A novel focusing on the life of one of Montana's most influential citizens during its early history - John Owen, founder of the famed Fort Owen trading post in the Bitterroot Valley. Titled "Warm Side of Heaven: The Life and Times of John Owen" was written in novel form by author Bill Turner. John Owen had been a suttler for the U.S. Army when, in 1850, he purchased the land and remnants of the St. Mary's Mission, which Jesuit priests under famed Roman Catholic missionary Father John Pierre DeSmet established in September of 1841 but closed in 1850 to pursue their work elsewhere in the region. The result was that Fort Owen became, for the next couple of decades, a centerpiece of commerce and trade involving early settlers in the Bitterroot and Native American tribes in the region. The Jesuits later re-established St. Mary's Mission in Stevensville and the mission and Fort Owen have held historic significance ever since. Incidentally, the title for the book was taken from an entry in Owen's journals made in reference to the Bitterroot Valley.
