In the heart of Gallatin Valley (and Gallatin County) lies Bozeman, MT (its county seat). The Last Best Place, they say.
Taking after its namesake Albert Gallatin (the Geneva-born aristocrat who immigrated to the USA at age nineteen, who eventually served as Secretary of Treasury under Jefferson and Madison and head benefactor of the Lewis and Clark Expedition), this county is truly "American." (An aside: Gallatin is also the namesake of the school at NYU, Maddie's alma mater, where you can basically create your own bachelor degree and defend it PhD style.)
As the "most populated and fastest growing county in scenic southwest Montana," Gallatin County indeed revealed itself to me to be the home of "Boze Angeles," as some have been calling it. Yikes, but also, I'm not mad about it. From Wikipedia:
Gallatin County has traditionally favored Republican presidential candidates, often by large margins. Recent changes to Gallatin County's demographics (including migration from Democratic-leaning areas,[12] and younger voters adopting more liberal political positions)[13] have made the county more competitive.
In 1972, the state replaced its 1889 constitution with a new one that protected citizens' right to abortion. This has been recently challenged by Greg Gianforte, Montana's current governor, former businessman, software engineer, and frat bro. Sigh. You can read more about him here.
Maddie's second-and-final aside: Gianforte apparently worked in the 80s at Bell Labs, the same place where her senior year Computer Science professor worked at and would talk nonstop about, because it was his heyday and he obviously peaked there. You know what they say about those who can't do. Who knows? Professor Strauss and Gov. Gianforte were probably friends.
Anyway, "Last Best Place" title still stands. Again, from Wikipedia:
Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton narrowly won Gallatin County in 2008 and 2016 respectively, with Republican Mitt Romney winning in 2012. 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden won Gallatin County by the largest margin for a Democrat since Franklin Delano Roosevelt's victory in 1940.
