probably the worst fan there ever was.

The ref, I'd booed him all, and hollered at him.

Every game I was like that.

Finally, my wife said... - "If you think you're so good, why don't you become a ref?

You know, you think you can make all the calls."

- You can't tell me I can't do something.

So I said, "Okay, I will."

Well, I was 48 years old at the time, so I started reffing.

(band music) Alrighty, gentlemen.

To work we go.

(band playing music) (Denver singing along) - [John] From the pre-game prep, - [Denver] I never holler right here.

- [John] to the game action, (Denver blows whistle) Denver found a second calling.

He quickly learned it was a lot easier sitting in the stands.

- Apologized to all the referees that I booed.

One, two, the block.

- [Rose] Beginning I was at games that he was refereeing and then people would be hollering like they do at refs and I was sitting there thinking, "I don't think I can take this."

- [Denver] Good hustle, dude.

- [Randy] You've gotta have a good head on your shoulders.

- Get out of there, 24.

Don't be pushing.

- Denver will talk to you and explain what he saw and he won't, you know, just shut you out the whole time.

(Denver groans) - I probably wasn't looking at that, just him.

- But it's communication, and Denver's communication is ideal with coaches, kids, fans.

(fan cheers) - Boys can't put one in the basket except the middle guys.

- [Tim] He's had that his whole life, and he's just got charisma.

(crowd cheering) (timer buzzes) - Gonna be a blowout or...?

- I don't know.

- [Denver] Don't look too good, does it?

- [Cheerleader] Yeah.

- [Denver] What my boys doing?

All right?

- [Player] Good.

How are you, Den?

- [John] In small town Montana, - [Player] Thanks for reffing.

- [John] it's getting harder and harder to find referees and that has consequences for the young athletes.

- You're going that way.

- [Player 2] I mean, you hear it all the time, but obviously we can't play without 'em.

- [John] That inspired Denver to put in even more sweat equity.

(gentle music) The long Montana drives, - [Denver] Yeah, a lot of travel.

- [John] dinner on the go, no town too remote, no gym too small, - [Denver] People just think you just get a whistle, a shirt and go ref.

- [John] no game unimportant.

- [Denver] And every game to them is the NBA championship.

- [Players] Good game.

- After every game, I can say, "Man, Denver Atkinson just works hard and he works hard for the kids."

And I think that's the best compliment you can give an official.

- Don't holler at us.

- Huh?

- Don't do it.

- [John] Now in his 70s, Denver never meets a stranger at the gym.

- This is a barn burner.

- What is that?

- This is a barn burner.

- Barn burner.

- [John] It might seem like everyone knows him, - Best kind.

- [John] because he's not just Montana famous, (TikTok logo chimes) he's TikTok famous.

♪ I got my red dress on tonight ♪ ♪ Dancin' in the dark, in the pale moonlight ♪ - I still to this day don't know who did it, but one of the high school girls from Sydney filmed me refereeing.

They put a red dress on me, put it on the internet, it went viral.

♪ I got my red dress on tonight ♪ - It happened to the perfect person 'cause he, I knew he would laugh it off and love it.

- [John] More than 4 million people loved the video.

Over 50,000 comments.

Not bad for the kid from Poplar.

- [Denver] It seems like every game I went to since that, I had to take pictures with somebody.

- [Referee] This is pretty awesome.

- [Denver] And it's kind of cool, you know, to be recognized like that.

- [John] Given his earlier life, a lot of people didn't think Denver would make it to the fourth quarter, (timer buzzes) but he's here, - Get your elbow underneath closer to your body.

- [John] giving back, - Got more push.

- [John] and making the most of his many chances.

- I got two more lives left because I've used seven of them.

(chuckles) Nice game, buddy.

Yeah, nice game.

- Thanks for reffing.

I appreciate it.

- I just feel so fortunate and so blessed, come where I came from and still be here.

I'm not gonna ref anyway.

I'm gonna come and watch you guys.

- Denver told everyone he was retiring from officiating and nobody believed him.

Sure enough, he's already helping with other sports.

He encourages anyone who's interested in officiating to get involved, because Montana High School and youth sports need the help.

(gentle music) These beautiful butterflies are the feature attraction at the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium.

The typical butterfly lifespan is a little over a week, so there's constant work behind the scenes to keep a robust population in the tropical greenhouse.

Chrysalis arrive each week, and volunteers carefully prepare and display them.

Typically after a few weeks, their transformation is complete, and they become part of the daily butterfly release that visitors can watch.

There's even a handy chart on the wall to read about some of the dozens of species.

There are a lot of great children's books on that subject and books are an important part of our next story.

