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The DaVinci Code of the West

Regardless of how well-intentioned it is, Gallatin County’s "Code of the West" needs some tweaking.

Either that, or circumstances outside the city limits are more grave than I could have ever imagined.

County Commissioners adopted the code in 2002 as way to warn (or scare) newcomers of rural-living hardships in Southwest Montana. In the same vein as Western writer Zane Grey, who apparently first chronicled the Code of the West during the westward expansion of the United States, our code emphasizes self reliance.

The sacred code is posted on the county Web site. If your power hasn’t gone out, you can log on and read it http://www.gallatin.mt.gov/code.htm . If it has, well, get used to it.

By Kellyn Brown, Chronicle Columnist

Full Story: http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2006/01/28/news/kellyn.txt

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As good citizens of Montana, we promise to:

1. Appreciate the splendor of Montana’s natural beauty; the opportunity to live here; the quality of life we enjoy.

2. Be a good steward of the land; to take personal responsibility for keeping our land weed and trash free; to promote recycling.

3. Show respect for our state laws, for wildlife, for the land and for the people … especially those engaged in farming and ranching.

4. Be goodwill ambassadors, showing friendliness to visitors and neighbors alike.

5. Take pride in how we maintain our property, our businesses, our communities, and ourselves.

6. Become informed about how things are done in our communities and in the state, so that we fully understand the realities of living in rural Montana.

7. Take political action: read, vote, become informed, participate when necessary, to preserve and improve the good things we have.

8. Get involved with our communities, to give back some measure of what we receive from being a part of the larger family.

9. Work together for the good of the whole, neighborhood, community, county, state, nation and world.

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