The Kemptons

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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. -- cover.