Wild River Pioneers

Follow author John Fraley as he reconstructs the events surrounding the exciting pioneer history and spectacular landscape of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River Drainage in and around the Great Bear Wilderness and Glacier National Park. In Wild River Pioneers, Fraley brings alive the history of Montana s wildest river drainage by telling stories of some of its most riveting historical characters. The stories feature shootouts, murders, a hanging, a train robbery, marauding grizzly bears, lost graves, gold prospecting, and an ice cream-eating pet bear. Although the Middle Fork of the Flathead is the geographical stage for these stories, many of the pioneers and events have broader connections and appeal. It s hard to find more quirky old-timers than Slippery Bill Morrison, Libby Collins (the Cattle Queen of Montana), Josephine Doody (the Bootleg Lady of Glacier Park) and her notorious husband, Glacier Park Ranger Dan Doody, and George Snyder (Glacier Park Maverick). In the stories, you ll learn the relationship these old-timers had with the land and with the government officials who tried to regulate them.