Since the debut of the program in May 1991, the Backroads crew has produced 29 half-hour episodes that air regularly on Montana PBS. The series has traveled across the state and visited its unique people and places.
Host William Marcus takes us to the Polar Bar in Polaris, to an archaeology dig in the Ruby River Valley, to a family ranching operation near Joliet, along for a sleigh ride near Victor, to view Ippisch's Nativity near Nine Mile School, to Bannack (Montana's first capital), and to the Double Arrow Ranch in Seeley Lake.
First Aired Saturday, August 21, 2004
Backroads of Montana - Program Updates Episode Three “Polaris to Joliet” (1992) – The Polar Bar in Polaris was one of those places that we discovered on our way to someplace else. We returned to do that story just in time. Walt Melcher, the gritty cowboy who entertained his guests with the songs of his youth sold the bar’s liquor license and closed up shop soon after our visit. Walt died in June of 1997. He was 91. The Ippisch Schoolhouse Bed & Breakfast closed and Les Ippisch died in the summer of 2005. The Bed & Breakfast has reopened under new management. They plan to reinstate the Christmas sale in 2006.
