Bozeman Magazine

On Friday, July 10 at the Gallatin County Courthouse 3rd floor Community Room, museum curator and local author Kelly Suzanne Hartman will read from her newly released book, Murder Along the Yellowstone Trail: the Execution of Seth Danner.  The reading will begin at 5:00 p.m. followed by a book-signing and museum opening next door in the Gallatin History Museum.

 In the Fall of 1920 two couples pulled into a campsite just off the famous Yellowstone Trail between Manhattan and Three Forks.  A few weeks later one couple drove away while the other simply vanished.  The identities and fate of the couple left behind didn’t hit newsstands until three years later.  In one of the most sensational murder cases ever played out in a Montana court, Seth Danner put up a fight for his life and lost.  But was he guilty? 

 Ms. Hartman is the Curator for the Gallatin History Museum and has published several historical articles and books, including A Brief History of Cooke City (2019).  Her curiosity into the possible innocence of Seth Danner has haunted her since visiting the museum as a child.  Her book became a labor of love as well as a personal study into the simplicity and complications of human behavior, revealing “a light of illumination” on the characteristics of the man who was judged and those who condemned him. 

 This event is free and open to the public.  Face masks will be required and will be available for no charge for anyone that does not have their own.