About the Book
Avoid The Tourist Herds.
What could be more uninspiring than seeing the identical attractions that everyone else has for decades?
This Twisted Tour Guide escorts you to the places locals don't want to talk about anymore...the same places people once couldn't stop talking about. Long after the screaming headlines and sensationalism has subsided, these bizarre, infamous and obscure historical sites remain hidden awaiting rediscovery.
Each visitation site in this guide is accompanied by a story. Many of the narratives defy believability, yet they are true. The profiled cast of characters feature saints and sinners (with emphasis towards the latter). Notorious crimes, murders, accidental deaths, suicides, kidnappings, vice and scandal are captivating human interest tales.
The photography from each profile showcases the precise location where each event occurred. The scenes can seem ordinary, weird and/or sometimes very revealing towards clarifying the background behind events.
If you're seeking an alternative to conventional tourism, this Twisted Tour Guide is ideal. Each directory accommodates the restless traveler and even resident looking for something unique and different.
BOZEMAN
Founder John Bozeman, Lady Mary Blackmore, Vigilante mob hearings and hangings, Grave robbers, Last standing brothel, Justice and public lynchings, Idaho Pole Company superfund and Downtown gas line explosion
BUTTE
Dynamite Explosion of 1895, Galloping gallows, Dumas Brothel, Apparitions of Fire Station #1, Adventuress Eva Hart, Blue Range Building, Copper King William Clark, Venus Alley, Butte Tin Shop, Chinatown, Royal Parlor House, Silver Dollar Saloon, Metals Bank Building, Temperance Icon Carrie Nation, Local miner's union unrest, Anaconda Road Massacre, Martial law, Granite Mountain Mine Memorial, Execution of Labor agitator Frank Little, 1918 Spanish Influenza, Berkeley Copper Mine disaster, Board of Trade Saloon, Journalist Howard Rushmore, Dimple Knees, Evel Knievel, M & M Saloon, Elementary school shooting of Jeremy Bullock and the fatal aircraft crash inside Holy Cross Cemetery.
HELENA
Guardian of the Gulch lookout tower, Lime Kilns graffiti, Doomed prisoner escape on the Governor's mansion stairwell, Refuge for unwed mothers and reforming prostitutes, Doomed Victorian Madames and their brothels, Montana Club swastikas, Phantom of the Greenstreet Theatre, Thomas Cruse, Helena Cathedral, Confederate soldier memorial fountain, Canary Bird Moonshiner, Gangland retaliation murder, 1935 Earthquake, Tragic inspiration for A River Runs Through It and 1989 Train collision.
MISSOULA:
Mercantile Building, Oxford Café, Murder of Maurice Higgins, Madame Mary Gleim, House of piercing screams, Wilma Theatre, Florence Building, Missoula Mauler, Merry Prankster Edith Greenough, Cold Case arrest and suicide thirty years after, University of Montana paranormal spirits and sex scandal, Acid bath murders and Party motel killings.
SMALL TOWN STORIES
Unabomber's Sanctuary, Shoebox Annie the serial killer, Erasing father existence in Alberton, America's largest toxic railroad spill, A Belgrade amateur execution, Actor Patrick Duffy's parents murder, Nyleen Kay Marshall abduction, Jesse James Montana Days, Prison Warden Frank Conley, Mass murder in a beauty salon, Sheila Jordan's unsolved killing, Casino abduction and precious metals killings, Morrisite sect church, Thermal hot springs hotel becomes mental institution and the ill-fated marital reunion murder...plus more.
About the Author :
Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions.
He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86.
Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com.
Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography.
His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, fiction, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism.
He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.
