Delightful stories of early Texans and the homes they built and inhabited from the days of Comanche Indians to the dust bowl and depression days of the 1930s. The reader is involved through the excellent story telling and gains an understanding of why the buildings were made out of the materials used. There is good explanation of the logic behind the type of construction and materials used to build a Tipi out of buffalo hides, a sod house and dugout made of mud, a dog-trot cabin, and a planter's antebellum mansion. The detailed drawings and informative descriptions also contribute to the total enjoyment of these stories. The author is an architect and parent who presents his stories with love and understanding of people and buildings. Grades 3-6.

The author did a wonderful job with the stories. His research about the early dwellings was superb and the illustrations brought it very much to life. Not only will school children enjoy this book, it will also appeal to adults.

As an Architect, I am always on the lookout for quality books that help my children understand the beauty of Architecture through the ages. This book does just that, but does quite a bit more in the process. Through the use of interesting fiction and beautiful illustrations, the reader is exposed to indigenous Texas Architecture in a way that leaves him with a renewed appreciation for the history of Texas and Texans. I'm eagerly awaiting Mr. Arbuckle's next book!

It is not often one can read of the intermingling of cultures so successfully combined as in Eva Wilber-Cruce's work. It is remarkable for its objectivity, its vivacity, and as a lesson of how best to get along with one's neighbors. Eva's recollections as a child and woman are remarkable and is a person easily taken to one's heart. Her considerable life is a valise which contains a portfolio of memories of the most meaningful sort. I would compare her book with Mari Sandoz' Old Jules; both about frontier life, one in the SW, the other in Nebraska. The reader has the added benefit of increasing his or her Spanish vocabulary that reflects the lifestyle in which Eva was raised. Beautifully written. An added plus for me was the reference to Archbishop Salpointe who was the heir to "Lamy of Sante Fe." It's a treat when a book ties in with another source written by a respected historical author like Paul Horgan.

Eva Wilbur-Cruce describes memories as far back as when she was three, and captures the wild yet captivating valleys of the Arizona/Mexico border, painting word pictures of Mexican ranchers, Tohono O'odham Indians and many other cultures intermingling. It is a story of how to live life to the fullest, as she learned it from nature, her family and those around her. She has learned well what the beautiful cruel country has to teach and she passes it on through artistic imagery.

This is the best book on the issue of sweatshop labor exploitation I have read. While most books on the subject are one-sided attacks against unfair labor practices, this book includes the arguments economists and business leaders use to defend such practices. You cannot fully understand the dilemma of sweatshop labor until you know both sides of the argument (which also allows you to refute the pro-sweatshop arguments!)

This book is thorough and well-organized. It includes information about international conventions against sweatshop labor, corporate codes of conduct, and specific reports of labor conditions in several developing countries. If you want to become a more educated consumer or activist, THIS is your best resource.

This is a great research tool for anyone interested on labor laws and the problems of eradicating sweatshops and child labor. I definately suggest this book for anyone who needs in depth research on this subject!

