Gros Ventre

Gros Ventre is a fictional town in the Two Medicine country of Montana (the setting for most of Doig’s novels). The Two Medicine country is “an extravagant piece of geography in all directions,” with “green creek valleys” to the east, and the Rocky Mountains rising “like the mightiest castle walls imaginable” to the west (21). It is a “historical stronghold of sheep ranching” (22). The picturesque Rainbow Reservoir – the “rezavoy,” as Tom calls it – is a drive out of town, with the Rockies looming over it (22). It is when he first beholds the reservoir that, as Rusty recalls it, “Montana opened my eyes for good” (21). The dam serves to halt the South Fork of English Creek (the main river). The camp where Del, Rusty and Zoe find Canada Dan tending sheep is in the lowlands alongside the South Fork, on the way to the reservoir.

The town itself...