New book on life of John Owen published by Stoneydale Press

The publication of a new novel focusing on the life of one of Montana’s most influential citizens during its early territorial history – John Owen, founder of the famed Fort Owen trading post in the Bitterroot Valley – was announced this week by Stoneydale Press.

Titled “Warm Side of Heaven: The Life and Times of John Owen,” the book, written in novel form, was authored by Bill Turner of Missoula who more than 40 years ago as a young Forest Service worker became enamored with the stories he heard about Owen and his historic trading post and, as a result, has since then spent thousands of hours studying Owen’s journals and other historic references regarding his “fort” that during its heyday when it was one of the most important frontier trading posts in the region.

The premiere release of the new book will be made Aug. 2-3 at Stevensville’s Creamery Picnic where the author will be in the Stoneydale Press booth both days to sign his book and visit with those interested in the story of John Owen and his famous trading post.

John Owen had been a suttler for the U.S. Army when, in 1850, he purchased the land and remnants of the St. Mary’s Mission, which Jesuit priests under famed Roman Catholic missionary Father John Pierre DeSmet established in September of 1841 but closed in 1850 to pursue their work elsewhere in the region. The result was that Fort Owen became, for the next couple of decades, a centerpiece of commerce and trade involving early settlers in the Bitterroot and Native American tribes in the region. The Jesuits later re-established St. Mary’s Mission in Stevensville and the mission and Fort Owen have held historic significance ever since. Incidentally, the title for the book was taken from an entry in Owen’s journals made in reference to the Bitterroot Valley.

“We are absolutely delighted at the opportunity to publish Mr. Turner’s novel about John Owen because this incredible man was not only one of the most influential people of his time in this part of the world, but a man of integrity, strong moral character and a person of great historic insight into his times and what was taking place across the continent in the wake of the westward expansion of the country and later the impact of the Civil War,” said Dale Burk, owner of Stoneydale Press. “We believe Mr. Turner has shown us the essence of an incredible man in the person of John Owen, a man vitally important to the early history of our community. It’s a story that, literally, has begged telling.”

An early and outspoken advocate of the Native Americans in the region, Owen in fact was married to a Shoshone woman and to facilitate his business ventures traveled extensively throughout the West in those perilous times to acquire supplies for his trading post. He also served for a short period as Indian Agent for the U.S. government. During all that time, Owen kept a detailed journal of the places he went and the people he encountered, which just happened to include such luminaries as a U.S. Army officer named Ulysses S. Grant; Isaac Stevens, the governor of the Territory of Washington (of which the landscape now known as Montana was a part) and namesake of the small town adjacent to the fort, Stevensville; famed road builder John Mullan, and Chief Charlo of the Salish (Flathead) Indians. Owen also enjoyed close friendships with the founders of a nearby settlement first called Hell’s Gate – and later Missoula – but which, because of its more accessible location in regard to travel corridors at the time, ultimately overshadowed the vitality of Owen’s trading post “up the Bitterroot.” Owen’s journals and Turner’s novel also provide insight into a trip late in Owen’s life that he made to Washington, D.C., where he met with President Abraham Lincoln to advocate on behalf of the Salish Indians and his good friend Chief Charlo that the reservation being established for the tribe should be in their homeland of the Bitterroot Valley – which, of course, in the wake of Lincoln’s assassination, did not happen.

Author Bill Turner developed the authenticity of his novel about Owen’s story largely by many years of careful study of Owen’s extensive journals. He also was aided in his research by the extensive historic record of Owen’s interplay with the leading citizens of his time and place. A highly educated man, Owen is credited with establishing the first major personal library in Montana and during that time actually shared his books with the likes of Granville Stuart, Angus McDonald, and other icons of Montana’s early recorded history.

Much of Owen’s last years of life involved considerable mystery, intrigue and tragedy as he apparently developed a form of dementia in the wake of his beloved wife’s death and was forced into virtual imprisonment, for several years, in a “mental” hospital in Helena – and then taken back to his family in Pennsylvania where he lived out the remainder of his life.

Turner lives in the Rattlesnake Valley in Missoula. He earned his B.A. in English from the University of Montana in 1975 with an emphasis on creative writing and secondary school education. Turner studied writing with Richard Hugo and William Kittredge and was fiction editor at the time of CutBank literary, magazine. He spent 10 years working seasonally for the Lolo and Bitterroot National Forests and, while working at the Stevensville Ranger District, a visit to Fort Owen State Park sparked his life-long interests in the history of the trading post, the Bitterroot Salish Indians, and in Stevensville. For a time, Turner was editor of the weekly newspaper, the Ronan Pioneer in Ronan, Montana, and also worked as a reporter for The Missoulian. He recently retired after a 20-year career as a carpenter for the University of Montana.

“Warm Side of Heaven: The Life and Times of John Owen” was issued in 6×9-inch softcover format, 192 pages, retails for $19.95, and includes a photo section that illustrates early artistic perceptions of Fort Owen, as well as a famous painting by Peter Tofft of Fort Owen in 1865, plus portraits of a several key historic figures who shared the limelight at the time with John Owen. The book is available at many bookstores and gift shops in the region, as well as direct from Stoneydale Press, 523 Main St., Stevensville, MT 59870, phone 406-777-2729 or at the firm’s website: www.stoneydale.com.