Cottage Industries - Montana Style: Trent McCauley's Journey Into Jewelry

Looking at one of Trent McCauley's crystal pendants wrapped in silver wire, one sees so much more than a beautiful stone and fine craftsmanship. The piece represents the man himself and the state in which he was born and resides. It's like a piece of McCauley, his story and what he's been through, gone through. A part of his life, his journey, what brought him here. A sixth-generation Montanan, his family has been here since 1864; the stone also represents Montana's mining history.

Combined, the two elements lend themselves perfectly to McCauley's catchphrase – "It's a way to keep a piece of Montana close to your heart. Wear it around your neck and close to your heart."

Trent's journey began in 2017 while hunting elk in Whitehall. Along with several other hunters, he witnessed a UFO, and that changed his life. Shortly thereafter he decided to change his life, to start over and figure a few things out. He sold all his possessions, purchased a camper and a truck, and left Montana, ending up in Arizona's Mojave Desert.

"During that time I started finding crystals on the ground; I was very interested in the properties they had. I was on a vision quest at the time processing trauma that had happened in my life and the reasons I was the way I was. I was introduced to plant medicine, spirituality, meditation, and some new-age ways of thinking and living," he said. "I continued to find these crystals everywhere which really fascinated me so I decided I wanted to try to make jewelry out of them and sell them if I could or at least give them away because I felt they had some really good energy to them."

Trent began by making simple necklaces from desert rose chalcedony crystals, which people bought, providing him with income. Then he found part-time work at a rock shop, being paid with rocks, which he turned into more jewelry, continuing to push himself creatively.

"With my skills, I'd find other jewelry makers that I liked what they were doing and I tried to replicate some things I thought were really interesting," Trent said. "It's just kind of grown ever since then."

Before returning to Montana, Trent traveled in the Philippines for a month, experiencing the culture. He got tattooed by Whang Od, a 105- year-old woman, the last of the headhunter tribe's tattoo artists, creating tattoos with a stick and bamboo quill. Trent requested a tattoo on his head, something she was reluctant to try because of the method, but she went ahead, giving Trent the honor of being the first person to be tattooed on the head from the headhunter tribe, and an instant celebrity in the community.

Back in Montana, Trent chose Whitehall as his home, loving the area and identifying it as the beginning of his journey; he's been here for the past year and a half.

"This feels like home; I grew up in Butte, born in Bozeman, so I'm kind of right in between the two. My family used to have a homestead in Waterloo so this whole area just feels like home to me and I like it here; the community has been very supportive," he said.

The self-taught jeweler creates mainly rings and pendants with the focus on the crystal wrapped with silver or copper wire, depending on the look of the piece, the budget, and what people want. He admits he does the work mainly for himself but also because others really like the finished product as well.

At the heart of each piece is the crystal. While Trent has sourced crystals from all over the world, he has dedicated local stones and crystals to his Montana Series, working with sapphires from the Phillipsburg mines; amethysts mined from around Whitehall, and Montana moss agates from the Yellowstone River.

"We have so many different gemstones here in Montana, just about any color of gemstone you can think of; we have something that will represent that here in Montana. It's the treasure state for a reason," Trent said. "Growing up in Butte, it's the copper city, so that tied in really well using copper. Using stones and pieces from Montana, it just felt like it all belonged together."

Interested customers can see Trent's work and make orders on his Facebook page. He also offers wire-wrap classes once a month at Settings.

In the future, Trent would like to open up his own rock shop and lapidary store in Whitehall, giving people the chance to learn how to cut and polish rocks and make jewelry. He also sees a potential collaboration with Paul Senn, a rock-hunting friend with mining claims in the area, an all-in-one experience for people with mining, then cutting and polishing the rocks they find.

"I think that would go really well here," he said. "I'm hoping to keep growing this thing and see where it takes me. It's taken me halfway around the world and back."

Trent is proud of his Montana heritage, his ancestors were all blacksmiths and his grandfather did silversmith work as well, leading Trent to explain, "For six generations we've been bending metal in Montana, so I'm pretty proud of that lineage."

At the end of the day, Trent would like to be recognized for being happy and inspiring others to live their dreams and not give up on the things they're passionate about, to be happy with what they are doing. He hopes people view his jewelry and see the energy coming off the piece, the best compliment he can receive. After that, the craftsmanship, the attention to detail, and the quality of the materials making clear that each piece is truly one-of-a-kind, no two stones are ever identical.

Trent began a journey and is happy where it has led him.

"I've received so much love and support and friends, encouragement from so many people over the years doing the jewelry more than anything else I've ever experienced or tried to do in my life," he said. "It's more than just the jewelry, it's who I am, it's a part of my life, my journey. It's what got me here, what brought me here."

For more information: Tree Entity Jewelry and Art – Facebook; Tree Entity – Instagram; Trenticus maximus – TikTok.