Bruce Earl McLees

Bruce Earl McLees passed away from cancer on the morning of March 14, 2025 at the Gallatin Valley Rest Home in Bozeman, MT. He was the youngest son of Earl & Orece McLees. He is survived by his brother Scott McLees and his sister Kathy McLees of Honeyville, UT plus his many relatives and friends.

He was born on February 2, 1962 in Bozeman, MT, Bruce was 63 years old when he passed and lived almost all of his life in Three Forks and the area. He graduated from T.F.H.S. and the only time he spent away from Montana was when he joined the Navy. While he was in the service he was disabled with the left side of his face paralyzed. He returned to Montana and he bought & lived in a cabin in the Tobacco Root Mountains.

From an early age Bruce always had a love for reading books. He was well read and knowledgeable about many things. He was only in grade school when he read the book “My Life as an Indian”. This book made a huge impact on his life. It was about a white man who lived with the Blackfoot Indians and was married to a Blackfoot woman. He told me he read this book every year of his life and in many ways it shaped the lifestyle that he lived.

Bruce was just a youngster when he started trapping, and after he began living in his cabin he learned how to skin and tan hides the old Indian way. Some of the hides he tanned ended up being in the movie “Dances with Wolves” because of the authenticity and were well done. Bruce enjoyed going to Mountain Man retreats and tradedwares with other Mountain Men. He also made friends and learned from other Mountain Men. As Bruce got older he developed arthritis, so it became harder for him with his hands to do as much tanning so then he learned how to make knives. The highlight of his nephews and nieces lives was to get to camp in the Tipi he put up. It was an adventure to go to “Uncle Bruce’s” and stay. The girls weren’t thrilled about the “outhouse”! It sure made for a good story telling their friends when they got back home.

One of the highlights of Bruce’s life was to get mail! He LOVED to get mail! He had many pen pals from all over the country. And he must’ve had at least one or two excursions to the Catskill Mountains, as he did mention this from time to time. In more recent years, Bruce also enjoyed church and the friends he made there. If you had to label Bruce, I guess you’d call him a Mountain Man. But despite his rugged appearance and way, Burce was a very loving and giving person. I’m not sure there was a charity he didn’t give to and he would give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed help.

A big part of Bruce’s life were his dogs. He loved his dogs and always had the most unique names, such as Moose and Tidewater. And it grew more difficult to care for them properly towardsthe end of his life.

We would like to thank his niece Chrissy for the utmost care to his dog once he was hospitalized, this meant a lot to Bruce.

We would like to thank the people from the rest home and from hospice for their kindness and help in trying to keep Bruce comfortable. We would also like to extend a thank you to all those friends who came to see him during his illness. It really meant a lot to him.

We would like to give special appreciation to his friend Richie Robertson for ALL his special help. He’s a good friend and helped Bruce’s family out beyond belief. We just cannot thank him enough for the difference he made. Danny Shedel was also a good friend to Bruce for most of his life and helped Bruce out when he needed it and spent time tanning hides together. Bruce was blessed with his good friends.

Bruce wants his ashes spread over the land by his mountain home. And we woud like to invite you to his Celebration of Life with us at the Christian Center in Three Forks, MT this summer during the Rodeo weekend on Friday, the 18th day of July at 4:00pm, with a picnic to follow, place and time will be announced at the Celebration of Life Service.