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A moving memoir of a family’s love affair with the Blackfoot River in Montana, made famous by A River Runs Through It, the novella written by Maclean’s father, Norman.

As the author of this book makes clear, the Blackfoot River holds a particularly special place in Maclean family history. In 1909, the Rev. John Norman Maclean, John’s grandfather, moved to Missoula to become pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. A decade later, he got a permit to build “the family cabin, a simple log affair…at Seeley Lake, fifty-five road miles northeast of Missoula on the edge of what is now the million-plus acre Bob Marshall Wilderness.” The cabin has now been in the family’s hands for “five generations and counting.” Beginning with his earliest memories of fly-fishing with his father on the river, Maclean passionately explores the history of his family’s life in the region as they became well-respected members of the community and developed an abiding love for the land. The author also digs into deeper history, noting that for centuries, Native peoples “wore a trail along the river as they traveled through the Blackfoot Valley and across the Continental Divide, out and back to the buffalo hunting grounds in the Missouri River country to the east.” Maclean then follows the path of Meriwether Lewis, who, along with his men and a few Nez Perce guides, passed through the area after separating from William Clark. The view from Lewis and Clark Pass, writes the author, is one of the most breathtaking in Montana, a place where the landscape remains “much as it appeared centuries ago…a land with a long-term memory.” In addition to patient nature writing and an introspective approach to the literary inspiration he has received from the land, Maclean discusses the genesis of Norman’s famous book and mystery surrounding the death of one of the characters.

Lovers of literature and nature will be captivated by this heartfelt tribute to place and family.