2022 Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize Finalist Toward the end of the nineteenth century, many African Americans moved westward as Greater Reconstruction came to a close. Though, along with Euro-Americans, Black settlers appropriated the land of Native Americans, sometimes even contributing to ongoing violence against Indigenous people, this migration often defied the goals of settler states in the American West. In Black Montana Anthony W. Wood explores the entanglements of race, settler colonialism, and the emergence of state and regional identity in the American West during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By producing conditions of social, cultural, and economic precarity that undermined Black Montanans' networks of kinship, community, and financial security, the state of Montana, in its capacity as a settler colony, worked to exclude the Black community that began to form inside its borders after Reconstruction. Black Montana depicts the history of Montana's Black community from 1877 until the 1930s, a period in western American history that represents a significant moment and unique geography in the life of the U.S. settler-colonial project.

Grady and Graff, both Montana natives, masterfully curate this collection of hard-edged Western tales.

1885-1914. Mary Fields, a fifty-three-year old second-generation slave, emancipated and residing in Toledo, receives news of her friend's impending death. Remedies packed in her satchel, Mary rushes to board the Northern Pacific. She arrives in the Montana wilderness to find Mother Mary Amadeus lying on frozen earth in a broken-down cabin. Certain that the cloister of frostbit Ursuline nuns and their students, Indian girls rescued from nearby reservations, will not survive without assistance, Mary decides to stay.She builds a hennery, makes repairs to living quarters, cares for stock, and treks into the mountains to provide food. Brushes with death do not deter her. Mary drives a horse and wagon through perilous terrain and blizzards to improve the lives of missionaries, homesteaders and Indians and, in the process, her own.After weathering wolf attacks, wagon crashes and treacherous conspiracies by scoundrels, local politicians and the state's first Catholic bishop, Mary Fields creates another daring plan. An avid patriot, she is determined to register for the vote. The price is high. Will she manifest her personal vision of independence?MCCONNELL'S RESEARCH enabled USPS to verify Mary Fields as the first African American woman star route mail carrier in the U.S. A chronicle of Fields' life in Montana from 1885 until her death in 1914, the narrative examines women rights, bootleg politics, Montana's turn-of-the-century transition from territory to state and its scandalous 1914 woman suffrage election.SHORT-LISTED 2015 LARAMIE AWARDMcConnell fashioned a historical narrative marrying prose and poetry, fact with creative writing. With the discerning eye of a photographer, the deft hand of a historian, and the literary heart of a poet, the life of Mary Fields, legendary black woman of Montana, rises off the page into living history. If the reader has any interest in Mary Fields, aka Stagecoach Mary, Deliverance is the one book you must read.--Cowboy Mike Searles, Author, Professor of History, Augusta University, GA.A great story and history of Mary Fields, an important back westerner. A must read for youths and adults. --Bruce A. Glasrud, Author, Professor, California State University.

Get the New Edition of Montana’s Best-Selling Bird Guide Learn to identify birds in Montana, and make bird-watching even more enjoyable. With Stan Tekiela’s famous field guide, bird identification is simple and informative. There’s no need to look through dozens of photos of birds that don’t live in your area. This book features 142 species of Montana birds organized by color for ease of use. Do you see a yellow bird and don’t know what it is? Go to the yellow section to find out. Book Features: 142 species: Only Montana birds Simple color guide: See a yellow bird? Go to the yellow section Compare feature: Decide between look-alikes Stan’s Notes: Naturalist tidbits and facts Professional photos: Crisp, stunning full-page images This new edition includes more species, updated photographs and range maps, revised information, and even more of Stan’s expert insights. So grab Birds of Montana Field Guide for your next birding adventure—to help ensure that you positively identify the birds that you see.

Paul Morrison launches his first teenage summer at a school dance, longing for girls and the smack of baseballs. His innocence ends quickly that night when a roaring black Chevy chases him into the dark, but it's the mysterious stranger driving it who scares him more. It's 1965 in Deer Lodge, Montana, far from the busy faraway world that Paul and his girlfriend Marcy read about in books...