In Western Montana, no matter the season, the Sanders County Bookmobile travels the winding roads of the Cabinet Mountains to reach its patrons.

It's another fall morning in Thompson Falls as Jessica Gayton goes through her morning maintenance.

- This is just checking the generator, checking our oil levels, to make sure we're good to go for the day.

Yeah, I never would've thought I would be doing this in a million years if you would've told me, but life surprises you.

Thank goodness.

(chuckles) This is our new generator we just got.

It's brand spanking new, which I'm very happy with.

The Bookmobile I drive is obviously not the Bookmobile that originally began it.

It was started back in the '60s and been going ever since.

- [John] Jessica started as a part-time driver to help out the Bookmobile's old director.

When she retired, Jessica went full-time behind the wheel.

(engine starts) - It's two jobs, like the driving part, and then the actual book part.

Most people will come out no matter the weather.

If they know I'm gonna be there, they will usually come out to get their books.

- [John] The Bookmobile runs 11 months out of the year and posts its schedule online, and around each town it visits.

The road cooperates for today's October run as the Bookmobile heads north to greet readers for its scheduled stops.

(gentle music) - Sanders County, we go into towns that don't necessarily have a library, so we provide a library that comes to you.

So you just check out books as you would at a library, and bring them back.

You have them for a month with us, 'cause I come once a month to your spot.

- [John] First up, the Adventist School in Trout Creek.

- So the biggest question I get from adults and children is how do you keep all the books on the shelf when you're driving?

And I used to tell people, I just drive really careful.

(chuckles) But actually the shelves are tilted.

And we're here.

(gentle music) - Hey.

- [Jessica] Hey.

- We have a couple of kids with me today.

- [Jessica] Okay.

Come on in.

How are you guys?

- Good.

- Here to find a book?

Well, like everybody needs to leave with a book.

(chuckles) Everybody should find a book and should find a book that they will enjoy, or like to read, and try it out.

Do they have it on a movie?

They do?

- Yeah.

I saw it on my T.V.

- [Jessica] You did?

- Yeah.

- [Jessica] Well try the book.

The book's always better.

Just these two?

(reader beeping) Okay, gotcha.

(gentle music continues) Okay, you're set.

Enjoy.

- [John] As the day rolls on, so does the Bookmobile, as we head to the next stop at Noxon.

Jessica reshelves and gets ready to greet new patrons, and her regulars who have become friends.

- We, you know, can get together, and talk about books, and visit, socialize, check in with each other, and it's nice.

- We've become friends over the past couple of years and I always look forward to visiting with her every month when she comes.

So it's not just about coming to get another book, it's also coming to see Jessica.

She's got a fantastic memory for all of the patrons that come here.

She knows exactly what each of us look for, the types of books that we like to read.

- [Jessica] Oh, here, did you read this?

You've read that.

- [Patron] Yeah.

- [Jessica] Okay.

You've read that.

- [John] Jessica is committed to getting books to readers across the county, and she says she couldn't do it without the Sanders County Bookmobile board.

Just before the day wraps up, she gets a visit from the board's newest member, Vanessa.

- Since I live very rural, I don't always have the opportunity to come into town and go to the library.

I got so much benefit from the Bookmobile.

It was also a way to help support them and give back.

- [John] Community is what keeps the Bookmobile driving down these mountain roads and Jessica is confident these wheels will keep on turning for years to come.

- [Jessica] I'm proud that we're still out there running.

People retire or leave and somebody else steps in to take over the whole thing, and it's nice, and somebody will take over for me and I'll pass up the torch.

(chuckles) - The Bookmobile is a service to all Sanders County residents, but just like other libraries, visitors are welcome.

So check it out, if you see the Bookmobile out on your next road trip.

If you want an up close view of some fascinating tiny creatures, then the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium is the place for you.

(gentle music) Butterflies get the headlines, but there's a special spot where the extra curious get a chance to learn about insects and other tiny creatures in a hands-on way.

If that's too close for comfort, there are several displays to learn more at a distance.

You can observe busy bees, or get a look at industrious ants.

Visitors cover a lot of ground in a small space.

Traveling to our next story was rough, even by Backroad standards.

The single track road we followed was deeply rutted.

There were three gates to get through and inquisitive cattle to avoid.

And finally, at our destination, we discovered a mystery beneath our very feet.

You won't find a more restful spot than the Gold Butte Cemetery, or one with a deeper secret.

If not the largest cemetery in the Sweet Grass Hills, it's certainly the oldest, once serving a ramshackle town named for the mineral extracted there.

