Trapping historian chooses Herter as subject for 2026 book

Scot Dahms, author of nine books to date about trapping and trapping history, says he decided to produce his most recent work, Furious George, while doing research for another book, The Lost Conibear Letters: How One Canadian and the Animal Trap Company Revolutionized Trapping.

 

Reading through a court case manuscript, Dahms says he came across some statements well-known area businessman George Herter made while being questioned by an opposing attorney. Dahms was impressed by the energy and vitriol of some of Herter’s statements, and became interested in finding out more.

 

“I love finding little tidbits of information that others do not know, organizing it into an interesting story and then sharing it with others.  

 

“I read several articles about [Herter’s] cantankerous nature, but they only gave brief overviews.  I wanted to share things that came directly out of George's mouth or out of the mouths of others that were around him.

 

“I started researching court cases involving George and found several civil cases and a criminal case.  I worked with the US Courts National Archives in Chicago, Kansas City and Seattle to get this information.  It takes a lot of material to write a book.  I think sometimes people do not understand the amount of material needed and the time needed to put it together.”

 

Though he now lives in Kokomo, Indiana, Dahms grew up in Rudd, Iowa. His parents still live there; in the summer of 2025, Dahms and his father spent a couple of days at the Waseca County Historical Society (WCHS), getting assistance from the staff there. 

 

He expresses gratitude to Elizabeth Anselmo at the WCHS and to Pam Goehring, who curates the New Richland Area Historical Society’s records. Goehring was able to find photographs taken at the New Richland plant where Herter snowmobiles were produced.

 

After having put the book together, Dahms says it is clear George Herter was a complicated man. “I came across some information where people talk about him like he’s their best friend,” Dahms observes, “and some where he’s their worst enemy.” As an example, Dahms mentions Herter’s book How to Live With a Bitch, written in the first half of the 1970s. Reportedly written as a guide to George’s son Jacques on how to navigate married life, the book was reviewed and discussed in publications at the time. On the other hand, George the Housewife; How to Diet and Never be Hungry seems to show a different side.

 

For the most part, Dahms says, his writing style is to find, organize, and provide information, and then to let people reach their own conclusions. Some material in Furious George which he believes people will find surprising is Herter’s work as a writer, editor and illustrator for publications done while he was a student at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.

 

So far, Dahms has written nine books, all related to trapping in some way. A retired park ranger, park manager and operations manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Dahms has become well acquainted with the ecologies and wildlife of land and lakes around the country, including Iowa, Texas, Montana, Indiana, and Ohio. He says he began writing books after retiring and joining the North American Trap Collectors Association. As he learned about Triumph Trap Company, he began to find subject matter for the books he had always wanted to write. His first four books touched on the company and the people who helped it become successful.

 

Herter differs from his previous subjects, Dahms says, in that he was a wealthy man whose business sold traps, rather than being a trapper himself.

 

Anyone interested in finding out more about Dahms’ publications, including purchasing Furious George can visit Dahms’ website, adirondackdick.com. Cost for the book, which has more than 400 pages, is $36 plus shipping.