Homesteading: A Montana Family Album - Softcover

Wollaston, Percy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140279156 ISBN 13: 9780140279153

Publisher: Penguin, 1999

Synopsis

"His memories flow as naturally as his writing. . . . The reader is transported back to the day when a six-year-old stepped from the train into a new life."--Smithsonian

As a grown man, Percy Wollaston almost never spoke of the homestead where he grew up--until, in 1972, nearing the age of 70, he wrote this book about his childhood years.

Lured by the government's promise of land and the promotional literature of the railroads, six-year-old Percy Wollaston's family left behind their home in North Dakota in 1909, heading West to "take up a claim." They settled near Ismay, Montana, where they attempted to carve a successful homestead out of the harsh plains. In compelling, plainspoken language, Wollaston tells of his pioneer family's everyday existence--constructing a sod house, digging a well, trapping and hunting, courtships and funerals, an influenza epidemic, and a superstitious Irish neighbor. He also recalls the events of the world beyond Ismay, from the sinking of the Titanic, to Prohibition, to World War I, as well as the first sign of the town's demise during the Great Depression.

With a foreword by Jonathan Raban, who discovered this memoir while researching his award-winning Bad Land, Homesteading is a rich and vivid look, seen through the eyes of a hopeful young boy, at the forces that shaped the destiny of a family, a town, and the American West.

"Vivid . . . plainly written and satisfyingly detailed."--The Washington Post

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Homesteading chronicles the Wollaston family's attempt to carve a successful homestead out of the harsh plains around Ismay, Montana, in the period from 1910 to the late 1920's. Beginning with their move west from the Dakotas, the book continues through World War I and the onset of Prohibition to the poignant first signs of the town's demise in the early Depression years. From the workaday details of life - the construction of a house, trapping and hunting, courtships and funerals, saloons and banks, local cowboys and ranchers - to the increasingly tangible signs of the outside world - county extension agents, new roads, the sinking of the Titanic, World War I - Homesteading is a rich and detailed look at the forces that influenced the growing towns of the American West. (6 1/4 X 9 1/4, 156 pages, b&w photos)

About the Author:

Percy Wollaston was born in 1904. After moving from Ismay, he worked for the Montana Power Company until his retirement. He died in 1983.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0140279156
• ISBN 13: 9780140279153
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160