Montana Books

At last! An historical novel that's interesting, amusing, and *entertaining* and so *real* you feel you need to clean your boots every time you read a piece of it. Yeah, the pictures are faded. They're *old*, dammit, *real*. These are *everybody's* folks, the way they grew up and loved and lost their limbs just so we could be here. John Sayles, *do* read these books. You'll have another "Matewan" in your hands.

'Labor of love' seems inadequate in describing BEHIND THESE MOUNTAINS, authored by resident-historian, Mona Leeson Vanek. This engaging book narrates virtually every known event of significance in the region, through the use of oral tape recordings, letters, and written documentation. Beginning before the arrival of David Thompson, it contains determined homesteaders, exciting log drives down river, pioneering merchants, establishment of schools and churches, and the horrors of the 1910 forest fire. Countless stories of individuals, ranging from mildly amusing to hilarious enliven this history. Where else in a book of this sort can one find characters who vow to escape from a local jail "disguised as a bunch of radishes?" or a shingle-mill owner who closed down his mill after having to ante up compensation for too many workers' sawed-off fingers - at $1,000 per finger. BEHIND THESE MOUNTAINS stands as the definitive history of its region, the lower Clark's Fork of the Columbia River and the Bull River valley in Sanders County, Montana. The chapter on the Forest Service's arrival in the valley clearly describes the bitter struggles between pioneer ranger Augustus Ferdinand Silcox and local businessmen, led by Clifford R. Weare, who wanted to continue their unfettered exploitation of the public domain. The more than 200 photographs are positioned in the book to match and enhance the text, but reporoduction of many of them obviously is more faded and washed out than the author would have liked. The thorough index is a boon for genealogists. A complete set of end notes contain material that enhance the stories, and if readers ignore the footnotes, they'll miss some stirring accounts of vigilante activity during the 1880s. Excellent accounts of the building of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which opened the northwest area of Montana to settlement, provide vivid accounts of problems along this 'most difficult and expensive division' of the entire NPRR line. Vanek has done her community and Montana a great service

This was one of the best Montana Mavericks books I've read. I can't wait for the series to continue. Duarte is a very talented author and does a great job explaining events of pasts books and giving hints about future books in the series.

This is an enjoyable read. It is about two people from different upbringings-one rich and one poor who have been best friends even in school. He becomes a firefighter and she owns a flower shop that the hero financed. One has always helped the other out of trouble. Eventually, the heroine gets pregnant by someone else but the father (who sometimes works with the hero) at first rejects the idea then gets himself killed fighting fires. The hero gets hurt trying to rescue the baby's father and ends up on the heroine's couch for a while. Even though the hero doesn't want to be tied down, he eventually falls in love with the heroine. It is somewhat predictable but the only violence (that I rememeber) is when men are injured while fighting fires and one dies.

Good rainy day reading.

this book was wonderful....i couldn't put it down...i liked it so much that i ordered 4 more books by Montana Mavericks. A must read.

Favorite scene with Tessa-
Her final confrontation with the woman who doesn't like her, and learning the truth about why she's so angry.

Favorite scene with Colby-
Being confronted by Tessa while there's a fire going on.

Together-
Finally realizing Colby has faith in her, and Colby realizing how much she really means to him, and uncaring about who and what she is. Tessa finally agreeing to marry him, and their happy ending.

What did you like about Tessa-
Her strength, and her innocence. No matter what people said or thought about her, she seemed to hold her head up high. Her love for kids, and wanting to protect those she cared about.

What didn't you like about Tessa-
Although she was strong, she was ready to leave town because of one stupid woman, and thinking that Colby didn't want her because of who and what she was. She didn't have faith in Colby.

What did you like about Colby-
His love for Tessa. Working hard to find out who murdered his aunt.

What didn't you like about Colby-
Although he loved Tessa, he didn't understand her and what and who she was. He almost lost her to finally understand.

If I had to cast Tessa, I'd cast Phoebe Cates.
If I had to cast Colby, I'd cast Cameron Mathison.

Welcome to Millionaire, Montana, where twelve lucky souls have won a multimillion dollar jackpot. ** Well, doggone it, if millionaire animal doc Jack Hartman didn't go disappointing the disproportionately high female pet-owning population by popping the question to his plain-Jane partner, Melinda Woods. Why, the odds on the romance-resistant widower remarrying were longer than The Main Street Millionaires winning the lottery! Unless, of course, the venerable veterinarians are trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes by pretending to be betrothed. But sources say the slow dances and even slower kisses shared between the cozy colleagues simply cannot be contrived. Then again, the incriminating blush on bashful Melinda's cheeks does confirm rumors of a secret crush. Still, skeptical minds want to know: when is the wedding?

