Photos: Scapegoat 50

Legendary packer Smoke Elser is silhouetted by a screen projecting an image of the American Flag Sept. 16 as he listens to Howie Fly, Kenny Low, Rick Dunkerley and Bill Cyr recount memorable experiences during their outfitting trips into the Scapegoat Wilderness. Earlier in the evening Elser had recounted his experiences during the fight to designate the Scapegoat Wilderness and why it was so important to him.

Greg Schatz with the Back Country Horsemen of Montana leads a pack string on a couple laps around Hooper Park after demonstrating packing techniques .

Following screening of the documentary "Legacy of the Scapegoat," Bill Cyr and Zach Muse discuss their support for the Lincoln Prosperity Proposal. LPP is a legislative proposal developed through a collaboration among divergent interest groups and stake holders over the course of nearly a decade. The LPP carries on the legacy of citizen -nitiated land management initiatives pioneered during the fight to create the Lincoln-Scapegoat Wilderness. Cyr, who said he's not a wilderness advocate, said though the proposal includes new wilderness, he can support it because it includes other important land management and recreation components.

Lincoln Ranger District Recreation Management Specialist Forest Moulton and youngster Joel Metzger of Helena work a crosscut saw during a Sept. 17 demonstration.

Jordan Reeves wears bib overalls that belonged to Cecil Garland as he portrays Garland in a skit by wilderness advocate John Gatchell. The skit, performed 10 years ago at the 40th anniversary of the Scapegoat, features players who relay the story of the creation of the Scapegoat Wilderness through transcripts of testimony before Congress in 1968.

Sarah Ryan with Wild Montana laughs as her son Sam tries to pull his arm out of the mouth of the mule costume she was wearing to hand out door prizes Sept. 17.

Blackfeet troubadour Jack Gladstone kicks off the Scapegoat celebration with a song Friday, Sept. 16.

Mary Alice Chester of Helena dances to music by Copper Queen, Sept. 17. Chester, the treasurer of the Helena Outdoor Club, was part of the earliest caving exploration of the Scapegoat Wilderness in the 1970s. She said there are now four miles of caving routes in the wilderness.

Maria Murnane, a fourth generation cowboy poet out of Choteau, speaks to the crowd Friday evening, Sept. 16