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

by Barnaby Conrad III

Everyone dreams of jumping in their car and hitting the road for parts unknown, and ultimately discovering the mysteries of the "Old West." In the summer of 1989, Barnaby Conrad did just that. For five months, he journeyed nine thousand miles through all the rough terrain of the Montana landscape in search of adventure, his family roots, and the history still breathing in the carcass of myth.
With humor and insight, Conrad encounters car-fighting cowboys, wolf biologists, modern-day mountainmen with flintlock rifles, xenophobic fly fishermen, philosophical Indians, New Age religious groups, and even grizzly bears drunk on fermented corn. Between accounts of his adventures, he pays literary homage to Montana's originals, like Charlie Russell, Will James, A. B. Guthrie, and Thomas McGuane. While traveling through such historic sites as Fort Benton and Glacier Park, Conrad revives such colorful ghosts as Calamity Jane, Butch Cassidy, General Custer, and the Sundance Kid.
GHOST HUNTING IN MONTANA provides an engaging insight into the past and present of this mystifying known as Big Sky Country. In this evocation of the old and new West, Conrad discovers not just the insider's Montana, but also the American in himself.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

About the author

Barnaby Conrad III is an American author, artist, and editor.

NB: Son of writer/bullfighter/raconteur Barnaby Conrad.

Reviews

[Tupper Malone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many stories in this book are interesting particularly if you have a tie to Montana. However, I wouldn't try to track all of the relations to the author, Barnaby Contrad III. The book is an exercise in Barnaby's tracking his ancestors in Montana but since he doesn't provide a family tree in the appendix, which would have been helpful, I would recommend just reading the stories and forget about who's brother is the uncle of who. Each chapter is a different story about a different relative and jump from present day to the past. This was a book club pick and I would have never thought to read it otherwise. One other thought is that perhaps a man would enjoy it more since there are a lot of "manly" things included in the book. Overall, I'd say give it a pass unless your interested in Montana.

[John E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great storytelling of an interesting mix of adventures. The mixture of history and contemporary Montana was very well done. Fun read.