Gold Butte had a general store, and post office, a hotel, a school, and a Bucket of Blood Saloon, where rough miners drank, fought, and died.

Today nothing remains except for the cemetery, which is still popular, thanks to its tranquil setting and regular maintenance.

Oddly, about 500 yards away across a narrow coulee is a single grave, a young woman's, bearing this epitaph.

- [Speaker 1] "Remember me as you pass by, as you are now, so once was I, as I am now, so you must be, prepare for death, and follow me."

- [John] Because of her isolation and somewhat bitter epitaph, a rumor evolved that the grave was a prostitute's shunned, and in death separated from the good community, but nothing could be further from the truth.

(gentle music) Her name was Jessie Rowe.

Always anemic and short of breath, she had traveled west from Kansas with her older sister, Ada.

Their hope was that Montana's dry air would restore Jessie's health.

Jessie was only 15 when she died in 1902.

- And she worked at either in town, or at a ranch, as a helper in the kitchen.

And she probably died of tuberculosis.

There's nothing racy about it at all, but that's the true story.

- [John] It's also true that not long after she was buried, the cemetery had to move to its present location because of an underground spring.

Jessie, along with five unmarked graves, was simply left behind.

But it took years for the rumor to die, leading to more sad news.

- One time the gravestone was missing.

It was gone for a long time, and nobody knew where it was.

And then somebody discovered that one of the nearby ranchers had it in his shop.

- [John] This time the good community made a real fuss on Jessie's behalf.

Her headstone was promptly returned and the vicious rumor put to rest, so that Jessie's true story could live on.

Getting Jessie's story straight began with two students at Chester High School.

Their investigation into the truth was picked up by the Great Falls Tribune, and as a result, an accurate account of Jesse Rowe's life and death is now part of the Montana Heritage Project at the Historical Society in Helena.

(gentle music) Education is a big part of the mission at the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium.

While all ages benefit, the color and activity are a particular draw to young learners.

It's become a wonderful field trip for future naturalists.

For special activities, there's the Byron Weber classroom.

Byron was instrumental in helping start the dream of the butterfly house, and we were fortunate to feature him in a Backroad segment back in 2005.

- [Byron] They just bring peacefulness to me, and the more I observe them, the more fascinated I am with them.

- Unfortunately, he died actually early but he was really excited about this vision, and continuing all the good work that he has done around education and educating people about insects.

I think he'd be really thrilled.

So the whole reason for doing it is to educate people about insects and the relatives.

- See them play in different places.

- In our final story, a high school student's love for skateboarding took him on a longer ride than expected as he set out to share his passion, first with his school and eventually his whole community.

(children laughing) - [Terrence] Let's have fun today.

I know, just hold on.

- [John] Terrence Lozeau knows how to rally his peers.

- [Yevette] Everybody wants to pile in the car with him.

- [Terrence] We have to gather everybody up, you know, - [John] And there's power in numbers.

- [Terrence] There's been some times where we're like, "Shoot, we don't have any gas money.

Can somebody pitch in?"

- [John] That gas will get them somewhere they can't get to in their own town.

- [Terrence] We're so glad that we even get the chance to skate.

- You get a workout and all, and you're not doing nothing dumb.

Like it's definitely way better than what you thought you could be doing.

- There's so many kids that party around here, like, it's so bad around here.

Like, that's why I get so happy when I see, you know, these kids out here just like, who would rather go skate than like, you know, go and party.

- [John] It helps to have a place to skate, - [Terrence] Like lean into the board.

- [John] but the real draw is the people.

- When you're pushing, be sure to bring that foot back like this.

- I wanted to learn for a while, but I didn't 'cause I didn't wanna do it alone.

So it's been really nice to have people be inclusive.

- She's already improving, see?

She's doing a good job.

- [John] Terrence is proud of this community he's built.

As a senior at Ronan High School, he's let his passions propel him.

- He is had these great ideas this year that he's brought to fruition, that we didn't even think was possible.

- He's kind of an old soul in a lot of ways where he does have a lot of things that he thinks deeply about.

- It's just such a like internal drive and that internal kind of creative energy is what I really admire about him.

- And I think he just truly loves his community and so he gets excited and passionate about what he finds is a community need.

(bell ringing) - [John] Terrence has come a long way from the kid who used to be.

In elementary school he was bullied.

His older sister, Ashley gave him the strength to stand up for himself.

- She told him, "Do you want me to go find this kid and beat him up?"

And he laughed and he goes, "No, I can do it.

I won't fight him, but I can handle it, I can get it."

- [John] It was one of the last conversations he had with his sister.

While Ashley stayed strong for Terrence, her own battles were intolerable.

