Idaho Commission for Libraries

Mountain Man (1965) is the story of Sam Minard, a trapper in the Rocky Mountains, based on an actual mountain man, John Johnson.  When his Indian wife is murdered, Sam Minard vows to avenge her death. The novel served as inspriration for the 1972 movie Jeremiah Johnston.

Vardis Fisher was a prolific and versatile author, born and raised in Idaho. He spent his childhood on a homestead in Swan Valley, was educated at the University of Utah and the University of Chicago, and after some years, returned to Idaho to write and teach.  He died in 1968.