Meet The Authors

John McDermott

Longtime Indian wars historian John D. McDermott lives and writes in Rapid City, South Dakota. His books include the excellent Frontier Crossroads: The History of Fort Caspar and the Upper Platte Crossing, City of Casper, 1997, and of twelve other books, including A Guide to the Indian Wars of the West, (U. of Nebraska Press, 1989) Circle of Fire: The Indian War of 1865, (Stackpole Books, 2003), The Indian War of 1864 (U. of Nebraska Press, 1864), Forlorn Hope: The Nez Perce Victory at White Bird Canyon (Caxton Press, 2003), and Dangerous Duty: A History of Frontier Forts in Fremont County, (Fremont County Historic Preservation Committee, 2003). He has also written numerous articles in scholarly journals, and has consulted on several documentaries on the American West, including ones by Kenny Rogers for the History Channel and Ken Burns for PBS.

From 1960 to 1986, McDermott was a Federal historian and administrator, first with the National Park Service and then with the President's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, protecting America's historic and archeological resources.

From 1994-1996, McDermott served as Chairman of the Board of the Old West Trail Foundation, a nonprofit marketing group for the States of Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska. Each year he guides trips to Indian War sites in the West for Major Holt's Military tours (Great Britain), the Great American Tour Company, and History American Tours, the last two firms owned and operated by his wife Sharon. McDermott will speak on the panel "Words, Pictures, and the Local Past," at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18th at the Fort Caspar Museum, and will be available to sign books following the panel.