The Jackson Creek Road: Essays and Short Fiction

Ralph Beer spent much of his life in central Montana, working the rough, rocky land on Jackson Creek that was homesteaded by his great-grandparents in 1910.

The Jackson Creek Road brings together some of the best of Beer’s essays and short stories that were published between 1978 and 1998. They contain reflections and memories from his own life as well as stories that were passed down to him-stories that are rooted in a home place, family, neighbors, and work.

From an exploration of a family mystery to reflections on weather and water in the American West to the labors of rebuilding a stretch of barbed-wire fence across a much-loved meadow, Beer shows his profound understanding of the men, the women, and the landscape that made up this corner of the American West.

The Jackson Creek Road is paved now, and the original homestead is surrounded by the clutter of modern America. The silence and open spaces may be gone, but in this beautifully crafted collection the people and their stories live on.