Interviewer
Beth Hodder: Kjell Petersen
Files
Description
Brian shares being born in Indiana but his family moved to Montana when he was four. He tells of living in Potomac, where he also went to school. He says playing outdoors led to a “wild imagination. Brian talks of growing up with his father, Gene Miller, on lookouts starting at age five, spending twelve years over his lifetime on lookouts, with most experiences being on Blue Mountain, Mormon, Sliderock, Morrell, and West Fork Butte Lookouts. Brian recalls his dad telling him that as a youth he entertained visitors with stories, landmarks, peaks, etc. He remembers wildlife sightings, flying paper airplanes, playing with Lincoln Logs, hooking rugs, picking huckleberries for Gene’s pies, and hiking to other lookouts. Brian recalls a strenuous backpack trip with his cousin because of carrying lots of canned food, learning to cook on a woodstove, vandalism on Blue Mountain Lookout, drunks at the lookout at night, and learning to read Forest Service maps and clouds. Brian describes lookout people as resilient and introverted.
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Document Type
Oral History
Original Date
6-20-2022
Time Period
Twentieth century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
Northwest Montana Lookout Association Oral History Project, OH 453, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Northwest Montana Lookout Association. Permission may be required for use. For further information please contact Archives and Special Collections: (406) 243-2053 / library.archives@umontana.edu
Oral History Number
OH 453-022
Media Type
Moving Image; Sound; Text
Digital Format
video/mp4; application/pdf; text/plain
Run Time
1:06:03 minutes
Local Filename
OH_453_022.mp4; OH_453_022.pdf; OH_453_022.srt
Citation
Miller, Brian, "Brian Miller Interview, June 20, 2022" (2022). Northwest Montana Lookout Association Oral History Project. 22.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/nwmt-ffla/22