Montana Memoir: The Hardscrabble Years, 1925-1942

An absolutely wonderful read. I can’t believe the experiences you were having at age sixteen… riding the rails around the West, being on your own. And I love that the Wilsall Mercantile, started by your Uncle Clyde Lyon in 1916 or ‘17, is still in operation today!
- Chase Reynolds Ewald, author of Cabin Style and American Rustic About Montana Memoir Wrangler/writer/broadcaster Bill McGee tells what it was like growing up during the Depression years in the wild and woolly cow town of Malta, Montana, built along the Great Northern Railway route on the Montana Hi-Line.

Abandoned by his father at age five ( Dad said Montana was getting too crowded, writes McGee), Bill tells what his mother and three siblings had to do to make ends meet - barely.

In the Author’s Words
At seven, I was farmed out - as it was called - to a neighboring rancher to work for my room and board. It meant one less mouth to feed at home. To this day, I honestly believe those difficult years instilled in me the very qualities I needed later on to make it in business and life.

138 pp, 60 b/w photographs, Paperback 6 x 9