I used to stop at the Bunkhouse Bar for years when I’d fish at Canyon Ferry. My friend, Vern Troxel, who I used to fish with over there, was a retired logger from Townsend, and he’d always know everyone in the bar. Once, he and I ran into a bunch of spawning suckers on Confederate Bay. We kept a bunch and Vern smoked them. His wife, JoAnne, served them as trout to a bunch of Unitarians who raved about their delicate flavor.

My writer friend, Gary Snyder, used to have a card from the Bunkhouse Bar. On one side it said, “How do you keep a North Dakotan busy all day?” At the bottom of the card it said “(over)” When you turned the card over, it said, “How do you keep a North Dakotan busy all day?” At the bottom of the other side it said “(over)”