Idaho loners : hermits, solitaries, and individualists

by Cort Conley

Richard Leigh, Beaver Dick
Doc Hisom, The Cove Recluse
Dave Lewis, Cougar Dave
Clydeus Dunbar, Wheelbarrow Annie
Earl Parrott, Hermit of Impassable Canyon
William Moreland, The Ridgerunner
Sylvan Hart, Buckskin Bill
Lydia Coyle, Free Press Frances
Richard Zimmerman, Dugout Dick
Helena Schmidt, Wildhorse Cowgirl
Claude Dallas, Outback Outlaw
James Angleton, The Poet

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History

322 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1994

Reviews

[Tommy Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining stories about old-fashioned hermits in Idaho.

[Tuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

bios 12 loners in idaho. 2 have an inordinate amount of space though, the spook james angleton (and his life IS truly fascinating, but all his lonerness was spent at Langley Virginia) and the murderer claude dallas. the other 10 though ran the gamut from loner widowed rancher's wife to nutty bachelor cave dweller dudes. All but the murderer and spook were big time gardeners.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book. 12 Idaho ‘loners’ the most interesting of which are the more hermit-type. I specifically enjoyed Beaver Dick, Earl Parrot/Hermit of Impassable Canyon, and Sylvan Hart/Buckskin Bill. Reading about the Claude Dallas case was interesting too.

[Cam Larsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title, Idaho Loners is misleading when most are not really loners per se. Even a quote from the back cover - "I am very lonesome alone... i ave not seen a liveng soul either white or Indian since the 20th of last month. If I ad eny company to talk with I could stand it..."- doesn't sound like a "loner" to me. A little disappointing that zero biographies are north of St Maries and only one is north of Lewiston - could have used more diversity in the regions when selecting these bios. Too many on the Salmon River and those ones in particular blend together. It's difficult to recommend this to anyone not interested in Idaho, was hoping for to recommend it to anyone interested in mountain men in general but definitely can't.

The Ridgerunner, William Moreland, was by far the most interesting story. Thoroughly enjoyed how he constantly outwitted the USFS Rangers and then got out of court with barely any punishment at all. Said something along the lines of [if I knew jail would be this good I would have turned myself in sooner].

The last two chapters (Claude Dallas and James Angleton) seem written by an entirely different author, or possibly the editor of this book never made it that far? Dallas chapter was already 60 pages long, author added in so many annoying unrelated quips such as “exactly one hundred years earlier, a young Theodore Roosevelt, …came west to a sagebrush outpost in the Dakota badlands…won the respect of the cowmen.” - beyond unrelated, in a sixty page chapter, who cares? Angleton was incredibly out of place and was barely even in Idaho - his most glowing memory in Idaho was winning at marbles, and by the end of this book I was ready to lose mine. 

[Peter Blomberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about the lives of these men and women. I didn't enjoy the final story (angleton) as it did not seem to fit with the rest of the book.

Also fun note, I saw a band in the sawtooth mountains in Stanley, ID and they mentioned this book and I was planning to look it up. A few days later, my father in law mentioned he had just read a near book about Idaho loners that I would like. It was the same. Fun.

[Jessika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly fascinating stories about hermits and loaners that lived in Idaho. Mike gave me this book for Christmas because I was always fascinated with the stories my dad would tell me about the hermits that lived in the mountains around our cabin in Warren, Idaho. My big gripes about this book are that it seems like the author tried to make the writing more flowery than it needed to be. And the last two chapters were incredibly long and way too mired in details that didn’t interest me.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, kind of a slog at points with seemingly irrelevant background and in depth geographical description. Still, an insightful look into the lives of American hermits over the last century.

[Joanna Clausen · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I saw that all the fields around my home had been planted with corn, I faced the fact that once again I would be isolated. Now that it's the first of July, the corn is eyeball high, and I can't see anything but the tops of neighbors' trees and the sky. I identify with at least one of the title's nouns. Maybe all. Though Muppet would argue the point.

Conley memorializes the "characters" that Idaho cherishes. "Beaver Dick," "Cougar Dave," "Wheelbarrow Annie," Claude Dallas, and others, including the publicity-loving hermits, "Buckskin Bill" (who graced EHS with a visit while I was there), and "Dugout Dick." My favorite story is of "The Ridgerunner; it's one I'd like to share with my favorite outdoorsmen, Doug Edwards and Francis White. If I were you, I'd skip the chapter on Claude Dallas: it's just annoying; instead read "Give a Boy a Gun." The chapter on James Angleton is the best written and most informative, but it really shouldn't be in this book; Angleton was no more a resident of Idaho than Ezra Pound, and as a Washington insider high in the CIA, wasn't much of a loner.

A chapter at a time in bed when you can't sleep--that's the way to read this book, and only if you're an Idahoan.

[Katie Tatton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Idaho Loners tells the stories of twelve individualists, most of whom spent their lives completely alone in the Idaho wilderness. Some had very little contact with the outside world for years, and others lived alone but reached out to visitors in person or through the written word. Very interesting, although the selections regarding the murderer Claude Dallas and James Angleton (who had a family and spent his life at Langley) seemed longer than necessary.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Nothing overly special, but it was concise and to the point, sharing pertinent facts about the various persons highlighted in the book. The most recent individuals in the book I thought had way too much depth about them and not enough emphasis on their lonesome spirit. Regardless, a good historical and biographical read.

[Seth Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I know that the realities of really living all alone in a remote location for years on end would probably not be all that pleasant but this book sure made me day dream about it. These are all true stories based on real people.

[Patrick Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like hermits & loners, this collection of biographies is authentic & well-written. You might have heard of a few of them, but so many of these American characters are lost to history now. Cort Conley is a fine writer who does exhaustive research... & it's reflected in this book.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

the last of the cave men, trappers in shoot-offs.

[Lachelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Interesting - especially the first story if the guy who's whole family dies is small pox - or typhoid fever or something. I lost interest though and never finished.