Montana's cowboys, miners, foresters, farmers and nurses entered World War I in April 1917 under the battle cry that would resonate on the battlefields in France--"Powder River, Let 'Er Buck!" Montana men served in a greater percentage per capita than any other state. Hundreds responded to the call, including local women and minorities, from the nation's first congresswoman, Jeannette Rankin, to young women serving as combat nurses on the front lines. Additionally, the state provided vital supplies of copper and wheat. Learn what role celebrities like "cowboy artist" Charlie Russell played in the war and how Montanans mobilized, trained and deployed. Acclaimed historian Ken Robison uncovers new and neglected stories of the Treasure State's contributions to the Great War.

Dive into Big Sky Country as Moon Montana reveals the rolling prairies, wild forests, and rugged spirit of this intrepid state. Inside you'll find: Strategic, flexible itineraries designed for outdoor adventurers, history buffs, and more Focused coverage of Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park, plus how to plan an epic Montana road trip Must-see highlights and outdoor experiences: Go skiing in Whitefish, relax at a hot springs resort, or barhop through Missoula. Hike to roaring waterfalls, breathtaking vistas, and secluded lakes. Spot wild wolves, elk, and bison, go whitewater rafting, or marvel at the legendary Old Faithful. Sign up for a Sun Tour of East Glacier and learn about the area's important Native American history. Discover authentic cowboy culture in Billings, or indulge in locally raised bison burgers and huckleberry pie Expert advice from former wilderness guide and longtime Montana local Carter G. Walker on where to stay, where to eat, and how to get around Full-color photos and detailed maps throughout Up-to-date information including background on the landscape, wildlife, history, and local culture Useful tips for families, LGBTQ travelers, travelers with disabilities, and more Find your adventure in Montana with Moon's practical advice and local insight. Sticking to the national parks? Try Moon Yellowstone & Grand Teton or Moon Glacier National Park.

"Provides real insight into the religion of the nineteenth-century Gros Ventre (Atsina) Indians. Known to themselves as the White Clay People, this little-known tribe now shares the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana with the Assiniboines. However, throughout much of their recorded history they were allied with the Blackfeet. The book is a record of the spiritual life of Bull Lodge (born ca. 1802, died 1886), religions leader, healer, and for a time, keeper of the Feathered Pipe, one of the two tribal objects of the Gros Ventres. . . . [It] makes absorbing reading. Beginning at the age of twelve. Bull Lodge sought spiritual power through the tribal Feathered Pipe. From the ages of seventeen to twenty-three he was favored with a series of seven visions on seven buttes that together outline a Gros Ventre cultural geography. . . . "The strength of the narrative is the rich detail of ritual description: fasting, sacrifices, vision experiences, the practices of healing. By describing ritual in the context of a man's life, the book gives a uniquely historical understanding of the dynamics of traditional religious life. It provides deeper understanding of the Gros Ventres' way of life and gives a valuable comparative perspective on plains Indian religion."--Raymond J. DeMallie, Western Historical Quarterly. George Horse Capture is field manager of Fort Belknap Ventures. Inc., a tribal enterprise to develop and market traditional Indian art. At present he is helping to establish a tribal museum.

Sitting at the kitchen tables of twelve women in their eighties who were born in or immigrated to Montana in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, between 1982 and 1988 oral historian Donna Gray conducted interviews that reveal a rich heritage. In retelling their life stories, Gray steps aside and allows theses women with supposedly “nothing to tell” to speak for themselves. Pride, nostalgia, and triumph fill a dozen hearts as they realize how remarkable their lives have been and wonder how they did it all. Some of these women grew up in Montana in one-bedroom houses; others traveled in covered wagons before finding a home and falling in love with Montana. These raw accounts bring to life the childhood memories and adulthood experiences of ranch wives who were not afraid to milk a cow or bake in a wooden stove. From raising poultry to raising a family, these women knew the meaning of hard work. Several faced the hardships of family illness, poverty, and early widowhood. Through it all, they were known for their good sense of humor and strong sense of self.