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

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

Barnaby Conrad. HarperCollins Publishers, $20 (337pp) ISBN 978-0-06-258551-6

Searching for family roots and adventure, Conrad, a former editor of Horizon, set out on a five-month, 9000-mile journey through the back roads of Montana. Often traveling by horse or canoe through ``snow capped mountains, down her big rivers, up her box canyons, into her vast forests, across her sagebrush flats,'' he found true tales of the Wild West: gunfights, railroad building, prospecting, cowboys and Indians, and men confronted with grizzlies, wolves and coyotes. While native Montanans cling to their roots and look warily on newcomers, outsiders are discovering the wild beauty of this ``Last Best Place,'' which now has its share of yuppies, artists, writers and celebrities. No mere travelogue, this is a lively and entertaining account of a little-known part of America and the colorful lives of its people. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)