In economically depressed Jester, Montana, twelve of the local merchants each chip in a dollar every week for the Big Bucks Multi State Lottery. When one of their numbers hit, they win over $1 million each after taxes.
In this second installment in the Millionaire, Montana series, local veterinarian Jack Hartman is laying the ground work to leave Jester. Five years ago, his wife was died and there are to many painful memories for him in Jester. When Jack becomes one of the lottery winners, he finally has the money to leave town, now he just has to get the local ranchers to see his partner, Melinda Woods, as the competent vet she is and not judge her just because she's a woman. To complicate his life even further, the local single women figure it's time for Jack to come out of mourning for his wife now that he's worth $1 million. When one lady corners Jack in the clinic's exam room, the only way Jack can think of to dissuade her is to tell her he's seeing Melinda. That evening, as Melinda is watching the local news, she learns of her "engagement" to Jack. Since Melinda has had a crush on Jack since she first met him, she agrees to go along with the pretend engagement so the local women will leave him alone. Jack soon finds his feelings for Melinda growing. Melinda is a truly beautiful person who fights hard to win the respect of the local ranchers. Her assortment of quirky pets is delightful.

James Lowe has captured the essence of Western History in this recent release. An accomplished author and historian, Lowe tells it like it was. He states in the preface that this text is intended for the layman or scholar alike, and though the former will find the story entertaining, the latter will reap the full benefit of his extensive research. Lowe has successfully provided the reader with an accurate overview of frontiersman, Jim Bridger, Native-American history and politics, the history of nineteenth century westward migration and United States Indian policy of the same era. In detail, he has presented a thorough and accurate account of the discovery and usage of the route known as the Bridger Trail to the gold fields of Montana, as well as compared the alternative routes of the Bozeman and Montana Trails. The reader is given countless examples from emigrant diaries of the difficulties presented these travelers in making the decision of which route to take. These diaries are extensively quoted to document the various trains, and experiences of the over 2,500 travelers who embarked on the Bridger Trail in 1864. Through Lowe's understanding of Native-American politics of that time, he also helps explain many of the fears and misconceptions of these heroic pioneers. His study includes the exacting of the location of the trail and points out both the accuracies and fallacies of many of the historic maps which are reproduced in the book. There are also several historic photographs of those who challenged the hardships of this route to become prominent citizens of Montana. This book makes both interesting and entertaining reading for anyone interested in the history of the American frontier, an excellent addition to the library of any scholar of Western History, and a must for everyone with a particular interest in Oregon Trail, Wyoming, or Montana History.

In 1864 Jim Bridger blazed a trail route through Wyoming and southern Montana that provided a shorter, faster access to the new Territory of Montana and the gold fields of Bannack and Virginia City. Jim Bridger's trail also provided safer passage for emigrant trains traveling to Montana during the turbulent decade of Plains Indian unrest, and eliminated hundreds of miles and many days of travel along the least dangerous, but circuitous route via the Oregon Trail or the longer routes by way of Fort Bridger or Salt Lake City. Historian James Lowe has assembled all available material on Jim Bridger's involvement with the trail that bears his name and dispels many of the inaccuracies and romantic assumptions that have built up over the last 130 years. A thorough background is provided on Bridger, gold discovers, federal Indian policy, variant trail routes, and other factors which precipitated the blazing of The Bridger Trail. This superbly documented, highly recommended contribution to Western Historical Studies is enhanced with numerous contemporary and historical maps, historical photographs, and portraits of several of the earliest travelers on the route, as well as tables providing a listing of the 1864 trains, the provisions and equipment used and recommended for travel, and a listing of the pioneers who used the trail in 1864.

A confused, hungry, and frightened buffalo calf has lost her mother and the rest of her herd to white hunters. Rescued by two members of the Nez Perce tribe who happened to pass by and find her, she is taken to a small refuge for buffalo orphans started and run by Walking Cayote and his wife Mary. They nurse the calf back to health, and along with several other buffalo orphans, make the dangerous journey across a large mountain pass in order to deliver the buffalo to a larger sanctuary and pasture for grazing. The orphans ultimately wind up at the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana where, together with other buffalo that Walking Cayote and other like-minded individuals rescued, they prosper and grow into a herd of about seven hundred.

Based on actual events, this powerful story describes the successful efforts of Walking Cayote and Mary to help stop the endangerment of the buffalo. Walking Cayote and Mary share an undeniable bond with the buffalo they adopt, and they transform this compassion and respect for the animals into a courageous and long-term agenda to rescue them from extinction. Teachers and parents can use the book to teach valuable lessons in economics related to scarcity and natural resources. With stunning illustrations and text that draws on meticulous research, this book is a treasure.

