Montana Books

By far one of the best written and easiest guides to excellent fishing on some of the best waters in Montana! The photography is spectacular.

I purchased this book about six months ago. I've traveled to Montana in the past to fish, and was planning another trip this summer. While we planned to fish some old, familiar rivers such as the Yellowstone, the Madison and the Gallatin, we also wanted to try some new waters that we hadn't fished before. My wife and I spent time reading the information on the various rivers discussed in the book, and decided to also spend time in the Missoula area. We used the book not only as a tool to decide where we wanted to fish, but we also used the maps to get us where we needed to go. The end result was a successful fishing trip to Rock Creek and the Bitterroot,which was certainly aided by this exceptional book. By the way, the authors are incredible photographers; their photos in the book are great. I recommend that anyone contemplating a fly fishing trip to Montana purchase this book prior to their trip.

I bought this for my son who is moving July 5 to Billings, MT. The local Border's store did not have this book in OHIO. Just what he needed to begin his life in there.

This book is packed with helpful information. Whatever region you find yourself in, you'll find helpful information for whatever you may want to do, whether it be finding the perfect place to eat, finding a place to stay, or even things to check out, trails to hike, etc. This book was an asset to my planning of my last trip to montana and wyoming. A very worthwhile investment, highly recommended!

Had enough of football, can't wait for basketball? Full-Court Quest is the perfect gift book for any sports fan who loves inspirational stories this time featuring young women who played full court basketball and won while wearing dresses.

A find of several arrowheads on our land in western NY sparked my interest in reading Full Court Quest: The Girls from Fort Shaw Indian School: Basketball Champions of the World by Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith. Once the authors introduced me to the players on the basketball team named world champions at the 1904 World's Fair, I found myself immersed in the players' lives as they transitioned from life on reservations and farms with their families to their coming of age at a boarding school, separated from their own cultures.

Because different tribes had been settled in one location at the Fort Shaw Indian School, there existed the potential for conflict, but instead these girls supported one another while negotiating the illnesses that plagued them from time to time, as well as surviving the deaths of parents, siblings, and friends. Starting with a soccer ball and a basket nailed to the wall, they progressed through and over many obstacles to become the "champions of the St. Louis world's fair." Not only did they play two twenty-minute, full-court basketball halves, several times a week and sometimes twice in a day, they also performed pantomime, played musical instruments, and recited poetry as part of their "demonstration" of how Indian girls could become "civilized." They raced up and down the court and through the Northwest exhibiting their talents, recruiting new students, accepting challenges from whites who could barely score against them, showing grace and modesty each time they won.

Even though they were exploited to gain money for their school budgets, these diligent young women put all their efforts into perfecting their performances and heroically presenting a positive view of Native Americans at a time when the whites who lived on their native lands ridiculed, criticized, and denigrated them.

Through newspaper and magazine articles, BIA reports, letters, and oral history from their descendents, the Fort Shaw Girls' Basketball team emerges from the pages as a group of unique individuals, each with her own distinct personality. Numerous photos of the girls and extensive notes add to the details of their lives.

The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, originally intended to celebrate the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, became the showcase for Native American crafts and lifestyles that were quickly disappearing. The Fort Shaw girls represented the future with their recitations, dance, and exhibition basketball games just as the exhibits represented the past. Their biographers and descendents deserve our praise. Recommended for women's, multicultural, and regional history collections.

by Susan Andrus
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Hughie beautifully and articulately walks us through a life that very few people know anything about these days. Life on a sheep ranch has not changed too very much today and so her knowledge of it seems just as pertinent today as it was back then.

Hughie learned how to live as a ranch wife -- hiring cooks to keep her hired men well-fed and contented; driving supply trucks out to the herders; she learned to lamb the ewes; to tent a nervous, young ewe and her lamb to keep them together; she used a party-line telephone, listening in when necessary; she was a supportive wife to her husband amidst sickness, falling sheep prices and a depression; she brought a little class to a rough lifestyle by planting a lawn and flowers and by encouraging her neighbors to do the same (to many a husband's dismay); she learned to ride horseback despite her bouncing technique; she raised a family where schools were distant, roads were rutted and the weather so unpredictable that she had to take on the job of "teacher" herself for several years. She learned to truly love the life of a wool grower.

If you have any desire to learn about the way of life on a large sheep ranch, you will glean aplenty with Hughie's book, Golden Fleece, in hand. As a transplant into a sheep and cattle ranch myself 26 years ago, I could relate completely and sympathetically with Hughie and felt a deep kindred spirit with her.

