NativeWinds LLC

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If you are looking for a giant corporation with impersonal service, you have come to the wrong place. NativeWinds is a small Montana company that is owned and operated by everyday people, just like you. We have a firm commitment to friendly service, quality software and reasonable prices.

NativeWinds is located near Whitehall, Montana in the Highland Mountain Range of the Rockies. The small town of Whitehall is situated in the southwestern part of Montana in the Jefferson Valley. Lots of mountains are nearby. To the southeast of Whitehall are the Tobacco Root Mountains, Bull Mountain is directly to the north and the Highland Mountains sit to the west. This is a small farm and ranch community of around 1,200 people where kids can still stop in at the local movie theater and catch the latest release (for us anyway) for a mere $2 dollars. Adult prices are $3 dollars. Traveling through the town of Whitehall in the spring and fall can take awhile. You never know when you'll sit at a stop sign for 30 minutes waiting for a cattle drive to clear the intersection.

You have to travel a ways from here to find any large centers of population. The closest town with a population of 50,000 plus is 126 miles away in Great Falls, Montana. To reach a city with a 200,000 plus population, you'll have to travel 648 miles south to Denver, Colorado.

The home of NativeWinds Software sits at an elevation of 6,500 feet above sea level and near the top of the Continental Divide in the Highland Mountain Range. We are surrounded on all 4 sides by the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. In addition to the standard fare you'd expect to find here - multiple computers in every room, bookshelves lining the walls, thousands of backup CD's and coffee cups within arm reach no matter where you stand; if you take the time to venture outside you'll see horses in corrals or pens to the north, east and south. Deer, elk, moose, coyotes, wolves and black bear are regular visitors who are kept at bay by 2 dogs of questionable descent who also consider this home.

NativeWinds Logo

Our logo design was derived from our western location and Cherokee heritage. Jack, daughters- Ronnie and Cassandra, and son Shawn are all of Cherokee descent. The eagle stands for freedom. The small image above the eagle represents the seven clans of the Cherokee and has the letters NW mirrored in the center. The letters 'NW' of course, stand for NativeWinds.

Jack started his programming experience on an old "Trash-80" in 1982 using Basic as a programming language. His first program was a small address database that a local veterans organization in Colorado Springs had requested. As computer technology advanced, Jack upgraded his equipment and programming software. When Borland released their 'Turbo Pascal' language, Jack switched to using Borland (now called CodeGear) products and has stayed with them ever since. Jack was soon writing custom software for companies all over the western United States, specializing in database and pdf technologies using Borland's Delphi language compiler. As the demand for his services and software increased, Jack realized that he could no longer operate the business by himself and keep up with the demand. What had started out as a small sideline business to earn extra income had suddenly developed into full-time occupation that demanded a staff and real office space. Jack had to put his job as a freelance photographer on the back burner and devote full time to software development. NativeWinds LLC was founded in 1998 by Jack Lewis and Pamela Bean. After Pam talked him into showcasing his software on the web, a real explosion in sales occurred as soon as NativeWinds released a small program called Tomahawk.

Trash-80
Tandy TRS80 - affectionately known as a Trash-80.

NativeWinds has now gained worldwide recognition for our software products. If you have a comment, suggestion, or would just like to drop us a line and say 'Howdy', we welcome your correspondence. You can email us here.

 

Montana in Winter
Our driveway in Winter

Our split-rail lined driveway in the winter was once called 'the prettiest scene I've ever come across' by a visitor from back east. (Back east to us is anyone who lives east of North Dakota.) The photo above of our drive under a blanket of snow now hangs in offices and living rooms from one coast to the other.


Icicles

Icicles hanging from the front of our enclosed front porch. The longest ones (over 5 feet long) are around 6 inches in diameter at the base. These are created during the winter because of the 7-12 pitch to the main section of the roof. Most of the snow sheds by itself, then the sun warms up the roof, which causes the bottom of the remaining snow to melt slightly. In freezing temperatures, the small trickles of water refreeze before they hit the ground.


Snow on an out building

The photo above of one of our out-buildings was taken February 2010. It had about 5 inches of snow built up on the roof when it started to slide off. Now, most of the time when snow slides off a roof it will hit the ground. As you can see in the photo above, that is not always the case.



Jack D. Lewis In addition to programming, Jack is still doing his best to stay out from under the wayward horses he trains.

One of our daughters, Ronnie on her favorite horse - Dolly. Ronnie currently attends Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.

Ronnie had her first article published in Rocky Mountain Rider magazine. Her's was a feature article in the May 2008 issue

Ronnie