Probing the past is new pastime
Something has happened that I would never have thought possible back in high school when I was dozing off in Mr. Roos’ American History class. I have become a history nerd.
I can’t say I’m a history buff. That would imply more knowledge that I actually have on the subject. Perhaps history enthusiast would be a more appropriate description of my growing love for a subject I once thought dull as dishwater.
Lately both my husband and I have been sucked into the History channel’s 12-hour epic series on the history of the human race.
“Mankind: The Story of All of Us” spans the ice age, the advent of farming, the Roman Empire’s rise to power and its eventual collapse, the Bubonic plague, Industrial Revolution — you name it, it’s in there. The channel’s own description of the series is spot on: “Embracing groundbreaking storytelling methods, it features jaw-dropping imagery and dramatic reconstructions of the most critical events in human history.”
But it’s not just a TV mini-series that’s piqued my interest in history. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed writing feature stories that probe the past in some way. In today’s paper there’s a story on an effort under way to save the historic O’Brien Mansion in Somers. It was such a treat for me to tour the old home.
Through the years at the Inter lake I’ve written about myriad aspects of the Flathead’s history, from the Fort Steele Trail to the love letters of Kalispell founder Charles Conrad and his wife, Alicia. Earlier this year I wrote about Teddy Roosevelt’s unusual connections to the Flathead Valley.
Bob Brown, the longtime state senator from Whitefish and former Montana secretary of state, is responsible, in part, for stoking my passion for history. If I would have had him as a high school history teacher I would have begun my appreciation of the subject at a much earlier age. And I would have stayed awake in class.
Brown is what I’d call a history zealot. He modestly refers to himself as an amateur historian, with a particular passion for Montana history. But his enthusiasm for history is infectious.
I’m currently reading “The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey,” a book by Candice Millard that examines Roosevelt’s daring trip down the River of Doubt, a 600-mile waterway in the heart of the Amazon, in 1913. Roosevelt, after a painful loss when he ran as an independent for a third presidential term, decided the South American adventure was what he needed to boost his spirits.
Going down an uncharted jungle river full of rapids and waterfalls and infested by swarms of bugs was either crazy or courageous — maybe a little of both. Roosevelt was headstrong about wanting to complete the trip, spouting off, “if it is necessary for me to leave my bones in South America, I am quite ready to do so.”
His entourage barely survived as it lost canoes, battled disease (Roosevelt himself nearly succumbed to malaria), nearly starved to death and faced native tribes with poison arrows. The book is a real page-turner.
I’m drawn to historical fiction, too, but it’s these real-life stories that are so intriguing. As Roosevelt himself put it: “Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.”
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.