She Came to the Valley

by Cleo Dawson

Overview

Originally published in 1943, SHE CAME TO THE VALLEY by Cleo Dawson became an instant bestseller. It is a story of the visions and successes, the heartbreaks and joys of pioneers who established the Texas-Mexican Border town of Mission Texas. Many of the incidents recounted in this book actually happened in the area at the time when thousands of "homeseekers" found in the rich Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas a place to start a new and challenging life for their families in the first decade and a half of the Twentieth Century.
One such family was that of Ed and Willy Dawson and their two little girls who arrived by covered wagon through the brush country between "the Valley" and Laredo. At that time, Mission was near the end of the western end of the railroad whose beacon attracted those pioneer dreamers. Markets would now be possible for the fruits and vegetables growing in the lush Delta formed by thousands of years in the flow of the Rio Grande on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
A delightful read, SHE CAME TO THE VALLEY aims to provide a new generation an appreciation of their heritage from those early pioneers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789122428
Publisher:	Valmy Publishing
Publication date:	09/03/2018
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	364
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Cleo Dawson (1902-1990) was an American novelist, college professor, TV personality, and author of articles in many of the nation's top magazines.
She was born in 1902 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the eldest daughter of Ed and Helen Dawson, and was raised in Mission, Texas. Following high school graduation, she attended Mary Hardin-Baylor University (then an all-woman's college) in Waco, Texas, and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She then returned to Mission and became the first Spanish teacher at Mission High School. Dawson earned her doctorate in psychology at the University of Kentucky, where she went on to teach. She then became a speaker on the Rotary Club Circuit and gave lectures to other organizations. This was followed by appearances as a popular psychologist on The Merv Griffin Show, and she also starred in The Ed Nelson Show (1969) and The Bob Braun Show (1967).
Her bestselling 1943 novel, She Came to the Valley, was adapted into a western-genre film in 1978, starring Ronee Blakley, Scott Glenn, Freddy Fender and Dean Stockwell, which broke weekend attendance records at Rio Grande theatres in its first run in January 1979. That same year she was honoured as "First Lady of Mission" in her hometown.
Cleo Dawson passed away in Kentucky in 1990 and was buried in Mission at the Laurel Hill Cemetery on Holland Avenue near Mission High School and 18th Street, which bears her name.

She was born in 1902 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the eldest daughter of Ed and Helen Dawson, and was raised in Mission, Texas. Following high school graduation, she attended Mary Hardin-Baylor University (then an all-woman’s college) in Waco, Texas, and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She then returned to Mission and became the first Spanish teacher at Mission High School. Dawson earned her doctorate in psychology at the University of Kentucky, where she went on to teach. She then became a speaker on the Rotary Club Circuit and gave lectures to other organizations. This was followed by appearances as a popular psychologist on The Merv Griffin Show, and she also starred in The Ed Nelson Show (1969) and The Bob Braun Show (1967).
Her bestselling 1943 novel, She Came to the Valley, was adapted into a western-genre film in 1978, starring Ronee Blakley, Scott Glenn, Freddy Fender and Dean Stockwell, which broke weekend attendance records at Rio Grande theatres in its first run in January 1979. That same year she was honoured as “First Lady of Mission” in her hometown.
Cleo Dawson passed away in Kentucky in 1990 and was buried in Mission at the Laurel Hill Cemetery on Holland Avenue near Mission High School and 18th Street, which bears her name.