Conley, Cort, 1944-
Biographical note
James Cort Conley was born in Oakland, California, in 1944. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California Berkeley, and in 1968, followed by a law degree from UC Berkeley in 1968. Shortly afterward, he began working as a boatman for various companies in the Western United States; in 1972, he moved to Idaho, where he began working on the Salmon River for Wildnerness Encounters, a river outfitting company. He was also a boatman and packer along the Snake River. Conley wrote several books, including “Idaho for the Curious,” “Idaho Loners,” and “Idaho Artists,” most of which he published through his own company, Backeddy Books. In 1998, he became the literature director for the Idaho Commission on the Arts.
Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Conley in his interview; “About Cort Conley, Author and Publisher,” (accessed November 2025), http://www.backeddybooks.com/cortconley.html.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Oral history interview with Cort Conley
Oral history interview with Cort Conley, conducted by Clark Hansen on May 10, 1998, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Conley discusses his experience as a boatman on the Salmon River and Snake River in Idaho, and talks about changes in the Hells Canyon area between 1972 and 1998.