Sunday Evenings with My Children (1882)

Nearly eighteen years have passed since Jess and Cat decided to establish their ranch along the Rio Blanco that crosses the High Plains country of Texas. The Indians are no longer a threat and have long since settled for living on the reservations. Outlaws, rustlers, squatters, Mexican sheep-herders, and the ominous weather this part of the country can be faced with are now the main concerns of living here. They experience all these things, in addition to taking on four young children who fall victim to the tragedies many trying to establish here had to cope with. Incest, madness, and total failure crushed many families who dared to venture on these unforgiving plains. Jess and Cat weather these threats in their determination to establish the Crawfish Ranch in the area where the XIT, JA, Matador, and open range were their only neighbors until communities began to gradually challenge this foreboding environment. The story of an era long past, and what many experienced to survive and tame this land. It was A Time for the Crawfish.