Buffalo Song is a children's picturebook based on the wondrous true story of the first efforts made to save the buffalo, an animal sacred to Native Americans that was almost hunted to extinction - by the 1870s less than fifteen hundred remained. Individuals such as Walking Coyote stepped forward to rescue buffalo orphans, and bring back the buffalo herds one animal at a time. Superbly brought to life with soft full-color illustrations, Buffalo Song carries a timeless message of conservation and respect, and is highly recommended for public library children's picturebook collections.

I can relate to the charater Emily. She puts her life and wants on hold so she can provide for her sister going to school. Like her I would do anything and I mean anything for my famiy. Brad is like a typical man except for the fact that he is serious and percatious in life. She thinks of him as some kind of player and it doesn't help that she is attracted to him. And the fact that they are both stuck in a cabin far far away from civilization doesn't help. Only through this whole ordeal is Brad actually able to see what Emily is really all about. He actually is able to see her for her not for her being his secretay. And from there their attration for one another grows.
This is a good read. I borrowed this book from a friend and I am so going to go and get myself this book.

Wealthy Brad Vaughn informs his father, owner of Vaughn Associates, a Chicago based PI firm, that he did not impregnate Suzette Brouchard and rejects her efforts to blackmail him. Instead, he insists he will undergo DNA testing and accept the bad PR until he proves otherwise.

Brad asks his secretary Emily Stanton if she will accompany him on a deed search in Thunder Canyon, Montana. She is hesitant believing he sired Suzette's child, but reluctantly agrees.

In Montana, gold rush fever has led to no rooms available except a cabin loaned to him by his client Caleb Douglas; this forces Brad and Emily to share a small area. Caleb wants Brad to determine who owns the Queen of Hearts Gold Mine that he thought belonged to his family, but he could not find the deed. As he follows clues laid out in the nineteenth century, Brad and Emily begin to fall in love, but he distrusts females so cannot commit his heart to his beloved.

CABIN FEVER is a terrific private investigative romance starring two likable fully developed protagonists who belong together. However the male obsessively distrusts females starting from when his dad caught his mom cheating while the woman feels it is better to avoid love than to be hurt. The deed inquiries are cleverly intertwined into the fine story line not just by the lead couple and their client, but also by interested eccentric locals and gold fevered tourists. A second investigation involving a missing child adds mystery elements to a fine contemporary as Karen Rose Smith raises the bar for other authors in the Montana Mavericks: Gold continuous series.

Harriet Klausner

I had to buy a copy of this book for a lit. class while at the University of Nevada, Reno in Spring 1995. I didn't bother to read it through until that summer while working as a fledgling journalist in Owens Valley, California.

I've read it three times since. This is, hands down, one of the best short story anthologies I've ever read. It's doubly tragic that it's out of print and it's probably been stereotyped as "feminist" and/or "women's literature" because really these stories belong to everybody.

If you ever struggled to survive dirt poor in a Western town, these stories are for you. Leslie Ryan's "The Other Side of Fire" ought to be required reading in every high school from Montana to Arizona.

Barnes and Blew have assembled a landmark collection of powerful writing by a wide spectrum of western women. The poems, stories, and essays in this collection remain as timely and instructive and powerful as ever. If Penguin has let the book go out of stock--or worse, allows it to go out of print--then a pox on its house. Once upon a time, before bottom feeders made the bottom line preeminent, publishers kept books in print because they understood the value of continued availability to developing a readership. These days, it appears that the marketers of blue jeans and jelly beans are in charge--unbooked, unbookish, and--finally--bad for business.

Find this book if you can. It will be one you cherish.

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. A very gentle story that just asks to be read to kids at bedtime. (In fact I'm ordering a second copy for my nieces and nephews.) It will make you laugh out loud and bring a tear to your eye in the same page. Last I knew there was still a monument to Shep in Fort Benton - still standing vigil awaiting his master to return. You will not regret buying this book!

After I finished reading "Cold Train Coming," I gave my dog a biscuit and a big hug! I loved this book. I especially liked the part about Ben's "mouth-to-beak" resuscitation of a chicken (but I'm not going to try it). I still find myself laughing about that scene. Overall, it made me think more seriously about the important relationships in my life. It's a great book on loyalty and faithfulness. Tonight, I am going to go out, point myself toward the North Star and rethink life.

If you have ever traveled the scenic byways and backroads of Montana, you have surely enjoyed the bridges that span distances between here and there. Jon Axline's book provides a wonderful perspective on these often forgotten, but critical, structures that made settlement, travel, commerce, and progress possible on the last frontier. Informative text explores the necessity and the feats of engineering behind these overlooked landmarks while breathtaking black and white phototography make this truly an unforgettable book with an important message. You'll never look at bridges in quite the same way. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys roadtrips, history, and diverse architectural beauty.

Fun, accurate, great pictures. An easy way to change from casual interest in bridges to a Montana bridge expert. Histories explain not only what happened, but the more important "why" things happened. Entertainingly told, no dry bridge histories to wade through.