One of the unique features of the American West is its sense of place, often described through narratives about the region and its inhabitants. The Undying West continues this tradition, describing a region of Montana through a blend of storytelling and history. This book, however transcends this particular area, giving the reader a feel for the unique characteristics of the American West. The author combines the stories of her youth with historical fact to create rich and diverse narratives, telling the story of the people who have shaped the land. Captured within the Rocky Mountains of northwestern Montana rests a vast grassland called Camas Prairie.
Trees are scarce here.
When they do exist, it s merely to announce a group of worn-down buildings farmhouses sheltering equally weathered inhabitants. To the stranger s eye, the meadow rolls on hypnotically in waves of drab monotony. But to its longtime caretakers, the land holds as many nuances as Eskimos see in what others simply call snow. Such people are the Hollands, whose great-grandparents homesteaded here, or the Marrinans who followed leading the way for the Jorgensons and the Argos. Today, three generations later, these aging men and women work the same soil their great-grandparents laid claim to a hundred years ago.