I'll Gather My Geese

Rating:
Summary: Excellent account of Hallie's life from about 1897-1950s
Review: I met Hallie Stillwell in 1991 in Ft. Davis. I have camped in Big Bend and area, and her book told of her life around there - her early life, the dangers of the area, her marriage to Roy, her children, her ranchlife plus living back and forth from ranch to Marathon. It is an excellent account of Western life at that time - hot, dusty, busy, trying to survive, herding cattle, raising children, enjoying the land. She wrote well. It's easy to read though it jumps around some. She has a second book which I have not been able to locate. She died about the fall of '97, just short of her 100th birthday. Her ranch is still near Big Bend (about 45 miles south of Marathon and 20+ miles above the Rio Grande) and has a trailer park, general store, and an excellent museum.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable
Review: I'll Gather my Geese is an interesting look at the life of a woman living in the rugged Big Bend area of Texas. Adventure, hardship and danger could not dim Mrs. Stillwells spirit.

Rating:
Summary: Ranchwoman's Autobiography
Review: The picture of Hallie and her cousins on the cover of "I'll gather my Geese" sold me on the book. What a bunch of sassy cowgirls! Hallie tells us in the preface that she never set out to write a masterpiece, but she did tell a very fine story of ranch life in the first part of the 19th century in the Big Bend area of Texas. Hallie's spirit is invincible, and her humorous anecdotes of ranch life kept me laughing. Hallie's family survived droughts, huge dust storms and the Great Depression. The story ends with Roy's death (Hallie's husband); as Hallie is about to give in and sell off all the cattle, the rains come. I am waiting for the publication of her next book on the next 50 years of her life "My Goose is Cooked". (...)

Rating:
Summary: I'll Gather My Geese
Review: This is an excellent read, most students can successfully endure this book and afterward speak fondly of it (and that is no small testimony). The reading level is about sixth grade and the subject matter inoffensive to even the most sensitive, while still captivating the reader. Filled with real life stories about the life of a woman who took on her little part of the west. While not an adventure thriller she manages adventure just fine, in this readers opinion anyway. Her father said that she was going on a "wild goose chase" moving away from home. Her reply was "Then I'll gather my geese".