Ghost Hunting in Montana: A Search for Roots in the Old West

A slow poke through Montana by Conrad (former editor of Horizons), a guy who likes a side dish of bile to accompany his travels. Conrad hits the road in the Big Sky State to take in the scenery and dig up a little family history. The family side of the story comes and goes--both grandfathers moved to the territory back in the late 1800s--with Conrad trying valiantly to paint them as fascinating characters. They're not, even with murder, mayhem, and adultery thrown in. Nor does Conrad succeed as an artful recorder of today's Montana. He can't help trotting out the obligatory Montaniana--barroom fisticuffs, brushes with Mr. Griz, trouty days, whiskey nights--while historical context comes in spurts from the ``Billings was named after Frederick Billings, an executive of the...'' school of background information. He mooches around with a fine disregard for the consequences, a little piece of bravery much to his credit. Most folks Conrad runs into are either forlorn, bitter, drunk, or just plain ready to brawl--bump into someone and get your lights punched out, mention the wrong name and get your lights punched out, offer an ill-timed comment and get your lights punched out. Then again, maybe he just spent too much time in bars. There is a wealth of detail in theses pages, some of it captivating, from ghoulish doings in Great Falls to the virtues of buffalo meat to tensions over wolf reintroduction to the quick portraits of the folks he crosses paths with, but little, if any, continuity. One item is cobbled to another, a pastiche from which an image of Montana never emerges. Don't expect to learn why they call this land the Last Great Place; even as a miscellany, Conrad's sidelong glimpse of Montana never conjures much excitement. (Photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Searching for family roots and adventure, Conrad, a former editor of Horizon, set out on a five-month, 9000-mile journey through the back roads of Montana. Often traveling by horse or canoe through "snow capped mountains, down her big rivers, up her box canyons, into her vast forests, across her sagebrush flats," he found true tales of the Wild West: gunfights, railroad building, prospecting, cowboys and Indians, and men confronted with grizzlies, wolves and coyotes. While native Montanans cling to their roots and look warily on newcomers, outsiders are discovering the wild beauty of this "Last Best Place," which now has its share of yuppies, artists, writers and celebrities. No mere travelogue, this is a lively and entertaining account of a little-known part of America and the colorful lives of its people. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.