Johnny's life took him from guiding on the Wyoming frontier, to making movies with John Wayne, and then on to Alaska for fifty years of trapping and guiding. See Alaska through the eyes of Alaska's Last Great Mountainman. Experience the amazing adventures of the man who claimed to be the genuine Mad Trapper of Rat River - the trapper and guide who lived to tell his real life story.

From the book:
A TRIBUTE TO JOHNNY LUSTER by his long-time friend and hunting partner Charles Elliott --Senior Editor, Outdoor Life

John Luster was the focal point of a dramatic and unforgettable adventure in my life. This was so long ago that now it seems to have occurred in another life. We were youngsters then–by today’s measurements at least. Both of us, in our early forties, were camped in the high, rugged Talkeetna Mountains, more isolated and wild than they are now. From where we were camped in the lofty ranges, we could see big game animals any hour of the day. Almost always in sight were white Dall sheep filing along a precipice, or a mountain goat or two looking down from a towering pinnacle, or herds of caribou drifting past or big grizzlies feeding on the wealth of early fall blueberries–a hunter’s paradise!

...In the meantime, Luster climbed the mountain to where we had left our first supposedly dead grizzly. Within 20 feet of it, the big bear suddenly reared up, towering over the guide. John threw up the rifle and shot it point blank in the chest. The 220 grain bullet seemed to have no effect whatsoever. The grizzly roared and lunged at Luster, but swatted only empty air where the guide had been a fraction of a second before. Running down the mountain, the bear only shirttail distance behind and roaring with every swipe of his heavy claws, John frantically jacked the last shell into the chamber of the rifle. Holding it back over his shoulder, with the end of the barrel almost touching the grizzly’s head, he jerked the trigger and ran for his life. Fortunately, that last chunk of lead broke the grizzly’s neck. When we arrived with the horses thirty minutes later, Luster was still sitting on the mountainside, thirty yards above the grizzly, throwing rocks at the dead bear, to be sure there was no sign of life left in it.