I couldn't put the book down--it includes regional history, is autobiographical and humorous. Florence (Hughie) Call describes so much--this book covers thirty years as a Montana sheep rancher's wife--her observations, human understandings, "tenderfoot" mistakes, tragedy, local history, etc. You come to know the characters and feel like you could almost start raising sheep. Reads fast.

Newbold and Rath have captured perfectly the spirit and playfulness of Missoula's much beloved Griz mascot. It is a wonderful bedtime story with full color drawings that children are sure to love.

This is a fantastic children's book illustrated beautifully! It's a must buy for all ages.

While not exhaustive, Mr McCarter gives a nice description of the remnants of the Milwaukee Road in Montana. From east to west borders, there is a short narrative for each online town, and what's left to see. There's directions for driving to some of them, and reasonably-accurate distances for finding these structures, etc. Don't go to Montana in search of the MILW without it, as there is so much you cannot see from the interstate!

The Iron Horse, a fire-breathing, smoke belching, steam hissing giant that dared to rumble through the Montana Wilderness on a pair of steel rails less than five feet apart, coursed its way into the history and hearts of Americans. Read this wonderful History and Guide as you retrace the path of the Milwaukee Railroad's electric iron horse through the Montana wilderness. Filled with pictures and loads of information. A must read for Railroad buffs all over the world

I bought this book initially because I was adopting foster children and I wanted to help them with their loss issues. But then as I read it, I realized it applies to helping any child who has to face significant losses. I wish my brother had this book when he got divorced, maybe he could have understood and helped his children when their schoolwork plummetted and they became depressed. It helps you understand about childhood grief and how to aid the child in coping with it. I have referred to it many times and bought copies for my friends, too.

This book is often recommended for people adopting older children. However, it is a beautifully written book, and easy to read. It has information on how to help children with all sorts of changes, permanent (like a death), and temporary, like a parent going overseas for the military. The book helps adults understand what is going on for the child, and how to help them better with their sadness, anager and aggression.

Got the Book, as promised, haven't read the book yet, but I'm sure its good.

Charles West should be a Spur Award winner several years in a row! I have read several of his books Mt Hawk and on, and evryone that I have loaned the books to just raved, even my Dad, at 8, a western reader for years, (50 yrs) stated that; "West is one of the best he has read, once I started to read, there was no putting it down!" and I must sayhe hit the nail on the head, as the others stated!

i have read it at least 15 times and still love it because it really portrays the life of the girl well, because she has divorced parents and has to learn to cope with her new surroundings. It also shows how Sky is broken in or trained well. It has all of the things a good book should have. for all of you people who like sad books, i cry every time i read it at one specific spot.

This book is really good. It's sad, too, which I think makes allbooks more interesting. If I could change anything in the book, I would definately change the ending. Instead of sendining the poor, dying skye off to the MEAT PROCESSING FACTORY where he will have a slow and painful death JUST SO i COULD MAKE A FEW BUCKS, i WOULD HAVE SENT HIM TO THE VET, WHERE HE COULD BE PUT OUT OF HIS MISERY WITH NO PAIN. IF THE GIRL REALLY LOVED HER HORSE, SHE WOULD NOT HAVE SENT HIM TO THE MEAT CANNERY TO BE MADE INTO DOG FOOD.

This is a book that changed my mind about contemporary poetry! These are poems that can be loved, memorized, make you a better person, have you like life more, by seeing it more truly. Seldon Rodman in the Saturday Review said: "He comes up with poems like "Dear Birds, Tell This to Mothers," "She's Crazy and It Means Something," and "The World of the Unwashed Dish" which say more (and more movingly) about here and now than any contemporary poems I have read." Kenneth Rexroth said "I think its about time Eli Siegel was moved up into the ranks of our acknowledged Leading Poets" in his New York Times review of Eli Siegel's second book of poems HAIL, AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT. And now people can see a film of "Hot Afternoons" with Eli Siegel's voice reading the poem, made in 2005 by Ken Kimmelman, that's winning acclaim and awards!

This is true poetry! It lifts the heart and opens the eyes of the reader to the beauty and mystery of the world, including in things and people we may see every day--but not as they truly are! Walter Leuba described this book as "Alive in burning honesty and directness." As a mother, I am particularly moved by the combination of simplicity and depth in the poems about children, and "Dear Birds, Tell This to Mothers." Readers might like to know that the title poem, recorded by the author, has just been released as a film, of which Howard Zinn wrote, "Ken Kimmelman's reproduction, on film, of Eli Siegel's magisterial poem, is an extraordinary achievement. It matches, in its visual beauty, the elegance of Siegel's words, and adds the dimension of stunning imagery to an already profound work of art."