Re-reading an old favorite book is much like renewing an
acquaintance with an old friend. The
experience is rewarding and fulfilling.
This happened
to me recently when I picked up John McPhee’s classic book about Wyoming
geology, Rising from the Plains.
It`s been said
there are no boring stories, just boring writers. With that thought it mind, it would seem that
a book about geology would be interesting only to geologists.
This early
1990s book ranks as one of the most interesting and most important books ever
written about Wyoming. And the author, Pulitzer Prize Winner McPhee, was
presented an honorary degree last year from the University of Wyoming, partially
because of it.
McPhee uses
the life of a famed geologist, the late David Love, as the centerpiece of this
book. Love grew up in Fremont County and
was long considered the dean of geologists in the Rocky Mountain region.
The author
captures the western spirit of Love’s life and that of his parents as they
carved out a unique existence on a ranch in an area of eastern Fremont County
near Castle Gardens.
The book is
full of references to the unique geology of Wyoming. McPhee writes in a style that vividly lets
you imagine the extreme risings of mountain ranges, the descent of valleys and
the rolling together of various landmasses.
Intertwined
with the geological stories (told mostly through Love`s words) is the life
story of the famous geologist and his mother, who came west in 1905 after
graduating from Wellesley College.
McPhee writes:
“Their mother rented a house in Lander
and stayed there with them while they attended Fremont County Vocational High
School. Lander at that time was the remotest town in Wyoming. It advertised itself as `the end of the rails
and the start of the trails.’”
The Love Ranch
was one of those outposts that were so far from everything else that anyone
passing through would stop. It was smack
in the center of the state. Often, people would sleep in the bunkhouse and join
the Loves for dinner.
McPhee writes
about one memorable meal:
“People like
that came along with such frequency that David`s mother eventually assembled a
chronicle called ‘Murderers I Have Known.’ She did not publish the manuscript, in her
regard for the sensitivities of some of the first families of Wyoming. As David would one day comment, ‘they were
nice men, family friends, who had put away people who needed killing, and she
did not wish to offend them so many of them were such decent people.’
“One of these
was Bill Grace. Homesteader and cowboy, he was one of the most celebrated
murderers in central Wyoming, and he had served time, but people generally
disagreed with the judiciary and felt that Bill, in the acts for which he was
convicted, had only been `doing his civic duty.`
“At the height of his fame, he
stopped at the ranch one afternoon and stayed for dinner. Although David and (his brother) Allen were
young boys, they knew exactly who he was, and in his presence were struck dumb
with awe.
“As it
happened, they had come upon and dispatched a rattlesnake that day - a big
one, over five feet long. Their mother
decided to serve it creamed on toast for dinner. She and their father sternly instructed David
and Allen not to use the world `rattlesnake` at the table. They were to refer to it as chicken, since a
possibility existed that Bill Grace might not be an eater of adequate
sophistication to enjoy the truth.
“The
excitement was too much for the boys.
Despite the parental injunction, gradually their conversation at the
table fished its way toward the snake.
Casually while the meal was going down the boys raised the subject
of poisonous vipers, gave their estimates of the contents of local dens, told
stories of snake encounters, and so forth.
Finally, one of them remarked on how very good rattlers were to eat.
"Bill
Grace said, `By God, if anybody ever
gave me rattlesnake meat I`d kill them.`
"The boys
went into a state of catatonic paralysis.
In the pure silence, their mother said, `More chicken, Bill?`
“`Don`t mind
if I do,` said Bill Grace.”
And these
stories are just a few that are included in this wonderful book. It is must reading for people who are interested
in a well-written story about Wyoming`s recent past and long-distant past.
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