The Footsteps Of Norman Maclean Festival Is Coming To Missoula

The National Museum of Forest Service History has been invited to participate in the Footsteps of Norman Maclean Festival that is taking place September 8-10. Education Director Cheryl Hughes says they are hosting an event on the 10^th where families can hear more about how the forest service impacted Missoula.

“We have invited three very special guests to speak about growing up in the U.S. forest service,” said Hughes. “Those three speakers are John Maclean, Norman Maclean’s son, Peter Koch who is Elers Koch’s grandson and Bill Moore who is Bud Moore’s son.”

According to Hughes, all the families were dear friends of Norman Maclean. Maclean was born in the early 1900’s and was raised in Missoula. He eventually left Missoula in 1928 to become a professor at the University of Chicago.

“Every summer that tide brought him back to Montana and his love of streams, the lakes and the woods of Montana,” Hughes said. “In his early teens, he was part of the forest service during the time of the great burn era and of course participated in many of the activities during World War I.”

Maclean wrote short stories about all his experiences in the books "River Runs Through It" and "Young Men and Fire".