Biography/Memoir
- Autobiography of Red Cloud
- Bound for Montana
- Frontier Soldier
- Girl from the Gulches
- Jeannette Rankin, America's Conscience
- Journeys to the Land of Gold
- Mavericks
- Perilous Passage
- The Story of Mary MacLane, by Herself
- A Tenderfoot in Montana
Autobiography of Red Cloud: War Leader of the OglalasEdited by R. Eli PaulA brilliant military strategist, Red Cloud honed his skills against his tribe's traditional enemies-the Pawnees, Shoshones, Arikaras, and Crows-long before he fought to close the Bozeman Trail. Here, for the first time in print, is Red Cloud's "as-told-to" autobiography, where he shares the story of his early years. This -which has rested ignored for decades at the Nebraska State Historical Society brings us closer than the historical record has yet allowed to understanding the life of one of the Sioux's greatest war leaders. 234 pages Read the Excerpt! Books of related interest available in the Frontier Military section. |
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Bound for Montana: Diaries from the Bozeman TrailEdited by Susan Badger DoyleOn May 14, 1866, Perry Burgess summed up the expectations and hopes of countless westering Americans when he wrote in his diary: "packed up and started on our journey toward the land of gold." Here are stories of the prospectors, freighters, wives, and merchants who, like Burgess, traveled the Bozeman Trail in search of fortune, adventure, or a new life. A shortcut from the Platte River Road to the Montana goldfields, the Bozeman Trail was relatively short in length-less than five hundred miles-yet it has the enduring distinction of being the last great overland emigrant trail in the American West. Encounter the trail as it was experienced by seven travelers: the leader of a company of Michigan men who traveled with one of the first groups to cross it; a new bride traveling with her husband; two young men-a store clerk and a typesetter-for whom the trip was a thoroughly enjoyable adventure; a prospector out to make his fortune in the West; a sober Civil War veteran concerned about the possibility of Indian attack; and the supervisor of a freight train who found time to write despite his heavy responsibilities. Join their journey through these annotated diaries, and discover the dangers and pleasures, frustrations and joys of travel on the Bozeman Trail. 372 pages, illus., maps Books of related interest available in the Mining section. |
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Frontier Soldier: An Enlisted Man's Journal of the Sioux and Nez Perce Campaignsby William F. ZimmerEdited by Jerome A. Greene"Not many enlisted men recorded their adventures in Indian warfare. Still fewer actually kept a journal to lend immediacy to their observations. Frontier Soldier is such a journal, by a literate private who left his story of plains warfare in a chronicle rich in detail. It is the richer for the annotations of Jerome A. Greene, whose understanding of the campaigns in which Zimmer marched is surpassed by few historians." paper, ISBN 0-917298-55-1, $15.95 |
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Girl from the Gulches: The Story of Mary Ronanas told to Margaret RonanEdited by Ellen Baumler"One of the most important personal recollections of Montana's mining frontier." A covered wagon on a dim road, the promise of a long journey, and the wonder of what lay ahead filled the shadowy spaces of Mary Sheehan Ronan's earliest memories. By the time she was a married woman in her twenties, she was a well-seasoned pioneer, having crossed most of the country and retraced her steps back across a third of it. Ronan tells her story in this highly readable, entertaining account of one woman's life in the West during the second half of the nineteenth century. This detailed memoir recalls a girl's growing up on the Montana mining frontier, her ascent to young womanhood on a farm in southern California, her experiences as a student in a Los Angeles convent school, her return to Montana as a bride, and her life on the Flathead Indian Reservation as wife of the Indian agent. The exhilaration of a forbidden sled ride, the creaking of the hangman's rope, her father giving the last of their water to his dying mule-these things Ronan remembers with vivid clarity. A highly readable, entertaining account, Girl from the Gulches' unique perspective is a joy to read. 158 pages, illus., maps |
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Jeannette Rankin, America's Conscienceby Norma SmithPreface by Joan HoffIntroduction by Kathryn AndersonSuffragist, social worker, first woman elected to the United States Congress, a lifelong peace activist, and a tireless advocate for political reform, Jeannette Rankin is often remembered as the woman who voted "No" to the United States' involvement in both world wars. Rankin's determined voice shines in this biography, written by her friend, Norma Smith. 168 pages, illus. |
