These are some thoughts on the history of the M4x4A, by Ted Riebe. Ted wrote this out and read it at an M4x4A quarterly meeting around 2012 (or so). If you are interested in how the M4x4A came about or have been in it for years and just want a trip down memory lane, this is for you.
Montana 4x4 Association History (by Ted Riebe)
If my dates and times, or people and places, are not exactly correct, it’s because I have CRS - that’s the prelude to Alzheimer’s - and stands for can’t remember ---- (stuff).
In 1969, my dad and two other partners purchased a Jeep dealership in Polson and named it Skyline Trading Co. DBA Skyline Jeep. In 1971, one of the partners decided to sell his share of the business to my brother Dick, who left a good career with IBM to move back to Montana to work for starvation wages.
In, or about, 1972, Dick met Steve Settle and Tom Shepherd from the Big Sky Four Wheelers in Kalispell. Tom won a new Jeep pickup in a nationwide raffle and took delivery through Skyline Jeep. Tom later purchased a new Jeep CJ5. He invited Dick to come to a Jeep Rally they were having in Kalispell. Dick had also met Dick Elshire and Jerry Trowbridge from the Five Valley Four Wheelers in Missoula. Dick told me about the 4x4 rallies where they have hill climbs, obstacle courses and 100 yard drags. [I was still working in Missoula at that time.] We went to Kalispell and Missoula to watch. We said, “heck, we can do that, it looks like fun.”
We asked what classes they had and were informed: stock, street and trail, comp mod, and long wheelbase. There was a shortage of vehicles in the long-wheelbase class and they recommended we start there.
After moving to Polson, I purchased a 1966 Jeep Wagoneer, made some suspension modifications, an engine swap, painted it red, white, and blue and we went racing. In 1973, we went to Lethbridge, Canada, Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls, and Bozeman. We met people like Bud Wheeler, Dave Blom, Bob Bradley Jr., and Sr. and so many others.
One day in Jan. 1974, Dick came to me in the shop and said he had just been talking to Steve Settle from the Big Sky Four Wheelers and informed us that the clubs had decided that in order for us to race in 1974, we had to belong to a club. We could either join Big Sky or Five Valley or start our own. We decided to start our own. So with some help and a copy of the Big Sky Four Wheelers by-laws, in March of 1974, we started The Skyliners.
At that time there wasn’t a lot of cohesion between the clubs in the state — just like all the mud bog and tough-truck races that are popping up around the state today. Every holiday every club wanted to have a rally. So there wasn’t a very good turnout at any of them. So after the racing season in the fall of 1974, Harold Brown, from the Bozeman Mountaineers, asked that representatives from all the clubs in the state meet in Bozeman for a meeting to establish a state association.
They had done this with the snowmobile clubs and he thought it would be a good idea for the four-wheel-drive clubs to do the same. So Dick Riebe, Warren Wilson, and I from the Skyliners met with all the now "old-timers" (back then we were all in our 20’s, 30’s, and 40s and a couple 50’s), to establish a State Association to provide communication between clubs, under “Friendship and Unity.” To establish a rally schedule so that they weren’t having a rally on the same weekend and thus promote more participation. The older clubs had first choice as to a rally date and it worked. And worked well for many years.
We named this new association the Montana Four Wheel Drive Association, known as the M4x4A. Our means of communication was to be in the form of a monthly newsletter called the 4x4 Forum.
Yes, we spent many years hashing over the race rules to establish a common set so that you know what to expect from one rally to the other. What class you were to run in, what safety devices you needed, etc. The racers brought the state together and as the association grew it became more involved with land and legislation, etc. It became necessary for the racers to separate their rules and racing from the general agenda and a race rules committee was formed. Now that there are few races and, therefore, fewer people interested in what the M4x4A was founded for and represents, there is less participation in the M4x4A in general.
In the first years, the 4x4 Forum was nothing more than a mimeographed sheet of paper folded over and mailed without even an envelope. It would inform us of upcoming rallies and other activities that the clubs across the state were involved with, and who to contact in other clubs etc. It played a big part in the establishment of the Adopt-A-Trail program. Clubs began helping other clubs with their projects.
How many of you even know what a mimeograph or a ditto machine is or how to use one? They were very messy to set up and use. They went out way before the typewriter. What’s a typewriter? The first mimeograph and alter ditto machines used by the M4x4A were donated by the Skyliners - which were purchased from the Polson School District property disposal sales. Betty Riebe, Georgia Wilson, and Aubrey Drebes spent many hours putting out this makeshift newsletter. Matt Eckland worked for a printing co. and told them to send him a copy and he would get it printed. Later came the computers and copy machines.
As other people took over the job of editor the sources varied. Then God sent us Stacey Osborne, who for many years provided us with a very professional paper, and still sends a very good and informative secretary’s report via the internet. But… not everyone has access to the internet, therefore, even a one-page letter letting people know who to contact in other clubs, or what events are coming up etc., including Stacey’s report in the Forum, would be greatly appreciated. Many people would like a hard copy in hand.
The greatest expense to the M4x4A was the cost of printing and mailing the Forum. Then came the United 4x4 Association with its membership constantly rising. The M4x4A is a charter member of United {Four Wheel Drive Associations).
To keep our dues in check, it was agreed that we needed an annual fundraiser. First, we taxed a portion of the proceeds from individual club rallies - well, you know how well that went over. We tried a state-sponsored rally - ya right! Then settled on a trail ride based on the Colorado All For Fun Week and the Jeep Jamboree, calling it Divide Ride. At first, it went off really well. A profit was made and we were able to cover the cost of the Forum and United dues with some leftover for donations to other organizations. If the Forum were put out on the internet the cost is nil, and send a hard copy to those who request. If we had a big pot-luck instead of a catered meal, the cost of Divide Ride could be reduced dramatically to encourage more participation. After all, the Divide Ride should be a gathering of friends with a common purpose… four-wheeling.
As most successful things go, the cost keeps going up. Since the cost of all events has gone up, and fuel skyrocketed, most four-wheelers feel they can no longer afford to participate in either racing or Divide Ride.
I personally, being among the founding members, would like to see the M4x4A continue for many years to come. I would like to see more of the old-fashioned rallies, races, Divide Ride, and good family entertainment, as I always enjoy seeing old and new friends. That’s why I’m here, that’s why I keep coming back. — Ted Riebe