Local author releases novel

Thompson Falls author and historian Carl Haywood has released his fourth book, titled Blackfeet, Blood, and Beaver. This is a historical, fur-trade novel about the 1809-1810 hunting and trading season, when American fur traders were expanding their trade into the Louisiana Territory. The story centers around 19-year-old George Morris, a Missouri farm boy who decides to learn more about those faraway places outside the family homestead on Logan Creek, near the settlement of Ellington.

Convincing his parents that he was serious, George set out for St. Louis in the spring of 1809. His goal was to sign on with a supply train heading west to the Rocky Mountains. Thus, George began an unforgettable adventure - far beyond anything he could have imagined.

William Morrison, president of the recently formed Missouri Fur Company, recognized the value of George's experience at hunting and with horses and mules. Morrison had a good feeling about this young man and fit him into the brigade to ride with the hunters and scouts.

Partnered with the Chief Scout Will Haywood, George quickly caught on to what was expected of him. He was to help feed and protect the scores of men necessary to move supplies over the 1,500 miles of trail between St. Louis and the remote trading post built that year by Manuel Lisa. Fort Raymond was located at the point where the Bighorn River empties into the Yellowstone River in what is now the state of Montana.

Will and George continue on to Fort Henry located at Three Forks and then beyond the Rockies in search of a lost trapper, Charles Courtin. Eventually they reach a Kootenai village near present day Dixon, Montana, where they meet renowned Canadian explorer and surveyor David Thompson of the North West Company. Thompson's primary trading post, Saleesh House, was located near the mouth of Thompson River. 

This is Haywood's fourth book. Two of those, Sometimes Only Horses to Eat and The Location of Howse House are non-fiction research projects aimed at finding the locations of two of the first three fur-trading posts of record in western Montana.

The third book, Lust for Dutchman's Gold, is a personal adventure about a trip in 1962 into the mysterious and legendary Superstition Mountains near Phoenix, Arizona. Haywood and three friends from Arizona State University made the trek to explore the trails and lore of the long-lost mine. The adventure turned out to be far more bizarre than could have been expected. Being confronted by five, armed men was just the beginning.

Signed copies of Blackfeet, Blood & Beaver are available at Harvest Foods and Linda's Gift Shop in Thompson Falls and at the Lakeside Motel & Resort in Trout Creek. It is also available directly from Rockman's Trading Post. For more information, contact Rockman's Trading Post at https://www.rockmanstradingpost.com.