Local author John Fraley will give a inside look at the making of his latest book, Rangers, Trappers, and Trailblazers: Early Adventures in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness and Glacier National Park on Thursday, November 15, at 7pm at the Museum at Central School. The presentation is free and open to the community.

The presentation at The Museum will begin at 7, although the author will be available early to sign books. North Fork lore-masters Larry Wilson and Lee Downes as well as Middle Fork Pioneer John Schurr will be on hand. Larry will play some cylinder records on an old, shot-up player from one of the North Fork stories. The presentation will go into detail on this love-triangle and shoot out, and cover the full story of the Nyack train crash disaster and haunting. The book will be available for purchase in the Museum store.

Rangers, Trappers, and Trailblazers recounts the true adventures of people who earned their living among the mountains and along the cold, clear rivers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Tragedies and near-misses abound: a fatal shootout, tangles with bears and packrats, a devastating train wreck, and a missing airplane. But these are balanced with tales of courage, endurance, and remarkable personal achievement.

Fraley is the author of two previous books about pioneers of Northwest Montana: A Woman’s Way West released in 1998 and Wild River Pioneers released in 2008. In 2017, Fraley retired from a 40-year career with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, and is a volunteer with The Museum at Central School.