Bud Cheff Jr. releases first book
Daniel Martynowicz
Bud Cheff Jr. signs a copy of his book for a fan. Cheff sold 120 books over the course of a few short hours during the signing.
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RONAN — For many people in the Mission Valley, Bud Cheff Jr. is a storyteller of the highest caliber.
Growing up in the Mission Valley, Cheff became fascinated by history and literature at an early age. He soon began collecting historical artifacts, many of which can be seen today in the Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana. A profound storyteller, this is Cheff’s first attempt at following in his father’s footsteps. Cheff Sr.’s book, “Indian Trails and Grizzly Tales,” became a bestselling publication more than two decades ago.
Cheff will hosted a book signing at the Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana on Sept. 15, marking the official release date of the book, titled “Legend Keeper: More Trails and Tails.”
Below is an interview transcript from Sept. 12 with Bud Cheff Jr.
VJ: What is the book about?
Cheff: It starts out with my early life as a boy, but it’s short stories and different episodes of things that happened. A lot of it is about history; everything kind of pertains to history, but there’s a lot of stories about grizzly bears and wildlife and old-time Indians. Some of them are legends and stories that I heard growing up that were passed down form the old people, and I’ve just kept them. Now I’m passing them on to everybody else.
VJ: How long have you been writing?
Cheff: I’ve been writing stories for years every quarter for the Ninepipes museum newsletter and I’ve had a few hundred people telling me for the past few years that I should write a book, so I did. Some of the stories in here, my daughter wrote them for me. I either write them out and have her re-write them or I tell them to her. She’s got a master’s degree in writing and she’s been a big help.
VJ: Are you ever frustrated while writing?
Cheff: Not really. I don’t take myself seriously enough to worry.
VJ: what’s your favorite story to tell?
Cheff: I don’t really have a favorite. They just kind of come out; I don’t really think about them. People ask me questions in the museum and I know a lot about the things out there. They ask me questions and I just start telling them about it and it all just kind of comes out.
When I was a small boy my mother used to read to me by the kerosene light and she got me interested in books. She got me interested in books and I think I read every book in the high school library. I like it, so I guess it just comes easy to me. I wouldn’t be able to write any fiction novels, but history comes naturally.
VJ: What’s your favorite book?
Cheff: Probably my favorite two books are the journals of major John Owen. He had Fort Owen where Stevensville is today. He had so much history there that it’s probably one of my favorite things. A lot of the stories I really like are mostly Lewis and Clark, Thompson with his mapping and history — all of that is interesting to me.
VJ: How many books do you read a day?
Cheff: (Laughs) I don’t have time to read a book a day. I used to read two to three books per week. If it was a good book, sometimes I’d read a whole book in a day and a night if I could get away with it, but life gets too busy to read that much after you get older.
VJ: Where does your love of history come from?
Cheff: I was lucky because I grew up with my grandparents and my father and mother. There was a lot of history on both sides of the family. My great grandfather has his name on the plaque for one of the first people to build the settlement in Quebec. Clark’s mother from Lewis and Clark was a sister to my great-great grandmother.
VJ: How many ‘greats” is that? Two?
Cheff: (Laughs) I think it’s probably more than that. Maybe four or five.
VJ: How long have you worked on the book?
Cheff: I’ve been working on the book a year, but a lot of the stories were already partially written and I’d been making notes on the stories for 30-40 years. I never thought too much about it but I wanted to at least have it all down in writing.
VJ: Have you always wanted to write books?
Cheff: When I was in school, writing a book was the last thing in my mind. I started collecting Indian artifacts when I was 9 years old. Things like an Indian war club, smaller items, and as I got older, I collected Indian saddles that we had in the family.
