Articles and Essays

On this site:

John has published articles and essays in such magazines as Horizon Air Magazine, Montana Magazine, Mountain Living, the Chronicle of Community, and High Country News. His occasional columns on the American West have appeared in dozens of Western newspapers through the High Country News "Writers on the Range" series. He has also been a commentator on public radio's High Plains News Service.
 

John's magazine articles include narrative nonfiction and personal essays. Recent publications include:

In Montana Magazine (March, 2008), an article on restoring Caroline Lockhart's ranch

In The Montana Quarterly, autumn 2007, an article on the Bighorn Canyon

In Horizon Air (July 2007), a personal essay "There's My Bike! Sweet!"

For Writers on the Range (June 2007), an essay "Clint Eastwood in a Dress"

In the Denver Post (January 7, 2007), an essay Hold on, I'm on my cell.

For Writers on the Range (August 2006), an essay Relishing those idiosyncratic Western triumphs.

For Writers on the Range (July 2006), an essay Deja vu all over again.

In Horizon Air (July 2006), a personal essay "Mixed Bag."

For Montana: The Magazine of Western History (Summer 2006), a narrative history "Caroline Lockhart on the Dryhead: Happily-ever-aftering on a Montana Cattle Ranch." This article was supported by a grant from the Montana Committee for the Humanities.

In The Montana Quarterly (Spring 2006), a review of the life of "Liver-Eatin'" Johnston.

In Horizon Air (February 2006), a humorous essay proposing fanciful new dog breeds.

For Writers on the Range (December 2005), a parody "Welcome, podnah, to the Westernized West."

In Horizon Air (October 2005), a humorous essay on the small-town garage-sale circuit.

At www.NewWest.net (October 2005), an essay exploring the odd geographic divide among critics' reactions to the movie "An Unfinished Life."

For Writers on the Range (September 2005), an essay "The UPS Guy" .

For Writers on the Range (August 2005), an essay Big News in a Small Town .

For LEGACY: A Journal of Women Writers (Spring 2005), a profile of Caroline Lockhart.

From April 2005 in the Casper Star-Tribune and Telluride Daily Planet, an essay on the Walt Disney company's move into Yellowstone National Park .

For Writers on the Range (January 2005), a personal essay The Official Myths.

For Writers on the Range (December 2004), a personal essay The Teenaged West.

For Montana: The Magazine of Western History (Autumn 2004), a narrative history "The Trials of John L. Smith." (You can view a very- poorly-scanned and possibly-illegally-reproduced copy here but remember that none of the typos belong to the original publisher.)

In the Casper Star-Tribune (Oct 20, 2004) and elsewhere, a personal essay Automate This!.

For Writers on the Range (June 2004), a personal essay Where the Streets Have No Names. This piece also appeared in the Cody Enterprise, Nov. 11, 2004.

In the Denver Post and Casper Star-Tribune, (March 7, 2004), a personal essay Newcomers to West Perpetuate Myths. This piece was also reprinted in High Country News on April 26 and the Cody Enterprise June 7.

For a High Country News cover story, (Feb 16, 2003) reporting on the scene of a coalbed methane trial in Billings, Montana

In Horizon Air (December 2003), a personal essay on the western artist Charles M. Russell

For the Montana Festival of the Book, (September, 2003), a parody "Montana 1948-50," which won John his second Nahum Tate cup, a feat unprecedented in Montana literature

In the Missoula Independent (September 18, 2003) and elsewhere, a humorous essay "Fit to be T'd"

For Writers on the Range (July 2003), a humorous essay "Hanging Loose in Bear Country"

In the Denver Post, (May 26, 2003), a personal essay "A mountain hamlet's homecoming"

In Horizon Air (May, 2003), a personal essay on unusual marriage proposals

In Montana Magazine (March, 2003), an article on hiking the southern Pryor Mountains

For Writers on the Range (January 20, 2003), a personal essay "The Origin of Names"

In Horizon Air (October, 2002), a personal essay on small-town street names

In the Denver Post and High Country News (April Fools Day, 2002), a survey of "New and Noteworthy Books about the American West"

For Writers on the Range (January, 2002), a satire "A Modest Proposal for Montana Economic Development"

For Writers on the Range (November, 2001), an essay on Jerks in Montana History.

In Horizon Air (October, 2001), a personal essay "What's in a Name?"

For the Montana Festival of the Book, (September, 2001), a parody "A Rivet Runs Through It," which won John the coveted Nahum Tate cup

For Writers on the Range (January, 2001), an essay on the "New West" of 1933

In the Williams Alumni Review (Autumn, 2000), an article "Model Community" on the New Urbanist architect Jeff Speck.

For Writers on the Range (October, 2000), a personal essay on the Montana wildfires

In Montana Magazine (September, 2000), an article on hiking Line Creek Plateau

In Horizon Air (July, 2000), a personal essay "Mail Bonding"

For Writers on the Range (May, 2000), a personal essay "Ich Bin Ein Neonative""

In Montana Magazine (November, 1999), an article on Red Lodge Mountain ski resort

In Horizon Air (October, 1999), a personal essay "Nature's Drift"

In Horizon Air (August, 1999), a personal essay "Books by Heart: A Small-Town Librarian's Personal Touch"

In the Chronicle of Community (Spring, 1999), an article "Elk Viewing Illustrates Community Collaboration"

For Writers on the Range (April, 1999), a personal essay "When the Republic Strays"

For Writers on the Range (November, 1998), a personal essay "Letter to a Woodsplitter"

In the Chronicle of Community (Spring, 1998), a personal essay "Topless Beaches, Violin Cases, Undercover Cops, and -- oh, yes! -- Commercial Transactions"

John covered Montana and Wyoming for the online news service www.streetmail.com during 2000 and 2001, where his weekly column looked at politics, culture, and the environment -- everything from I-90’s new Shiloh interchange to the state's environmental politics. Sadly, Streetmail has changed its focus, away from smaller markets and thought-provoking content. But boy, those dot-com boom days were good ones even for writers!

John's literary readings of his essays and articles have covered topics including community and sense of place, how technology changes small towns, and small town political entertainment. For more information, email John at info@johnclaytonbooks.com

Clip Gallery

From the books:

Chapter 1 of Small Town Bound

 Prologue to The Cowboy Girl