Barbara Fifer

Now in softcover Montana is home to many storied ghost towns, and few people get to see these remote places in person the way photographers Larry and Vivian Roland have. Here they share rich color photographs of landscapes, townsites, homes, stores, mining structures, closeup details, and more. Historical black-and-white images, newspaper quotes, and anecdotal text help tell the stories of thousands of hard-working pioneers, those who preyed on them, and a few larger-than-life characters, bringing the past back to colorful life.

You've followed his wicked misdeeds and cuss-filled rants on the HBO series Deadwood (as played by Ian McShane), now go inside the life and death of the real Al Swearingen with Farcountry Press' newest release, Deadwood's Al Swearingen: Manifest Evil in the Gem Theatre. Meticulous research and lively writing by Deadwood historian and HBO consultant Jerry L. Bryant and co-author Barbara Fifer shed new light on Al's scandalized childhood in Oskaloosa, Iowa, his nefarious dealings at his saloon and brothel in gold-rush-era Deadwood, and his brutal death (was he murdered?) in a Denver rail yard.

Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane get all the press, but Deadwood was as rich in remarkableand eccentricpersonalities as it was in ore. Authors Bryant and Fifer have mined the archives for obscure (and true ) tales of murderous women, artful con men, woebegone children, an African American orator, a determined temperance activist, and a lovesick assayer. Discover Deadwood as it really was