Michael Kane received his BS, MS, and Ph.D from the University of Utah, studying recreation and hospitality management. Under his direction, Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort has been awarded one of the top 6 adventure resorts in America by U.S. News and World Report. He is also an instructor and and a former director of basketball operations for the University of Utah, and an advisory council member to the University of Utah Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. His research into the historical documents from the 1800s to present, and then his experiences following the trail of William Lewis Manly in a dug out wood canoe and on foot, helps him recreate routes taken, hardships shared, and the benevolent brotherhood demonstrated by these American 49ers and Native Americans Indians they encountered. Kane lives in the Zion country of Southern Utah.
