Mary Clearman Blew's aunt Imogene Welch embodied the hard-working values of depression-era western America. In "Writing Her Own Life," Blew builds a narrative around excerpts from the diaries Imogene kept during World War II while she taught in rural Montana schools and later in Washington State. Through her diary entries we learn of the war's effects on Imogene as she moved from rural, family-centered life in Montana to independent if somewhat lonelier life in Washington State.
After growing up on an impoverished homestead in Montana, Imogene enjoyed the modest comforts of living in a...
Mary Clearman Blew's aunt Imogene Welch embodied the hard-working values of depression-era western America. In "Writing Her Own Life," Blew builds ...
Our sense of place is permeated by ghosts from the past. In "GhostWest," Ann Ronald takes the reader to historical sites where something once happened. Using the metaphor of hauntings, she reflects on how western history, literature, and lore continue to shape our visceral impressions of these sites.
In chapters both lyrical and thoughtful, passionate and humorous, "GhostWest" covers sites in seventeen western states, including the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana, Willa Cather's Nebraska prairies, and the Murrah Building bombing site in Oklahoma. Through these settings and their...
Our sense of place is permeated by ghosts from the past. In "GhostWest," Ann Ronald takes the reader to historical sites where something once happe...
The packer's business is guiding mule trains into mountains where wagons can't travel. It's a life of danger, long days, and low pay. But for those wedded to the wilderness and inaccessible high country, it is the only life there is.
During the Great Depression, young Ty Hardin is sent from his family's failing Montana ranch to learn from the last of the great packers, Fenton Pardee, legendary in the Montana Rockies for his packing adventures across the Swan Range all the way to the Big Divide. High Country follows Ty through this apprenticeship and into World War II, where...
The packer's business is guiding mule trains into mountains where wagons can't travel. It's a life of danger, long days, and low pay. But for those we...
Evoking memorable images of the American West, the old cowboy song "Home on the Range" is both nostalgic and eternally appealing. The verses remind us of the sweep of history, while their innocence indicates the way westerners still tend to view the land.
In lyrical prose, Ann Ronald's "Oh, Give Me a Home" muses on the words of the beloved ballad, exploring what it means to be a westerner today and speculating on how our present actions are shaping the West for future generations. Through Ronald's eyes, we see the western world, not through rose-colored glasses, but through a prism of...
Evoking memorable images of the American West, the old cowboy song "Home on the Range" is both nostalgic and eternally appealing. The verses remind...
