SEELEY LAKE - Please join us to listen to John Fraley, historian and storyteller of infamous characters who shaped the history of wild country in the forks of the Flathead River. He will be sharing some of these colorful and true tales at Alpine Artisan's Open Book Club Saturday, March 2, at 7 p.m. at The Grizzly Claw Trading Company. Seeley-Swan High School sophomore Cory Wilkey will be reading her poetry before the speaker. The event is free and everyone is welcome.
Fraley has done exhaustive research and interviews with residents in the Flathead Valley capturing stories of people and events dating back to the 1800s. These early pioneers endured isolation, temperatures dipping down to -40 degrees or colder, encounters with grizzly bears, with some folks living to tell of their perils while others were not so fortunate.
One of many captivating tales, "A Tangle With the Alpha Grizzly" begins this way, "Wilderness travelers sooner or later will probably have a brush with fate. In the backcountry such an encounter can be a defining moment in life and reputation. Old- time Forest Ranger Jalmer Wirkkala had at least two such encounters. In the first, he ran into what was thought by local mountain men as "the biggest damn grizzly bear" in the Bob Marshall or maybe anywhere. In the second, Jalmer went head-to-head with a packrat."
Other stories highlight notable events including a massive train wreck, airplane crashes, gun fights, mysterious disappearances, the 1928 travels of Bob Marshall through what would later become his namesake and endurance snowshoeing patrols across the Bob Marshall Wilderness without the aid of lightweight gear and GPS devices that we take for granted today. Dave Owns, Swan Valley resident and former ranger at Big Prairie Ranger District and later at Spotted Bear Ranger District, is featured in the book. Each story includes excellent photos, many taken by the author.
Whether you are a backcountry adventurer or an armchair enthusiast, this is a must-read book. A good story is best told over a campfire but the next best thing is to listen to Fraley share these tales this Saturday night.
Kari Gunderson was a wilderness ranger in the Mission Mountains Wilderness for 35 years. She has skied across the Bob Marshall Wilderness twice, volunteering to gather information on snowpack levels.
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