History, especially American history, and travel have fascinated Bill Markley since he was a boy growing up on the family farm in Pennsylvania. Moving to Pierre, South Dakota in 1976, to work for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources was a natural fit for Markley, where he immersed himself in local history and participated in Civil War and Western frontier reenacting. Markley has been in films such as Dances With Wolves, Son of the Morning Star, Far and Away, Gettysburg, and Crazy Horse. He worked in Antarctica, traveled the South Pacific, kayaked and backpacked in Alaska, chaperoned a Boy Scout troop to Japan, and has camped, hiked, and rode horseback through the West. Markley has written two books, Dakota Epic, Experiences of a Reenactor during the filming of Dances With Wolves, and Up the Missouri River with Lewis and Clark. His third book has just been released, American Pilgrim, A Post September 11 Bus Trip and Other Tales of the Road. He writes for South Dakota Magazine, Roundup, True West, and Wild West. Markley's story "Kenneth McKenzie, King of the Upper Missouri" appears in WWA's anthology, Roundup! Markley and his wife Liz, live in Pierre where they raised two children.
