Leaning on the Wind: Under the Spell of the Great Chinook

Marty lives in Chinook Country - a vast land of mountain, foothills, prairie and sky - where the warm Pacific wind blows in a broad belt along the eastern slopes of the Rockies, turning winter temporarily into spring. Known to hurl box cars off their tracks and make trees grow parallel to the ground, the legendary chinook created the plains and gave rise to the cowboy life.

From his home at the foot of the Livingstone Range in southern Alberta near the border of Montana, Marty embarks on a search for the spirit of the land. His journey takes him into the past, from the prehistoric forces that shaped the mountains and the days of the great plains buffalo hunters to the early settlers who came in search of freedom. Along the way, he encounters a remarkable gallery of characters on both sides of the border: cowboy poets, rodeo riders, local oracles, old-time ranchers, native healers, encroaching capitalists. As the unpredictable chinook dances and rages, Marty weaves his own experiences into the life around him to create a richly entertaining portrait of the wild and not-so-wild west.