Doorways: Wynter Wild Houses Part 2: Childhood

In my previous post I showed pictures of the various homes lived in by the family in the Wynter Wild series. In this post I’ll take a look at the two houses they visit for nostalgia’s sake in Montana, along with the Montana homes the children grew up in even before then. These homes are presented in reverse order (most recent first) and are AI generated.

Anaconda, MT

In Minor Key (book 8), the family visits the two homes in Montana where the boys grew up (at least, the last two homes they lived in – they moved around with Miriam before this).

This house in Anaconda, then a copper mining town, was purchased by Harry’s parents in the 60s. Harry was born here, and so were Caleb and Indio and Joy. The boys returned in 1997 when they were 9, 6 (almost 7) and just 3. They lived here with Harry for 6 years before the move to Washington. For the most part this was not a happy home for them.

Anaconda house

Here’s a Google Maps screenshot of a street in Anaconda similar to where the boys lived. The boys no doubt skateboarded and kicked a ball around here – with their dog Skar, while he was with them. You can see the hills of the old copper mine (and smelter) where Harry’s father worked.

Anaconda street (Google Maps)

Missoula MT

Going back in time… the last house the children lived in with Miriam was in Missoula, a rented property where they stayed for six months. Indio reconciles with his past to some extent, when they revisit the house during their band tour.

Missoula house

Pink house in Great Falls MT

Before Miriam rented the house in Missoula, she lived for a few months in Great Falls, in the pink house that Indio tried to paint brown. This is an example of why I love doing the research, because I only came up with that story after finding a certain house on Zillow by filtering results by size and price – because it’s pink, I wrote that into the story. The twins turned 6 and were just starting kindergarten while living here.

Great Falls house

Bozeman apartment

And before that, they lived in Bozeman for one summer. While Miriam was selling Light paraphernalia door-to-door, the children were often left alone here for the whole day. Caleb (8) and Indio (5) would play bad guys along the fence bordering the county detention center next to their apartment block.

Bozeman apartment backing onto prison yard

Billings

Going back even further… the first place Harry and Miriam lived after moving out of his parents’ in Anaconda was this duplex in Billings. They moved to be closer to the Light office. Jesse was born in the hospital, Harry was kicked out, and then Miriam continued living in this two-room rental with four small children for 2 years. The older boys camped out on the living room floor that whole time.

Billings duplex

Here’s a map showing all the places the boys lived, starting with Billings – they basically just kept moving west. (On the far left is Spokane WA, the last stop before Montana on the Rule212 tour in Minor Key.)

Map of cities where the boys lived, starting in Billings and ending up in Anaconda

Part 3: interior and exterior shots of the Tiger Mountain home