In states like Montana, range riders can play a key role in a wild landscape where livestock and predators navigate life together

For most people, the word “cowboy” still summons a figure from Western folklore – a rough rider with a weathered face and a steely gaze, a self-reliant loner who answers to nobody, is fearless in the face of danger, and protects his lands from predators – animal and human alike.

But over the past 15 years, a new range rider has emerged in the American West, one that is out on a wholly different mission: to live in a wild landscape where livestock and predators can co-exist.

A magical corner of Oregon has the highest US rate of wildfire smoke deaths. How do residents live with the haze – and grief?

Driving into the county, you can’t miss the sign.

“IT’S THE CLIMATE”.

Home in Billings was also set on fire, with victims representing four generations of a blended family

A man killed eight of his relatives, including four children, on Sunday evening in a shooting at a home in Billings, Montana, that was also set on fire, according to authorities and local media reports.

Police have characterized the case as a family disturbance, according to Montana news outlet KULR.

Authorities believe Benjamin Charles ​Parker, 36, died by suicide after he was found in vehicle in Washington state

A man ⁠suspected of killing ⁠five ​people in rural Oregon was found dead in a suspected ⁠suicide, local law enforcement officials said on Sunday.

The five homicide victims were found ⁠on Saturday at a home in a ​rural community near ‌Forest Grove, ‌Oregon, about 30 miles (48km) outside Portland, ‌when authorities responded to a report of a vehicle fire.