Welcome to the wild and heartwarming world of the Kempton Ranch In its day, the famed Kempton Ranch of eastern Montana was one of the largest horse and cattle operations in Montana, selling mounts to armies and polo-playing royalty alike. The Kemptons themselves were a storybook family descended from Mayflower pilgrims, Sioux Indians, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Their own exploits make for a larger-than-life Western epic. Meet Joseph Kempton, a whaling ship captain who becomes an early Colorado pioneer; JB Kempton, the first to ship cattle on the Northern Pacific rails; and his son Berney, a trick roper with Doc Carver's Wild West Show, hotelier, and a friend to British earls and President Theodore Roosevelt. Author Trudy Kempton Dana mines her family's lore for salt-of-the-earth true stories of these and many other characters to reveal a family of rare vision, grit, and integrity as they create American history and embody the spirit of the West.    Praise for The Kemptons:   "A fascinating look at one western family whose members reflect the gamut of the American experience from a signer of the Declaration of Independence to a Wild West performer who wowed audiences in Australia by roping kangaroos. Lavishly illustrated with photographs, artifacts, and manuscripts, the stories of the Kempton family's life in eastern Montana are by turns inspiring and heart wrenching. Trudy Kempton Dana has done a masterful job."           Donna M. Lucey,  author of  Photographing Montana (1894-1928): The Life and Work of Evelyn Cameron   "The Kempton family endured the rugged journey westward to Terry, Montana, full of grit and dreams. They left their lasting mark on the town and Trudy's captivating depiction of their lives will surely leave the same!          Megan Pirtz,  editor, the  Terry Tribune   "I teach high school American literature and I wish there were more positive, uplifting resources for my students. I found that in Trudy Dana's stories! Her grandmother's journey from Sweden is a great depiction of an emigrant's experience and the hardship they overcame, the true grit and determination they showed. I wish these stories could be included in every American literature textbook."          Kim Ferragamo,  high school teacher, Edmonds, Washington A fascinating story of a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who was raised as a New England Quaker and went west to make his living trading with Indians. He married 7 Indian wives and when the governor pressured him to give up his polygamous way of life and abandon his half Indian family to find a traditional American wife he refused claiming there were no white women within 500 miles and the nearest one was already married. A quintessential piece of American history as gripping as the Lewis and Clark journals. --Ken Stuart, founder and editor-in-chief, Schirmer Books, Macmillan Publishing Co. This book is a captivating collection of stories that depict what living was like in the early American West before it was tamed. Funny, heartbreaking, courageous, and uplifting are just a few reactions you ll find upon traveling through her assemblage of real-life Kempton family stories. Ms. Kempton-Dana s ability to bring alive the harsh realities of ranch and range life through the experiences of this strong, tightly knit, loving family is extremely well done and indeed succeeds in immersing the reader into a fascinating time in our extraordinary American history. --Matthew Holt, screenwriter and author Trudy Dana makes history come alive. Her skillful writing recounts the adventures and everyday lives of her ancestors who helped to tame our great country. It s not often that a writer who is descended from individuals who have become household names or who were living in historic places at pivotal times takes the time to do the research and has the ability to pull it off. We are all the richer for it. --PJ Dempsey, career editor (McGraw-Hill, Random House, Simon & Schuster, and M. Evans) Trudy Kempton Dana  grew up hearing stories of her father's life on a large horse and cattle ranch in eastern Montana. Although her father, Jerry Kempton, became a civil engineer instead of a rancher and never again lived in Montana, the mystique of the Wild West was a major part of his childhood. After he met and married Phyllis Engdahl, they moved from Montana to Anchorage, Alaska, where Trudy was born and raised. She experienced an exciting and exceptional childhood in the soon-to-become forty-ninth state. Her family was well traveled, often visiting her father's hometown of Terry, Montana, and her mother's family home in Olympia, Washington. Trudy is a well-known expert in the field of child safety and the author of two books on the subject. Following a series of highly publicized, horrific crimes against children in the Northwest, she was involved in efforts in Washington State to pass the first sexual predator legislation in the n