Harry Knew A Few Things

My father-in-law, Harry Johnson, left Texas in 1953 and moved to Gallatin County. Quickly falling in love with the Big Sky state, he made Montana home, raising a son and daughter here. He died in Ennis in 1995.

But as much as Harry loved Montana, he didn’t care for the winters, which he thought were too long, too cold, too confining.

A mason, he’d take his family south each winter, picking up jobs laying brick and stone in the desert before returning to Montana in the spring.

Once back home Barb said her father could always tell who wintered in. He never gave specifics, but as someone who wint...