Cazador del Oso: Musician’s opus, 10 years in the making, hits the stage at end of month

A decade in the making, Zac Fawcett’s ambitious multimedia project “Cazador del Oso” will come to life later this month in Whitefish.

“Cazador del Oso,” which translates to “the bear hunter,” is a dub/reggae Western historical fiction about a Jamaican Buffalo Soldier sent to Essex, Montana to fight the Big Burn of 1910, a massive wildfire that raced across Northwest Montana.  

The story addresses the struggles of being a black man in early 1900s Montana, the spiritual connection between man and bear, and the troubles of alcoholism. 

The format is an interactive storyboard, featuring 12 large Western illustrations, backed by Kathryn Cruz, a Grammy nominated soprano from Baltimore, musicians from 20 Grand, Evergreen Afro-Dub Orchestra, Roots Uprising, and the Glacier Symphony, among others.  

Fawcett is a member of the local funk band, 20 Grand, as well as an artist and filmmaker. 

 “I’ve been a side man for over 20 years,” he said in a recent interview, noting he’s played in 30-plus professional bands. He’s even opened for the String Cheese Incident.   

Currently, he plays trumpet in 20 Grand, although he’s a talented multi-instrumentalist. In recording “Cazador del Oso,” he played every instrument besides drums and reed instruments.   

Fawcett says he doesn’t necessarily write music for his audience.  

“I write the music, and let it take me where it’s gonna take me,” he said 

He ended up with 15 songs on a hard drive. Hence, “Cazador” was born. 

 “The music came first,” he said.  

After graduating from the University of Idaho in 2007 with a music performance degree, Fawcett moved to Spokane. In 2016, he moved back to the Flathead Valley, where he was born.  

Fawcett was working as a raft guide at the time, and as he drifted by the willow-and-tamarack-laden historic Nyack Flats, he couldn’t help but ponder about his project. From 2016-2020, he didn’t work on it at all.  

“I’d raft down the river, thinking about its components,” he said.  

Since 2020, he’s been steadily chipping away at it.  

Much of Fawcett’s inspiration comes from local Montana historian John Fraley. His books “Wild River Pioneers” and “Rangers, Trappers, and Trailblazers” include several historical figures which will appear in Fawcett’s storyboard, including Dan and Josephine Doody. 

Mary Fields, the first black female postal carrier for the Star Route in Northwest Montana, will also make a guest appearance.  

The main protagonist of his story is Yyrah Ytrid — Dirty Harry spelled backwards — accompanied by a mysterious red-tailed hawk. 

Yyrah is a member of the 21st Regiment, a group of Buffalo Soldiers who were hired to help fight fires in Montana back in 1910. During the raging 48-hour firestorm of August 20-21, these men are largely accredited with saving the town of Essex.  

Yyrah struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism, problems that are frequently visualized through the storyboard in a series of flashbacks. 

“Every time alcohol is present in the screenplay, Yyrah has a flashback, waking up in the forests of Nyack Flats or McCarthyville,” Fawcett said. 

Yyrah can’t seem to stay out of trouble. He continually has run-ins with the antagonist of the piece, Oso, a Chinese cartel leader who deals opium all along the Great Northern Railroad. Eventually, Yyrah decides to bushwack south back to Mexico, where his family resides, but he’s followed by Oso and various members of his gang.     

The whole thing culminates in a chase from the beautiful aspen groves of Bynum to a ridgeline where Oso and Yyrah face off, with a major plot twist. 

“It’s essentially Northwest Montana’s Fight Club,” Fawcett joked.  

During the creation process, Fawcett consulted Theda Newbreast, a Blackfeet tribal member and healer based out of Babb, in an effort to maintain as much historical and tribal accuracy as possible. 

“In the Blackfeet Nation, bear is considered to be half human and half bear. Blackfeet never refer to grizzly bears as ‘nitakyaio’ (Blackfeet for Grizzly), they refer to them as ‘cousin’ or ‘brother’,” Fawcett said. “This is because historically, some Blackfeet have believed that during winter, when bears hibernate, they’re always listening to us. They have so much respect for them.”

Fawcett also added how important the Blackfeet believe it is to be sober in bear country; otherwise it lowers your spiritual connection with bears.  

Fawcett’s goal is “to honor what has been lacking in Western film-the problem with western film is that the characters are all two-dimensional–there’s no emotion, and at the end they all get their cake and eat it too.”  

Fawcett says that some of his own trials and tribulations are woven in throughout the piece. 

He’s already applied for a grant through the Montana Film Office, as he hopes to someday make Cazador del Oso into a film.  

“April 25th is my pitch to a captive audience,” he says.

Doors open at 6 p.m. for the live show on Saturday, April 25 at the O’Shaughnessy Center. 

Local post-rock favorites, Surf Bat, will be opening from 6-7 p.m. The main show is 7-9 p.m.

At intermission there will be a raffle featuring local businesses like Glacier Raft and Lary’s Fly and Supply. Proceeds go to the Firekeeper Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that focuses on suicide prevention and mental wellness within the Blackfeet Nation. 

Rebel Roots food truck will be available and drinks will be served at the event.   

More information, including tickets, visit www.zfunkproductions.com

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