As a young child, author Paul Snyder became intrigued with his local establishment’s large ornate backbar. This led him to delve further into researching backbars, the backbone of Montana’s historic watering holes, their history, artistic woodwork, and the bars they graced. He felt compelled to capture as much history—and many photographs—as possible of the backbars remaining. These backbars influenced and are part of the development of Montana even before it became a state. They remain a combination of mystery and history in the transformation of Montana into statehood. This book takes a close look at these beautiful, often overlooked, silent witnesses to Montana’s history.
In many small towns across Montana, the local bar is also the only restaurant and is an important part of community life. In larger towns and cities, gems from Montana’s Wild West past are still found. This book celebrates the quirky, unusual, and downright fun and entertaining saloons across the state. Montana Watering Holes features more than fifty of the best spots to stop for a drink (or a burger) scattered across Montana. From big-city spots like the Rhino in Missoula (with its 150 beers on tap) to the famous cheeseburgers at the bar in Pony (pop. 50), community spirit and tradition abound in the nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century buildings that have served as saloons, restaurants, and gathering places throughout the Treasure State. This book describes the best of the best, offering geographic diversity, anecdotes, and sidebars on local characters from the past. It is illustrated with archival and contemporary black-and-white photographs.
This rare collection of wanted posters from the American West is a historical treasure. The book's nearly 150 original wanted posters, fugitive notices, and Pinkerton Agency circulars are supplemented by fascinated details about the technology of identification, the history of wanted posters, and the stories behind the crimes, which ranged from horse theft, safe blowing, train robbery, seduction, ''white slavery,'' and murder. Posters for notorious bandits such as Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid are also featured.
From its inception as a supply town during Montana's gold rush in the 1860s, Bozeman has attracted visionaries, leaders, and pioneering thinkers. Bozeman's first mayor, John V. Bogert, established a precedent for keeping the city clean, safe, and orderly. City commissioner and tireless worker Mary Vant Hull spearheaded efforts to build a new library and to expand local parks and trails, and early physician Dr. Henry Foster successfully performed one of the first caesarean sections in Montana. Incredibly talented outdoor advocates and athletes like mountain climber Alex Lowe and long-distance runner Ed Anacker have complemented Bozeman's outdoor lifestyle. An emphasis on art, music, and culture began in the 1860s with piano and voice sensation Emma Weeks Willson. Today, artist Jim Dolan's sculptures are enjoyed all over town, and illusionist Jay Owenhouse wows children and adults with his live shows. Inspiring individuals like Cody Dieruf, who passed away from cystic fibrosis at the age of 23, and dedicated streetcar driver Larry O'Brien have added kindness and courage to local life.
“Beautiful. ... A lyrical companion to his father’s classic, A River Runs through It, chronicling their family’s history and bond with Montana’s Blackfoot River.” —Washington Post A "poetic" and "captivating" (Publishers Weekly) memoir about the power of place to shape generations, Home Waters is John N. Maclean's remarkable chronicle of his family's century-long love affair with Montana's majestic Blackfoot River, the setting for his father's classic novella, A River Runs through It. Maclean returns annually to the simple family cabin that his grandfather built by hand, still in search of the trout of a lifetime. When he hooks it at last, decades of longing promise to be fulfilled, inspiring John, reporter and author, to finally write the story he was born to tell. A book that will resonate with everyone who feels deeply rooted to a landscape, Home Waters is a portrait of a family who claimed a river, from one generation to the next, of how this family came of age in the 20th century and later as they scattered across the country, faced tragedy and success, yet were always drawn back to the waters that bound them together. Here are the true stories behind the beloved characters fictionalized in A River Runs through It, including the Reverend Maclean, the patriarch who introduced the family to fishing; Norman, who balanced a life divided between literature and the tug of the rugged West; and tragic yet luminous Paul (played by Brad Pitt in Robert Redford’s film adaptation), whose mysterious death has haunted the family and led John to investigate his uncle’s murder and reveal new details in these pages. A universal story about nature, family, and the art of fly fishing, Maclean’s memoir beautifully captures the inextricable ways our personal histories are linked to the places we come from—our home waters. Featuring twelve wood engravings by Wesley W. Bates and a map of the Blackfoot River region.
From boudoirs to brothels, historian Michael Rutter takes you into the intimate world of the Wild West's women of the night. Eighteen richly researched biographies reveal the tricks and torments of the trade, with fascinating sidebars on venereal diseases (and dire "cures"), children of prostitutes, a floating brothel, and hog ranches.
If there is a reunion in your future, whether as the organizer or a helping hand, Reunion Planner is one book you won't want to be without. Reunion Planner leaves nothing to chance. The contents include sections on the following: choosing the proper kind of reunion, recruiting volunteers, selecting the time and place, creating the program, guest speakers, budgeting, notifying the participants and promoting the event, planning meals and decorations, accommodations and transportation, souvenirs and fund raisers, photographers and videographers, building a genealogy, and finishing touches from road signs to thank-you notes and more.
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