I had this fairly obscure library book on my shelf for months and just kept renewing it but never got around to reading it. Then somebody else placed a hold on it, so I got it down and cracked the covers to have a look before I had to return it.
What I found was massively entertaining! (to my tastes, anyway.) The writer's voice is surprisingly contemporary sounding to me. It has humor and passion and none of the rather circuitous and ornate frippery that I, rightly or wrongly, have come to associate with literature of this period.
It is a sort of adventure story where a quite young man goes off on a trapping venture. Originally in the company of a more experienced trapper who is also unfortunately a derelict alcoholic, their ways part eventually and he continues on on his own, eventually marries in the relative wilderness, etc..

I was introduced to this book by my late beloved Uncle Floyd Rittenhouse, himself a lover of Montana history. Tough Trip is some of the most authentic Montana frontier literature. Besides, its a great read. ( )