John Colter:  Hunter, Trapper, Long Distance Runner with John Russell
Thursday, March 9, 6 pm at the Museum of the Rockies

A resident of Bozeman for more than forty years, John Russell is best known as a broadcast journalist and former director of the Gallatin (County) Historical Society and Pioneer Museum. John received a Bachelor of Science degree in history from Montana State University in 1978. Afterward, he embarked on a career in television and radio. In the early 1980s, while at KGLT Radio, he was the first to ever do play-by-play for MSU women’s basketball, and later did television play-by-play for MSU men’s football and basketball. In the 1990s, he became news director of KBOZ radio, receiving awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Montana Broadcasters Association. Beginning in 1997, he put his history degree to direct use by taking over the directorship of the Gallatin (County) Historical Society, where, among other things, he expanded membership, oversaw the fundraising and construction of the museum’s research center, enlarged the local oral history collection, and designed the first-ever magazine devoted to local history, the Pioneer Museum Quarterly. John contributed numerous articles to the magazine, and back in 1994 had an article on Calamity Jane published nationally inWild West Magazine. Since leaving the museum in 2014, John has been working on several historical writing projects.
 
John Colter craved adventure, and when he signed on with the Lewis and Clark Expedition for five dollars a month, he got his fair share of it – and then some. Colter is best known for his infamous run from Blackfeet Indians near the Three Forks in 1808, but his role with the Corps of Discovery, the northwest fur trade, and early explorations of what is now Yellowstone National Park are just as important. Local broadcaster/historian John Russell will give an overview of Colter’s exciting, albeit brief life on March 9^th at the Museum of the Rockies. 

A big thanks to the Big Sky Wind Drinkers for their support of this presentation!!!!