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Romancing the Rockies: Mountaineers, Missionaries, Marilyn, and More

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Romancing the Rockies is a biographical study of the people who have been attracted to the Rockies by its romance; sometimes seduced and rejected, other times wooed and wed, but always held spellbound by its majesty.

Arranged chronologically, the book starts with the earliest aboriginal inhabitants of the Canadian Rockies and moves up through early explorers and pioneers to modern times. The book can broadly be broken down into two parts: historical figures and contemporary luminaries.

Bringing historical figures to light is a difficult task; the author has to reach back in time, and, working with often scant records, bring relevance and insight to an individual while simultaneously adhering to the biographical facts. From explorer Peter Findler, the first known European to enter the Rockies, to naturalist painter Paul Kane and botanist David Douglas, who came to chronicle the region, Brennan manages to portray their lives in an approachable manner that illuminates the personalities and motives of these unique and adventurous people in sympathetic and insightful manner. Even though centuries separate us from their worlds, they step out of the dry, sterile environment of the history book and come alive under the author's skill.

In the latter part of his work, Brennan deals with many of the colorful and eccentric individuals who called the Rockies their home, or simply visited and were captivated by its beauty. His narrative includes the bizarre tale of Charles Bedeaux, a French millionaire who, in the 1930s, launched a filming trek across the northern Rockies to the Alaskan panhandle, complete with 10 Citroen trucks, several cases of champagne, his wife and mistress. He also recounts the exploits of Marilyn Munroe when she came to Jasper in 1953 to shoot River of No Return with Robert Mitchum, the visit to Banff of King George VI in 1939, and the tale of British spy Conrad O'Brien-ffrench, who leased his homestead ranch east of Banff to Princess Margaret during her Canadian tour in 1958. In all, it is an entertaining, illuminating and enjoyable account of one of Canada's most beautiful regions.