Life on Muskrat Creek - by Ethel Waxham Love & J David Love (Hardcover)

About the Book

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 ge...

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.

Review Quotes

Life on Muskrat Creek is a riveting account of the realities of life on an isolated ranch in the early years of the Twentieth Century, a must-read for all who wonder what life was like back in "the good old days."

"Wyoming doesn't have a lot of great writers," said Dr. Sherry Smith, a professional historian. Ethel Waxham Love was an exception. Love moved to Wyoming in 1905. Life on a rural, isolated ranch was a far cry from her Wellesley College background, and she wrote about her experiences throughout her life. . . "She had a wonderful sense of humor and gives great insights into what it was like to live in Wyoming in the early 20th century," Smith said. The Love family's newest book, "Life on Muskrat Creek: A Homestead Family in Wyoming," tells more about their family history.

Life on Muskrat Creek is an immensely informative and yet riveting account of the incredible hardships experienced by John and Ethel Love while ranching in Wyoming between 1910 and 1925. Ethel's writing sparkles with description, and here forms an excellent contrast to the grim facts David and the editors recount.

Life on Muskrat Creek is well written and engaging, with dramatic, vivid, and often suspenseful stories. The material does much to enrich our understanding of ranching in early twentieth-century Wyoming, especially women's and children's experiences.

The story of Ethel Waxham and John Love is one of the most poignant and memorable tales in the history of the West, where dreams and harsh realities have always collided. Life on Muskrat Creek is an important and unforgettable chronicle of hope and hardship in the real West.

About the Author

Frances Love Froidevaux (1942-2011) taught French and ESL and founded the Bartlesville, OK, school system's first foreign language program.

Barbara Love has worked as an archaeologist, ESL and English professor, and freelance editor.