Todd R. Forsgren

Introduction
The Pryor Press is brand spanking new! We plan to publish two to three photography books a year, in association with the Ryniker-Morrison Gallery and the art department at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. We’re currently looking for interesting projects with an emphasis on environmental issues and social justice. Our books are driven by the vison of the artist, creating unique publications that fits with the vision of their project.

The Pryor Mountains
The namesake for our press, the Pryor Mountains, are a mountain range south of Billings, Montana (where Rocky Mountain College, the press’s home base, is located). While every mountain range is special, due to the blend of cultural and natural history and their proximity to us, we feel that the Pryors embody our vision. The mountain range is located on the Crow Reservation as well as the Custer National Forest, the Pryor Mountain Wild House Range, and the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, with portions in both Montana and Wyoming. 

The Crow Nation, a Native American tribe whose reservation is at the base of the mountains, call them Baahpuuo Isawaxaawuua ("Hitting Rock Mountains") because of the flint which was used arrowheads. According to Crow folklore, Little People (a race of 18” high people with spiritual powers) call the Pryors home. Overlooking the Great Plains from Dry Head Lookout, one can find a man-made fence of rock that has been used by several Native American tribes for vision quests and is one of the least disturbed such places in the United States. There is a buffalo jump located on the eastern slope of the mountains. Petroglyph Canyon, site of the largest and oldest site of petroglyph carvings in the region, dates back at least 3000 years. 

Geologically, the Pryors are also quite unique…. Their surface is primarily made of limestone, in contrast to the granite mountain ranges nearby such as the Beartooths. Because of this, numerous caves have been carved by melting snow and many of them remain full of ice all year. The tallest peak is East Pryor Mountain at 8822’ while Big Pryor Mountain is 8776’ tall, with Crooked Creek runs between the peaks and into the Bighorn River, with its spectacular “baby grand” canyon. The Pryors have a diverse ecology. Most famously, the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range is home to a herd of free-roaming feral horses that have likely been living on the range since the mid-1700’s. It is a wildflower hotspot with extremely high diversity for the region as well as eight endemic species, found nowhere else in the world!