Nothing to Tell: Extraordinary Stories of Montana Ranch Women

Sitting at the kitchen tables of twelve women in their eighties who were born in or immigrated to Montana in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, between 1982 and 1988 oral historian Donna Gray conducted interviews that reveal a rich heritage.  In retelling their life stories, Gray steps aside and allows theses women with supposedly “nothing to tell” to speak for themselves.  Pride, nostalgia, and triumph fill a dozen hearts as they realize how remarkable their lives have been and wonder how they did it all. 

Some of these women grew up in Montana in one-bedroom houses; others traveled in covered wagons before finding a home and falling in love with Montana.  These raw accounts bring to life the childhood memories and adulthood experiences of ranch wives who were not afraid to milk a cow or bake in a wooden stove.  From raising poultry to raising a family, these women knew the meaning of hard work.  Several faced the hardships of family illness, poverty, and early widowhood.  Through it all, they were known for their good sense of humor and strong sense of self. 

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Nothing to Tell: Extraordinary Stories of Montana Ranch Women

Sitting at the kitchen tables of twelve women in their eighties who were born in or immigrated to Montana in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, between 1982 and 1988 oral historian Donna Gray conducted interviews that reveal a rich heritage.  In retelling their life stories, Gray steps aside and allows theses women with supposedly “nothing to tell” to speak for themselves.  Pride, nostalgia, and triumph fill a dozen hearts as they realize how remarkable their lives have been and wonder how they did it all. 

Some of these women grew up in Montana in one-bedroom houses; others traveled in covered wagons before finding a home and falling in love with Montana.  These raw accounts bring to life the childhood memories and adulthood experiences of ranch wives who were not afraid to milk a cow or bake in a wooden stove.  From raising poultry to raising a family, these women knew the meaning of hard work.  Several faced the hardships of family illness, poverty, and early widowhood.  Through it all, they were known for their good sense of humor and strong sense of self. 

18.95 In Stock
Nothing to Tell: Extraordinary Stories of Montana Ranch Women

Nothing to Tell: Extraordinary Stories of Montana Ranch Women

by Donna Gray
Nothing to Tell: Extraordinary Stories of Montana Ranch Women

Nothing to Tell: Extraordinary Stories of Montana Ranch Women

by Donna Gray

Paperback(First Edition)

$18.95 
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Overview


Sitting at the kitchen tables of twelve women in their eighties who were born in or immigrated to Montana in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, between 1982 and 1988 oral historian Donna Gray conducted interviews that reveal a rich heritage.  In retelling their life stories, Gray steps aside and allows theses women with supposedly “nothing to tell” to speak for themselves.  Pride, nostalgia, and triumph fill a dozen hearts as they realize how remarkable their lives have been and wonder how they did it all. 

Some of these women grew up in Montana in one-bedroom houses; others traveled in covered wagons before finding a home and falling in love with Montana.  These raw accounts bring to life the childhood memories and adulthood experiences of ranch wives who were not afraid to milk a cow or bake in a wooden stove.  From raising poultry to raising a family, these women knew the meaning of hard work.  Several faced the hardships of family illness, poverty, and early widowhood.  Through it all, they were known for their good sense of humor and strong sense of self. 


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780762779093
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date: 05/01/2012
Edition description: First Edition
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 1,049,143
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author


Donna Gray moved to a ranch in Montana’s Paradise Valley in the 1970s, where she became interested in the histories of neighboring ranch wives and began her search for the stories of Montana’s rural women. Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith have co-authored ten books, including Pioneer Women and Women in Waiting in the Westward Movement.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Acknowledgments xii

Introduction xiv

Helen Clark Wonder 1

"The mountains, they're part of me."

Madge Switzer Walker 28

"My goodness, what do we know about hard times?"

Marie Walker Converse 38

"When I think back, I wonder, how did I do all that?"

Urma DeLong Taylor 76

"…down in the root cellar.… They crocheted, and I played with frogs."

Winifred Chowning Jeffers 88

"The butchering process? Oh dear, I didn't ever watch it!"

Clara Peterson Nickelson 108

"…the land was there, ready for homesteading, free, from the government."

Eva Eyman DePuy 127

"I bet my mother wished they hadn't come."

Florence Lewis Lyall 148

"Baking in a woodstove is a guess-and-by-golly thing."

Kaia Lien Cosgriff 165

"It never came to us that we were poor."

Lillian Moline Mehlhoff 188

"A basket of white eggs, there's just nothing hardly prettier."

Ethel Goudy Briggs 203

"I intend to milk as long as I'm able."

Beatrice McIntyre Murray 217

"…nuthin' to leave on or nowhere to go."

About the Authors 238

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