Synopses & Reviews
"It's in the nature of things that whole worlds disappear," writes the poet Robert Hass in the foreword to Jimmye Hillman's insightful memoir. "Their vanishings, more often than not, go unrecorded or pass into myth, just as they slip from the memory of the living."
To ensure that the world of Jimmye Hillman's childhood in Greene County, Mississippi during the Great Depression doesn't slip away, he has gathered together accounts of his family and the other people of Old Washington village. There are humorous stories of hog hunting and heart-wrenching tales of poverty set against a rural backdrop shaded by the local social, religious, and political climate of the time. Jimmye and his family were subsistence farmers out of bare-bones necessity, decades before discussions about sustainability made such practices laudable.
More than just childhood memories and a family saga, though, this book serves as a snapshot of the natural, historical, and linguistic details of the time and place. It is a remarkable record of Southern life. Observations loaded with detail uncover broader themes of work, family loyalty, and the politics of changing times.
Hillman, now eighty-eight, went on to a distinguished career as an economist specializing in agriculture. He realizes the importance of his story as an example of the cultural history of the Deep South but allows readers to discover the significance on their own by witnessing the lives of a colorful cast of characters. Hogs, Mules, and Yellow Dogs is unique, a blend of humor and reflection, wisdom and sympathy--but it's also a hard-nosed look at the realities of living on a dirt farm in a vanished world.
Review
"This volume is a fascinating memoir by one uniquely qualified to write of his years growing up in the culturally remote and depression poor 'piney woods' of Southern Mississippi. Jimmye Hillman has preserved for us in his inimitable style the almost-lost stories of life in a different time. It holds invaluable lessons for all of us who seek to understand better the richness and diversity of our history and culture." --Governor William F. Winter
Review
"Jimmye Hillman has written a beautiful book about a place I know well. Yet it's a testament to the exactness of his prose, and his very acute vision, that on every single page he told me something I didn't know and could never have imagined. This work is brimming with life. I almost never find a book I love like I love this one." --Steve Yarbrough, author of Safe from the Neighbors
Review
"The admiration for Roosevelt, Montana hunting and all things outdoors is evident in Dan Aadland's well-written In Trace of TR: A Montana Hunter's Journey. . . . The book is interlaced with stories of Roosevelt's hunts, and it offers a keen perception for the Montana landscape and the man who loved the adventure as much as the sport."and#8212;Linda Wommack, True West Magazine
Review
"In a book that is part history lesson and part memoir, mixed with a healthy dose of hunting lore and a sprinkling of political comment, Aadland offers a unique and local perspective of the man he refers to as 'TR.'" and#8212;Linda Halstead-Acharya, Billings Gazette
Review
"Readers who hunt big game will enjoy the many interesting stories and will quickly recognize that Dan knows firsthand 'whereof he speaks,' whether it is in the terminology associated with packing, or as his wife suspects, in the 'mysterious code' that we cartridge reloaders converse in."and#8212;Montana Sporting Journal
Review
"Aadland's unique experiences allow the reader to understand TR in an intimate way and appreciate how the Western landscape helped shape his character."and#8212;Lauren Halley, American Cowboy
Review
"Seemingly as accomplished as his subject, author Dan Aadland, while not (yet) president of the United States, is an astute student of American history, a hunter, horseman, horse breeder, retired teacher, former Marineand#8212;and he's also a heck of a writer. . . . [In Trace of TR is] a powerful book that I think Theodore Roosevelt would have understood and enjoyed."and#8212;Matthew P. Mayo, Roundup Magazine
Review
"Aadland is a good writer who has pursued an unusual set of interests into some of the best country left in the United States. He's worth a read."and#8212;Chris Madson, Wyoming Wildlife
Synopsis
As a student of American history, as a hunter, horseman, and former Marine, and as someone passionate about the West, Dan Aadland had long felt a kinship with Theodore Roosevelt. One day, on a single-footing horse, lever-action rifle under his knee, Aadland set out to become acquainted with TR as only those who shared his experiences could.
In Trace of TR documents that quest, inviting readers to ride along and get to know Theodore Roosevelt through the western environment that so profoundly influenced him.
Accompany Aadland as he rides the broad prairies in search of TRand#8217;s and#8220;prongbuck,and#8221; tracks elk through the rugged Big Horn Mountains, and pursues a glimpse of a grizzly in the Absaroka Wilderness. Along the way the authorand#8217;s campfire musings and reflections on Rooseveltand#8217;s writings further deepen and enrich this unique examination of our twenty-sixth president. Aadlandand#8217;s journey takes readers into TRand#8217;s beloved Dakota Territory then and now, offering a kindred spiritand#8217;s moving, deftly drawn portrait of both the land and the man across the space of a century.
About the Author
Jimmye Hillman grew up in southern Mississippi, going on to receive his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and become an agricultural economist at the University of Arizona, where he spent thirty years doing groundbreaking work in agricultural trade policy. He is now Professor Emeritus and lives in Tucson.