That Girl Montana — Free PDF Download

Download That Girl Montana by Marah Ellis Ryan free, in PDF format, no sign-up required.

About the Book

Marah Ellis Ryan published That Girl Montana in 1901, drawing on her own extensive time living in the American West. Her portrayal of Native American characters in the novel is notably more empathetic and respectful than was typical for the genre at the time, reflecting her own progressive views.

Set in the Kootenai River region of Idaho and Montana, the novel follows Montana Rivers, known as ‘Tana,’ who was raised by her abusive, card-shark father to assist in his criminal schemes before finally escaping him. She finds refuge for two years with a tribe of Kootenai Native Americans led by Chief Akkomi, using the time to rebuild her sense of self away from her father’s influence. When it’s time to rejoin white society, Akkomi arranges for local prospector Dan Overton to take her in. Dan falls for her, but Tana keeps him at a distance, ashamed of her criminal background. Tension escalates when Dan’s mining partner Jim Harris recognizes Tana from her past, leading to a fight in which Dan accidentally paralyzes Jim. Jim forgives them and the three become partners in a gold mine, but the plot comes to a head when Tana’s outlaw father tracks her down to extort their earnings. In a startling twist, the paralyzed Jim strangles Holly to death in self defense, and on his deathbed reveals he is actually Tana’s real biological father, that Holly had kidnapped her as a baby, clearing her of any inherited guilt and freeing her to marry Dan.

The novel is built around a nature versus nurture question, following Tana’s fight to prove she isn’t defined by the “bad blood” she was raised to believe she carried. It also treats the American frontier as a place where people can genuinely reinvent themselves and escape their past, and it depicts the Kootenai tribe as a place of real safety and moral clarity, in deliberate contrast to the corruption Tana experienced in white society.

The book was adapted into a 1921 silent film, though the Kansas Board of Review demanded the removal of its climactic strangling scene for being too violent for audiences at the time.

Quick Facts

Title	That Girl Montana
Author	Marah Ellis Ryan (1860–1934)
First Published	1901
Genre	Adventure
Format	PDF
Price	Free

Frequently Asked Questions

Is That Girl Montana free to download?
Yes. Published in 1901, the novel is fully in the public domain.

Was it adapted into a film?
Yes, a 1921 silent film, though censors removed its violent climactic scene before release.

Is the portrayal of Native characters typical for its era?
No, notably not. Ryan’s depiction of the Kootenai tribe is considered unusually respectful and empathetic compared to most Westerns of the period.