Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Life on Muskrat Creek: A Homestead Family in Wyoming tells the fascinating story of a family's day-to-day life on an isolated ranch in early twentieth-century Wyoming. Written by Ethel Waxham Love, a Wellesley College graduate who work out west as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse, and her son, David Love. Life on Muskrat Creek begins after Ethel's marriage, as she moves to a remote part of Wyoming to be with her husband. The book offers firsthand accounts of the unique experiences and dramatic events that constituted ranch life. Readers will be held in suspense as they learn about the family's battle with a variety of challenges including a near-fatal bout with the Spanish influenza, life-threatening encounters with wildlife, and disastrous episodes of flooding and other unpredictable weather. The book's depiction of more ordinary events is equally engaging. Ethel describes becoming a wife and raising children without the support of neighbors, women friends, or a wider family network. In a similar vein, David recounts growing up in a wild and remote place where there was no local school to attend; instead, the teachers came to them and lived with their family for months at a time. Readers from all walks of life will find Life on Muskrat Creek to be a lively and provocative book. It will appeal to general audiences who grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's books or watching Little House on the Prairie, those enthralled with western history (such as the Ken Burns documentary The West), historians of the American West, and scholars in women's and gender studies..
Synopsis
Written by Ethel Waxham Love, a Wellesley College graduate who went to Wyoming in 1905 as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse, and her son, J. David Love, who later became an eminent geologist, Life on Muskrat Creek tells the fascinating story of a family's day-to-day life on an isolated ranch in early twentieth-century Wyoming. Readers will be held in suspense as they learn about the family's battle with a variety of challenges, including a near-fatal bout with Spanish influenza, life-threatening encounters with livestock and wildlife, and disastrous episodes of fires, flooding, blizzards, and drought. The book's depiction of more ordinary events is equally engaging; Ethel describes becoming a wife and raising children without the support of neighbors, women friends, or a wider family network, and David recounts growing up in a wild and remote place where there was no local school to attend. Readers from all walks of life will find Life on Muskrat Creek to be a lively and provocative book.
Synopsis
This book tells the fascinating story of a family's day-to-day life on an isolated ranch in early twentieth-century Wyoming. The interweaving of authors accounts of their experience on the Love ranch creates a unique memoir. Combining the perspectives of two genders and two generations, the book provides a portrait of ranch life in the west.