Homesteading and Ranching in the Upper Green River Valley
Ann Chambers Noble and Jonita Sommers
11.75” x 10.25”, 330 pages, Hardcover
- WYOMING STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: First Place in “Publications” category
- INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BOOK AWARDS’ HISTORY: Silver Medal in the 2021 – Oversized category
- NOBLE’S UPPER GREEN RIVER BOOK GARNERS AWARD
- WYOHISTORY.ORG – A big book on ranching in the Green River Valley – July 14, 2021
This book is a timely document utilizing historic and current photography with cattle brands of the region to celebrate the homesteaders themselves and their descendants and new occupants that have maintained and preserved this area. Homesteading is often a glorified piece of American history, but the history of homesteading in the Upper Green River Valley is often about hardship and heartache. Men and women came here starting in the 1870s to have their own ranches, taking advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862. They were willing to risk everything they had to start a new life with often little more than a wagon, a team of horses, a smattering of livestock, a young family, and deep hope. The history of the Upper Green River Valley with carefully researched historical photography combined with contemporary photography by photographers: Curtis S. Anderson, Arnie Brokling, Elizabeth Boehm, Ronald H. Chilcote, Rita Donham, Mark Gocke, Fred Pflughoft, David Rule and Isaac Spotts. Sponsored by Jackson Hole Land Trust.
C.J. Box – #1 New York Times bestselling author and Wyoming native –
C.J. Box – #1 New York Times
bestselling author and Wyoming native
“As I write this, a bald eagle hangs motionless in the sky as if tethered while vertical snow and strong winds howl down from the mountains and I think to myself, ‘This is very tough country here in Wyoming.’ Just how tough is explained in well-researched detail in Homesteading and Ranching in the Upper Green River Valley by Ann Chambers Noble and Jonita Sommers. The book is organized as it should be: drainage by drainage, creek by creek, all flowing eventually into the mighty Green River. The people who established homes and ranches in this epic isolated region were flinty, courageous, violent, and sometimes a little mad. I recognized many of the names and families because their descendants are still around. “
Dave Freudenthal – Wyoming Governor –
Dave Freudenthal – Wyoming Governor
These are American stories recounting the perils of the people who fulfilled America’s vision of Manifest Destiny. Relying on gritty, first person accounts and extensive research, the authors capture the courage, tenacity, heartache, loss and violence of learning to live with an unforgiving land.
Captured in the chronologies of individual ranch settlement is the European immigrants “need” to own land and build an agrarian life. The authors thoughtfully explain the evolution of this “need” into the modern land conservation movement, guided by those in agriculture and the philanthropic community.
A “must” read for those seeking to understand the American West. And a wonderful adventure for anyone who cherishes our land and wildlife resources.