From its inception as a supply town during Montana's gold rush in the 1860s, Bozeman has attracted visionaries, leaders, and pioneering thinkers. Bozeman's first mayor, John V. Bogert, established a precedent for keeping the city clean, safe, and orderly. City commissioner and tireless worker Mary Vant Hull spearheaded efforts to build a new library and to expand local parks and trails, and early physician Dr. Henry Foster successfully performed one of the first caesarean sections in Montana. Incredibly talented outdoor advocates and athletes like mountain climber Alex Lowe and long-distance runner Ed Anacker have complemented Bozeman's outdoor lifestyle. An emphasis on art, music, and culture began in the 1860s with piano and voice sensation Emma Weeks Willson. Today, artist Jim Dolan's sculptures are enjoyed all over town, and illusionist Jay Owenhouse wows children and adults with his live shows. Inspiring individuals like Cody Dieruf, who passed away from cystic fibrosis at the age of 23, and dedicated streetcar driver Larry O'Brien have added kindness and courage to local life.

From its inception as a supply town during Montana's gold rush in the 1860s, Bozeman has attracted visionaries, leaders, and pioneering thinkers. Bozeman's first mayor, John V. Bogert, established a precedent for keeping the city clean, safe, and orderly. City commissioner and tireless worker Mary Vant Hull spearheaded efforts to build a new library and to expand local parks and trails, and early physician Dr. Henry Foster successfully performed one of the first caesarean sections in Montana. Incredibly talented outdoor advocates and athletes like mountain climber Alex Lowe and long-distance runner Ed Anacker have complemented Bozeman's outdoor lifestyle. An emphasis on art, music, and culture began in the 1860s with piano and voice sensation Emma Weeks Willson. Today, artist Jim Dolan's sculptures are enjoyed all over town, and illusionist Jay Owenhouse wows children and adults with his live shows. Inspiring individuals like Cody Dieruf, who passed away from cystic fibrosis at the age of 23, and dedicated streetcar driver Larry O'Brien have added kindness and courage to local life.

In Treasure State Tycoon, John C. Russell regales us with an intimate look at the life of Montana entrepreneur Nelson G. Story. This richly detailed biography is set against the tumultuous backdrop of the nineteenth-century West. Beautiful maps and photographs bring Story's journey from humble prospector to Bozeman tycoon to life. Story's dazzling ability to sniff out opportunity-from the gold fields of Montana to the real estate boom in southern California-made him a fortune. Russell's unflinching look at Story's darker side in both his personal life and business dealings serves as a reminder that ambition and cruelty often go hand in hand. Book jacket.

First Published in 2015. This encyclopaedic collection includes Volumes 1 (A-L) and 2 (M-Z) as well as essays on the settlement of America. It can be argued that the westward expansion occurred only one week after the English landfall at Jamestown, Virginia, on May 14, 1607. Beginning on May 21, Captain John Smith, one of the colonization company’s leaders, and twenty-one companions made their way northwest up the James River for some 50 or 60 miles (80 or 96 km).

From slaughters, shootouts, and massacres to maulings, lynchings, and natural disasters, Cowboys, Mountain Men, and Grizzly Bears cuts to the chase of what draws people to the history and literature of the Wild West. Matthew P. Mayo, noted author of Western novels, takes the fifty wildest episodes in the region’s history and presents them in one action-packed volume. Set on the plains, mountains, and deserts of the West, and arranged chronologically, they capture all the mystique and allure of that special time and place in America’s history. Read about: John Colter’s harrowing escape from the Blackfeet Hugh Glass’s six-week crawl to civilization after a grizzly attack Janette Riker’s brutal winter in the Rockies John Wesley Powell’s treacherous run through the rapids of the Grand Canyon The Earp Brothers’ hot-tempered gun battle at Tombstone General Custer’s ill-advised final clash with the Sioux

From the infamous pirate Jean Laffite and the storied couple Bonnie and Clyde, to less familiar bandits like train-robber Eugene Bunch and suspected murderer Leather Britches Smith, Legendary Louisiana Outlaws explores Louisiana's most fascinating fugitives. In this entertaining volume, Keagan LeJeune draws from historical accounts and current folklore to examine the specific moments and legal climate that spawned these memorable characters. He shows how Laffite embodied Louisiana's shift from an entrenched French and Spanish legal system to an American one, and relates how the notorious groups like the West and Kimbrell Clan served as community leaders and law officers but covertly preyed on Louisiana's Neutral Strip residents until citizens took the law into their own hands. Likewise, the bootlegging Dunn brothers in Vinton, he explains, demonstrate folk justice's distinction between an acceptable criminal act (operating an illegal moonshine still) and an unacceptable one (cold-blooded murder). Recounting each outlaw's life, LeJeune also considers their motives for breaking the law as well as their attempts at evading capture. Running from authorities and trying to escape imprisonment or even death, these men and women often relied on the support of ordinary citizens, sympathetic in the face of oppressive and unfair laws. Through the lens of folk life, LeJeune's engaging narrative demonstrates how a justice system functions and changes and highlights Louisiana's particular challenges in adapting a system of law and order to work for everyone.

To read some sample entries, or to view the Readers Guide click on "Sample Chapters/Additional Materials" in the left column under "About This Book" Immigration from foreign countries was a small part of the peopling of the American West but an important aspect in building western infrastructure, cities, and neighborhoods. The Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West provides much more than ethnic groups crossing the plains, landing at ports, or crossing borders; this two-volume work makes the history of the American West an important part of the American experience. Through sweeping entries, focused biographies, community histories, economic enterprise analysis, and demographic studies, this Encyclopedia presents the tapestry of the West and its population during various periods of migration. The two volumes examine the settling of the West and include coverage of movements of American Indians, African Americans, and the often-forgotten role of women in the West′s development. Key Features Represents many of the American Indian tribes and bands that constitute our native heritage in an attempt to reintegrate the significance of their migrations with those of later arrivals Examines how African Americans and countless other ethnic groups moved west for new opportunities to better their lives Looks at specific economic opportunities such as mineral exploration and the development of instant cities Provides specific entries on immigration law to give readers a sense of how immigration and migration have been involved in the public sphere Includes biographies of certain individuals who represent the ordinary, as well as extraordinary, efforts it took to populate the region Key Themes American Indians Biographies Cities and Towns Economic Change and War Ethnic and Racial Groups Immigration Laws and Policies Libraries Natural Resources Events and Laws The Way West The Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West brings new insight on this region, stimulates research ideas, and invites scholars to raise new questions. It is a must-have reference for any academic library.