Rocky Mountain Conservancy is proud to announce the publication of a revised edition of Arapaho Names & Trails: A Report of a 1914 Pack Trip by Oliver W. Toll—a unique historical account that helps deepen our understanding of the Indigenous history of the Rocky Mountains. 

Originally published in 1962, the book details the 1914 pack trip through the land that would later become Rocky Mountain National Park — one of the ancestral homelands of the Arapaho, Ute, Cheyenne, Shoshone, Comanche, Kiowa, and Lakota/Dakota Peoples. 

During the journey, Northern Arapaho Elders Sherman Sage and Gun Griswold, interpreter Tom Crispin, and Toll traveled together to record the Arapaho People’s terminology for the Rocky Mountains. 

Their work preserved invaluable memories and perspectives from people who had lived on and known the Rocky Mountains before the Northern Arapaho Tribe had been forcibly removed from their land and onto the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, where many people still reside today.  

This new edition retains the original text while adding meaningful contemporary context. Readers will find new cover art by an Arapaho artist, a note from the editor, and a special preface written by descendants of Sherman Sage. 

“This book is a rare example of a written account from our relatives who lived and grew up on the land that is now partially encompassed by Rocky Mountain National Park before removal,” said the family of Sherman Sage. “We are proud to share this book with people who want to learn about our Tribe.” 

While Toll acknowledged that his phonetic spellings did not accurately capture the Arapaho language, Rocky Mountain Conservancy chose to preserve the original text as a historical document. Readers interested in learning the Arapaho language are encouraged to explore resources developed in partnership with the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. 

“We are honored to help steward this story for future generations,” said Rocky Mountain Conservancy Executive Director Estee Rivera Murdock. “We are grateful to the descendants of Sherman Sage and Gun Griswold for their participation in this revised edition.” 

Arapaho Names & Trails is now available through the Rocky Mountain Conservancy bookstore. This project was made possible in part through support from the National Park Foundation.