From Sand Hills to Forest and Mountains

The Stories in this book are about the ways we lived in the Upper Green River Valley, in the early days starting in 1917. How we worked, our recreation and things in general. How we made our living: ranching, trapping, hunting and fishing with the “dudes.” There were people in the valley who ranched, raised cattle and horses, and put hay for the stock to winter on. There were drifters who wandered into the valley, stayed a while then moved on. Some left between suns. Some of the drifters the natives wondered about, but did not ask questions; when they left no one cared why, when or where they headed for. We had good fishing, lots of wild game and game birds. Moose and deer started to show up in 1926, about the same time that the antelope began to disappear. We killed our winter’s meat, raised a garden, etc., went to town thirty miles away to get us enough grub to last us six months. We made jerky and smoked whitefish in the spring, canned meat, fruit, and vegetables. Cut logs for our houses, barns and sheds. Some of you might not think much of the way we lived, but it was our way of life at the time. Anyway, that was the way it was, so pull up a chair and go along with me through this book.
– Harold S. Showers, 1988