- [Yevette] He's seen her struggle, and then he knew drinking was a part of it.

- [John] Terrence's sister decided to take her own life, a loss her family and community couldn't process, as the tragedies became a trend.

- It was about two and a half years of suicides.

- Just when the community would be recovering from one, then there'd be another one, another one.

- And knowing a lot of them being either friends or relatives.

- And he knew the struggles that they went through with being bored and not having somewhere to go, something to do.

(skateboard clacks) - [John] Skateboarding became Terrence's top tool to counter his sadness.

- Just the ability to get back up after being hurt really makes you feel strong.

I guess it makes you feel like you could do anything if you just keep getting up and just stay up.

- [John] And instead of keeping that lesson to himself, - [Speaker 2] Hey, ready guys?

- [John] Terrence started a skate club to share it.

- The fact that Terrence always has a smile on his face he's a very welcoming person.

- Yeah, just show up, please like...(chuckles) I see a lot of these people as like my little, my little siblings, you know, and a lot of them told me that they look up to me a lot.

- [John] But building a club only made Terrence see another need.

Ronan deserved its own skate park.

- He was just really adamant about it and I was thinking in my head, "Yeah, that's a big daunting task."

- [John] Terrence wrote an online petition.

- They even coined this phrase, "Skating saves lives", and I really like that.

- [John] The message resonated across Ronan, and well beyond, as hundreds signed the petition.

Once Terrence got 1,000 signatures, he took his plea to tribal council.

- That sold it.

There was no more questions asked.

A kid getting a thousand signatures?

Unbelievable.

It was just like everybody wanted to hug him because he was doing something that will make a difference getting kids off the couch I say.

(chuckles) (upbeat music) - [John] Terrence inspired entities he couldn't have imagined.

The Montana Skate Park Association started supplying him with skateboards to give away.

- All brand new.

They're really nice too.

- [John] Then, Terrence caught the attention of a guy with a track record of bringing skate parks to small towns, Jeff Ament, who the world knows as the bassist for the band Pearl Jam, but Montana knows as the small town kid who grew up to give back.

- I always felt like growing up in Big Sandy that we were like 20 years behind.

And so this is sort of a way to like contemporize these small towns.

- [John] With local support, Jeff led the way to build more than 30 skate parks in Montana, giving preference to rural reservation towns.

That made Ronan a natural fit, - I'm just super happy.

- [John] especially with Terrence on the ground.

- [Terrence] Dude, this is so cool.

- The wheels were already greased.

Like he, you know, he'd already explained all the positives of having a skate park.

So we didn't have to do much.

- [John] Construction on Terrence's dream materialized quickly.

- I wanna skate it at least once before I go to college.

So bad, so bad.

- [John] But ultimately the park would be complete the fall Terrence started college.

So it will be these skaters, the ones who came after him who get to enjoy the path he laid out for them.

- Because this is my first year of skateboarding in like a real lifetime, so I'm gonna try to see if I could actually skateboard for a little bit and see if I can improve myself when I get bigger and older.

- I can see every, like all these little kids starting to skate, and it's really like making me like super happy to see all that.

To be able to give that to like them something I wish I had, it makes me feel so much better.

Like it heals that inner child.

Like I said, skating saves lives.

- [John] Because all along, the dream dreamt by him was meant for them.

- [Jeff] He was thinking big picture, which is huge when there's a kid that's, - Say, "Peace out."

- [Jeff] really thinking about the community and thinking about the future of the community, and the younger kids.

He's that guy.

- The skateboarding scene shows no signs of slowing in Montana as plans and designs for skate parks are already underway maybe in a rural community near you.

Well, that's all the time we have for this episode.

We'd like to thank the great staff of the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium.

They're open Tuesdays through Sundays and you can check out their website for more information on field trips and special visits.

It's always special when we get a great story idea from you.

If you have one, drop us a message on our Facebook page, or you can write to us at Backroads of Montana, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, 59812.

We've got more great stories to share and two lanes to travel.

I'm John Twiggs, and we hope to see you and more beautiful butterflies out on the Backroads of Montana.

- [Narrator] Backroads of Montana is made possible with production support from the Greater Montana Foundation, encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans, the Big Sky Film Grant, and the University of Montana.

♪ Montana is my home ♪ ♪ From mountain peaks to prairie lands ♪ ♪ Places I have known ♪ ♪ And I'm bound to ramble ♪ ♪ Yes I'm bound to roam ♪ ♪ But when I'm in off the road now boys ♪ ♪ Montana is my home ♪ ♪ Coming in off the road now boys ♪ ♪ You know I'm heading home ♪ (cheerful chime)