I'll Gather My Geese
She was brought up to be a proper Southern lady, but fate put her in a place where she needed other qualities. At 19, Hallie Crawford left home in Waco, Tex., to teach in a rural school on the Mexican border. Two years later, in 1918, she married Roy Stillwell and moved to his remote cattle ranch in the West Texas Big Bend country. Roy had three cowhands, and the author soon became the fourth. The town-bred young woman became an expert at working cattle on horseback; she learned to manage horses and to protect herself from wild animals (she once shot a mountain lion between the eyes). Now a doughty 94-year-old, Stillwell details the challenges of ranch life, explaining how she and her family, including three children, survived illnesses, drought and the Depression. Her story will strongly appeal to readers interested in the early West. Photos.Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.