Does the past really matter? Fleeing a failed marriage and a failed profession, a woman on the dangerous side of forty decides a Montana ghost town holds the key to the mystery of her birth. Hard-living AJ Armstrong is obsessed by history, especially her own. Abandoning her academic career, she arrives in the run-down mountain town of Misfire, Montana, armed only with her willingness to take on the world with a double-shot of irony chased down with a dose of pessimism. Roped into a temporary job at the town's weekly newspaper, AJ finds a friend in worldly-wise Rheta, a former prostitute turned editor. Rheta not only knows where all the bodies are buried in Misfire, she has a pretty good idea where AJ should seek the scandals still haunting nearby Bannack, infamous for its violent history. AJ's plan is to figure out how her roots are entangled with that ghost town's past—and then to hit the highway. Before she can escape, AJ is warned to “leave the past alone,” advice amplified by a devastating fire and a death that may or may not be accidental. But stubbornly digging through history is what AJ does best. As lives intersect and specters are raised, Bannack finally gives up its ghosts, and AJ's life is forever altered. Winner of the prestigious Utah Original Writing Competition, this novel conveys a sense of small-town Montana life as lived in the shadow of the mountains and reveals its story with sharp humor, distinctive characters, and a satisfying ending. The author is a Big Sky Country native who spent her early career as a newspaper reporter for Southwest Montana newspapers before settling down to teaching and to directing the Writing Center at Southern Utah University.

For fans of Gillian Flynn, Caroline Cooney, and R.L. Stine comes Ghost Town: Seven Ghostly Stories from four-time Edgar Allen Poe Young Adult Mystery Award winner Joan Lowery Nixon. In the old towns of the Wild West, there’s more to hear than the paint peeling from the deserted storefronts, more than the tumbleweeds somersaulting down the empty streets. If you listen hard, you can hear voices whispering stories. Stories like the one about the lost mine in Maiden, Montana, or how Wyatt Earp won the shoot-out at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. And don’t forget about the Bad Man from Bodie, California—he’s still searching for his lost finger! Can you hear them? “An entertaining collection.” –School Library Journal “Combining history and mystery…[Ghost Town: Seven Ghostly Stories] recalls classic campfire tales.” –Booklist “A well conceived (and titled) collection…[of] chilling short stories.” –Kirkus Reviews

A history and legal analysis of vigilantism in Montana in the 1860s, from a state Supreme Court justice and legal historian. Historians and novelists alike have described the vigilantism that took root in the gold-mining communities of Montana in the mid-1860s, but Mark C. Dillon is the first to examine the subject through the prism of American legal history, considering the state of criminal justice and law enforcement in the western territories and also trial procedures, gubernatorial politics, legislative enactments, and constitutional rights. Using newspaper articles, diaries, letters, biographies, invoices, and books that speak to the compelling history of Montana’s vigilantism in the 1860s, Dillon examines the conduct of the vigilantes in the context of the due process norms of the time. He implicates the influence of lawyers and judges who, like their non-lawyer counterparts, shaped history during the rush to earn fortunes in gold. Dillon’s perspective as a state Supreme Court justice and legal historian uniquely illuminates the intersection of territorial politics, constitutional issues, corrupt law enforcement, and the basic need of citizenry for social order. This readable and well-directed analysis of the social and legal context that contributed to the rise of Montana vigilante groups will be of interest to scholars and general readers interested in Western history, law, and criminal justice for years to come. “[Justice Dillon’s] book reads like a Western. Dillon masterfully sets the stage for the rise of the Montana vigilantes by bringing alive the people who created and lived in [mining] towns. There are heroes, villains, shady characters, and more than a few politicians, businessmen, lawyers and judges. What sets Dillon’s book apart from historical texts and fictional tales is that he provides legal analyses and explanations of the trials, sentences, due process and procedures of the day . . . And shed[s] grisly light on the details of the hangings. Dillon’s unique background as an attorney and judge and his downright dogged research are what makes this complex story so engaging. The prose is clear, crisp and gets to the point. . . . The book is satisfying because it answers contemporary nagging questions about the law regarding the vigilantes and the hangings.” —Gregory Zenon, Brooklyn Barrister “Dillon’s analysis of the vigilantes of Bannack, Alder Gulch, and Helena in Montana Territory is the most detailed, insightful, and legally nuanced yet produced. . . . This book is a model for historians to follow when dealing with 19th-century criminal proceedings. Establishing historical context includes examining the laws in books as well as the law in action.” —Gordon Morris Bakken, Great Plains Research

This multi-functional reference is a useful tool to find information about history-related organizations and programs and to contact those working in history across the country.

The first collection of essays on public history in the American West.