Mysteries and Legends of Montana: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained

A selection of teaser mysteries from Montana's past, some relating to true crime, others to paranormal or cryptozoological events, and some plain old "history's mysteries." "What Happened to Meriwether's Boat?"-iron boat frame may have been buried by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 somewhere on the Missouri River near Great Falls "A Mummy and the Little People" - Native American legends of a race of dwarves in the Pryors and other locations throughout the west may have had support with the discovery of a tiny mummy as well as sightings continuing to this day "Did Governor Meagher Go Swimming? Or Was He Drowned?" - accounts of events that led to the disappearance of rascally Montana governor in 1867, which were assumed to either be a drowning accident or murder "Was Frank Little Murdered by a Cop?" - A union organizer was lynched in 1917 by a bunch of thugs including a cop back in the hard days of Butte..and the cop was murdered years later "Is the Mystery of the Easton Murder Solved?"- a technically unsolved murder of an elderly couple at the Paradise Motel north of Kalispell in 1963, although people pretty much know who did it...though the perp was found dead later himself "Was Sheriff Henry Plummer a Highway Robber?" - A summary of the debate among historians as to the actual extent of the guilt of Henry Plummer who was the most famous badman lynched by the Vigilantes "Is There a Connection Between UFOs and Cattle Mutilations?" - A summary of the events involving mystery lights and mutilated cattle in the 1970s written about in a book by a Cascade County sheriff, "Mystery Stalks the Prairie," and the National Institute for Discovery Science's (NIDS) conclusion that indeed something odd was going on "If Bigfoot Exists, He Needs a Shower" - Drawing from the "Mystery Stalks the Prairie" book, which had a couple of reported encounters in the 70s with Bigfoot, this essay also refers to later sightings in the late 90s and into 2004; and then a mention of the difficulties that Prof. Meldrum, an anthropologist who studies the possibility of Bigfoot at Idaho State, faces from skeptical colleagues "Who Named the Crazy Mountains?" - a look at some of the possible origins for the naming of the Crazies, from the Crow Indian name to the legend of a troubled woman who lived there by herself, as portrayed in the movie "Jeremiah Johnson" "Meet Flessie, the Monster of Flathead Lake" - a nice introduction to the sightings of a water beast said to live in Flathead Lake "There Are Ghosts in the Butte Archives, Aren't There?" - the hauntings of the Butte-Silverbow Archives housed in the old Butte Fire Hall, the Old Montana Prison in Deer Lodge, and some of Ellen Baumler's other material from Spirit Tailings, a house and the Bonanza Inn in Virginia City, the Crowne Plaza in Billings, the Chico Hot Springs Resort, Bannack, and the Little Cowboy Bar in Fromberg "A Shaggy Dog Story Produces a Mystery"- the final tale is of a loyal dog named Shep, who