Includes index.

Digging up history -- Chick Grimsley's tough trip : cowboy Chick Grimsley was the first pioneer and outfitter in the Upper Middle Fork -- Nyack train wreck mystery : in 1901, two trains collided and dozens died at a remote siding between Glacier National Park and the Great Bear Wilderness -- Lost Paola Ranger Station: renowned Ranger Clyde Fauley patrols the remote side of the Middle Fork in early Glacier National Park -- Schafer Meadows winter : two trappers spend a frigid winter alone in the heart of the Middle Fork -- Slim and the griz : Arthur Edward Meyer (aka Slim Link) meets his maker while trapping in Kishenehn Creek within Glacier National Park -- Unlucky trappers : a Japanese trapper disappears in China Basin in the upper North Fork -- Backcountry coal and old-timer tales : big seams of coal spurred early travel into the North Fork of the Flathead; and old-timers tell tales of a mysterious disappearance and a curious trap -- Killing Billy Kruse: Shootout in the Upper North Fork : Billy Kruse is gunned down in a "justifiable homicide" near Mud Lake just south of the Canadian border -- The mystery of Baptiste : Enigmatic prospector and trapper Baptiste Joyal may have been the first Euro-American in the South Fork -- The ranger's ranger : no one could outwalk or out-tough old-time wilderness ranger Henry Thol in the South Fork backcountry -- A tangle with the alpha grizzly : old-time ranger Jalmer Wirkkala tangles with a legendary griz and a packrat in what is now the Bob Marshall Wilderness -- Flagship Ranger District : The Big Prairie Ranger District has anchored the Bob through a century of public service -- Little Salmon Plane Crash : Three elk hunters found a lost plane and solved a mystery in the Bob Marshall Wilderness -- Gems of discovery : the people behind the stories.

"Author John Fraley tells thirteen pioneer stories of the Middle, North, and South Forks of the Flathead River in and around the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Glacier National Park. In Rangers, Trappers, and Trailblazers, Fraley brings alive more than a century of history--old-timers, quirky characters, and mountain landscapes. The stories feature a love triangle and fatal shootout, tangles with grizzlies, a few unsolved mysteries, daring ranger patrols, six dead trappers, backcountry plane crashes, an unmarked mass grave, and a "war on predators" that extended across the Bob Marshall backcountry. Read along and learn the stories of Cowboy Chick Grimsley, tough Henry Thol (the ranger's ranger), Madame Queen, the Galloping Finn, and many other colorful historical characters from the Flathead River forks. The stories spring from dozens of interviews, site visits, and extensive research conducted over nearly a decade. This book honors these historical figures and preserves their uncanny stories before they fade from our collective memory."--Provided by publisher.