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Journeys to the Land of Gold: Emigrant Diaries from the Bozeman Trail, 1863-1866Edited by Susan Badger DoyleForeword by Charles E. RankinAfterword by Elliott WestCollected here for the first time ever are the surviving eyewitness accounts of the Bozeman's Trail's civilian emigrants: twenty-four diaries written during the journey and nine reminiscences prepared afterward. These accounts describe life on the West's last great emigrant trail, the shortcut from the Platte River Road to the Montana goldfields, from 1863 until 1866, when the route was closed by "Red Cloud's War." Ample introductions, extensive annotation, historical illustrations, and detailed maps enrich this oversized, two-volume compendium. 864 pages, illus., maps |
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Mavericks: The Lives and Battles of Montana's Political Legendsby John Morrison and Catherine Wright MorrisonBorn of admiration for the careers and contributions of Montana's distinguished public leaders and concern for the effective conduct of public affairs, Mavericks offers readers a look at Montana's remarkable political heritage. The lives and careers of Montana's political giants-Joseph K. Toole, Ella Knowles, Joseph M. Dixon, Thomas Walsh, Jeannette Rankin, Burton K. Wheeler, James E. Murray, Mike Mansfield, and Lee Metcalf-are inextricably interwoven with Montana political history. Their careers were launched and their values hewn by a state rich with populism, progressivism, and activism. At a time when Americans search for reasons to reinvolve themselves in government, the stories of these nine politicians remind us of the qualities that underpin effective leadership. This is essential reading for Montanans, those interested in the dynamics of politics, and general readers wishing to gain a greater understanding of our nation's political heritage as exemplified in the lives of nine dedicated individuals. 340 pages, illus. |
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Perilous Passage: A Narrative of the Montana Gold Rush, 1862-1863by Edwin R. PurpleEdited by Kenneth N. OwensIn 1862 Edwin Ruthven Purple seized the chance to strike it rich in the newly discovered goldfields of the northern Rocky Mountains. With an introduction and thorough annotations by Kenneth N. Owens, Perilous Passage offers Purple's never-before-published, first-person narrative. On hand for the crimes that led to vigilante justice, Purple chronicled the story of a raucous, sometimes murderous life among bonanza miners. 216 pages, illus. |
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Western History ClassicsThe Story of Mary Maclane, by Herselfby Mary MaclaneIntroduction by Julia WatsonThe Story of Mary MacLane shocked the literary world when it was published in April 1902. Within six months it had sold 100,000 copies, an astonishing number then and now. Within a few years it had been translated into 36 languages, and writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Hart Crane, and Gertrude Stein lauded it as an important influence in their quests for a new American style. The author was a 19-year-old girl from the raw, masculine mining town of Butte, Montana. With the publication of Story, Mary MacLane became an overnight sensation. She was called the "Wild Woman of Butte," a Bohemian, a radical, a feminist, a rebel. Although MacLane went on to write other books, none had the impact of Story, which was-and is-fresh, frank, and funny. Readers are swept along in a breath-taking tour de force about life, love, and longing that is as powerful today as it was provocative when first published. Copublished with Riverbend Publishing256 pages, illus. Learn more about the Western History Classics series. |
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A Tenderfoot in Montana: Reminiscences of the Gold Rush, the Vigilantes, and the Birth of Montana Territoryby Francis M. ThompsonEdited by Kenneth N. OwensFrank Thompson's lively memoir details his experiences in the upper Missouri country at the beginning of the Montana gold rush. A young man at the outset of the Civil War, Thompson supported the Union cause but realized that military life was not for him. Turning to the frontier, he headed west from St. Louis in 1862, arriving aboard the first steamboat ever to reach Fort Benton, in what would later become Montana Territory. Thompson's sojourn was relatively brief-he returned east after only two and a half years. But in that time he hunted for gold, ran a Bannack City mercantile business, traveled to the Pacific Coast and back, served in Montana's first territorial legislature, and became a speculator in mining properties. Thompson also formed a relationship with controversial sheriff Henry Plummer. Thompson knew the sheriff well, but he early stated his dark suspicions about the gold camp lawman. Drawing from his intimate knowledge of the circumstances and players involved, Thompson vividly describes one of the deadliest incidents of vigilante justice in U.S. history. A self-styled tenderfoot, Frank Thompson recalls his days on the mining frontier with clarity and insight, making him an unmatched eyewitness for Montana's formative era. A specialist in western history, Ken Owens is also the editor of Perilous Passage: A Narrative of the Montana Gold Rush by Edwin Ruthven Purple (Montana Historical Society Press, 1995) and a frequent contributor to Montana The Magazine of Western History. 192 pages |
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