Evelyn Cameron
A British lady, her naturalist husband, and her unwieldy 5x7 Graflex camera moved to Terry, in the 1800s. ‘Lady’ Evelyn Cameron took startlingly clear pictures of everything: cowboys, sheepherders, weddings, river crossings, freight wagons, people working, badlands, eagles, coyotes and wolves.
Through her camera lens Terry was recorded for posterity. That posterity has turned into national acclaim for the area through the work of former Time-Life Books editor, Donna Lucey. In the late 1970s, Lucey discovered thousands of Cameron’s photo-negatives stashed away in the basement of Cameron’s best friend’s home. Lucey quickly realized she had discovered a treasure trove of masterpieces chronicling the lives of Terry’s early settlers.
After years of sorting the photographs and studying Cameron’s meticulously kept diaries, Lucey published 'Photographing Montana 1894-1928: The Life and Work of Evelyn Cameron,’ a photo-book that beautifully depicts Cameron’s photographic genius and her unique personality. National magazines and television networks carried stories on the unusual frontier photographer.
Visitors can discover Terry’s history at the Cameron Gallery featuring large crisp copies of the photographs that made her famous. The collection is a stunning portrayal of the everyday lives of eastern Montana homesteaders. This museum is non-profit and relies upon donations.
Prairie County is also rich in history. Travel to the famed base camp area of the Custer Expedition and visit the graves of soldiers who died from wounds received in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, or to where the Far West Steamboat docked. Thirty-five miles north of Terry is the location of the battle between General Miles and Sitting Bull.
Ewen Cameron died in 1915 leaving Evelyn to run the ranch alone for 13 years until her death. Cameron left the ranch and all of her belongings to her best friend, Janet Williams, who leased the land and packed the belongings into her basement.
"I wish I would lead a life worthy to look back upon," Cameron wrote not long after moving to Montana. "I am far out of the path now."