"With the wind shrieking requiems for the dead and threats for the living, and with the rafters full of bats, I called to him to bring me his shoe, and let me win my wager."
Yellowstone Park HIstory
A Tale: Jim Bridger’s Descriptions of Yellowstone Wonders — Gunnison, 1852
"Geysers spout up seventy feet high, with a terrific hissing noise, at regular intervals. Waterfalls are sparkling, leaping, and thundering down the precipices ...."
A Tale: The Last Outpost of Civilization — 1874
"No doubt the neighborhood of these springs will some day become a fashionable place. At present, being the last outpost of civilization—that is, the last place where whisky is sold."
On Writing: Narrative History Requires More Than Getting the Facts Right
It's my job to present old stories for today's readers. I want people to read straight through my stuff and say: "That's interesting."
On Writing: Cubism, Narrative History and the Nez Perce
"Like a Cubist painting, the final narrative won’t always arrange things in the way that people are used to seeing them, but I hope it will be compelling and enlightening."
Narrative History or Historical Fiction 3: A Moonlit Night In Yellowstone Park, August 23, 1877.
"Emma couldn’t have known that Yellow Wolf and his band of Nez Perce scouts had seen the bonfire and were planning to attack the camp the next morning."
A Tale: Touring Yellowstone Legally by Car — 1916
"When the new National Park Service took administration from the Army in 1915, they allowed cars—an action that transformed the Yellowstone experience."
A Tale: Stampeded by an Umbrella — Wingate, 1885
“Umbrellas and cayuses don’t agree.”
News & Views: Visitors “Outrageously” Close to Old Faithful
"The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported this morning that a group of tourists had been caught on video standing within a few feet of the famous Old Faithful Geyser."
A Tale: Army Bicyclists Visit Yellowstone Park — 1896
"They were members the 25th Infantry, U.S. Army Bicycle Corps, a unit of African-American soldiers with white officers."
M. Mark Miller, Author 