While researching the town of Griffin for my own work, I was referred to Dr. Cashion's book by the curators of the Old Jail Art Center in Albany, TX. Not only is this book indispensible in any serious study of the town of Griffin, which was a hub of the cattle and buffalo trade in the mid-1800's (through which many notable western personas passed, such as John Selman -the killer of John Wesley Hardin, and the fabled poker queen Lottie Deno), it is also a fascinating account of the birth, life and eventual demise of a classic frontier boom town. Dr. Cashion's book, while also covering the whole of the Clear Fork Country (and also happily, its overlooked minority inhabitants), could almost be considered a biography of Ft. Griffin, if we can imagine the town itself as a personality. The book gives a fine description of the natural land as it was seen by its first inhabitants (and first European explorers), and goes on to describe the various elements (political, natural, social etc.) which led to the settling of the area. Griffin is treated with special interest, from its early beginnings as a military outpost, to its heyday as an outfitting and entertainment capital for buffalo hunters and later cattle outfits, to its oil days, and on through to its eventual decline. There are a great many interesting photographs, both of the land, of old surveying maps, and of the people who populated the area, white, black, and Indian. Of particular interest is the chapter `Just Plain Old Folks,' which records many of the daily doings, trials, and tribulations of the everyday citizens. Dr. Cashion writes with equal and obvious passion of the rawboned hunters and cattlemen, the violent sometimes gunmen like John Larn and Selman, who used both sides of the law to their own ends, the retired buffalo soldiers, just trying to make their living somewhere between the harsh trials of the land and the distrust of their white neighbors, and the women and children who found themselves living and working in lonely cabins far from the company of friends and neighbors. For this alone the book is worth it, but also worthy are the revisionist-minded attempts of the author to debunk the many stereotypes and outright falsehoods about the area which have passed as history for so long. Griffin the town is no more the blood-soaked, bullet-riddled Sodom of the west that it has sometimes been portrayed as in fiction and some history (an old biography of Doc Holliday comes to mind, and is once referred to by the author) than is any other myriad of western towns which has ever romantically laid claim to that misnomer. The stories of its people however, are no less interesting, and Dr. Cashion's book proves that. Highly recommended!

Well written! enjoyable to read. I had Dr. Cashion at Sam Houston State this fall. His class is great, it was a great learning expirience. The book is wonderful. Although I missed a couple of points about the book but that's ok.

This is an excellent book on microfinance - or microcredit, the practice of lending very small loans to low income individuals. This book uses simple language that can be understood by someone who is not a finance specialist. And this is important! It has very useful insights on microfinance and it will help anyone interested in the topic in general -either those who have to make credit decisions or those who have an academic interest on the topic but little knowledge of its financial implications. Another interesting book on the topic (not quite as thorough as Von Piscke in its financial analysis) is: The New World of Microenterprise Finance. Eds: Mariá Otero and E. Rhyne (1994, Kumarian Press).

Elliott West has written a highly entertaining book packed with historical information about children's development in the American Far West. West chronicles how children had a different perspective about the West than their parents, how children's contributions allowed for the settling of the region, and how children were shaped by the West in ways that their parents, grounded in traditions from Back East or Europe, never achieved.

Chapters cover children's "First Impressions", their lives "At Home", "Child's Work" and "Child's Play', "Growing Up", "Family and Community", "A Great School House", "Suffer the Children", and "Children and the Frontier." In each, West gives extensive examples and quotations from primary sources left by children to illustrate his points. In "A Great School House," for example, the author describes the creation of educational facilities in the West to show how hungry western pioneers, both adults and children, were for this formal learning.

The conclusion, "Children and the Frontier", summarizes many of West's previous themes and makes broader conclusions about the children's experiences. Unlike parents, sons and daughters were bred for western conditions, whether raising livestock, planting crops, or prospecting for minerals. Their lives reflect the influence of the West on the new generation, as well as showing how the older influences of American life (home, culture, music, education, games) endured.

All in all, I would heartily recommend the book to anyone interested in the western frontier experience, as an antidote to the men-laden images of many western accounts.

This somewhat dated book, last published 15 years ago, remains the best work on where to find a good home-country ... other than your own.

From Canada to Kenya, Casey give a no-holds-barred description of dozens of countries including law, tax, opportunity Ð and why each is a good or horrid place to live.

From early in the 20th to the birth of the 21st Century, little changed along the banks of the Klamath in 95 years. The path these women followed remains little altered from when they traveled tho now covered in asphalt, it is still a remote and rough territory for the uninitiated. They stepped off a ship in Humboldt Bay and then walked off the map into the unknown. Surrounded by wilderness, the Marble Mountains and the Trinity Alps, as spectacular and rugged peaks today as they were then. Great Grandchildren of some of those who taught these adventerous ladies the skills to survive in this wild country still live on the same piece of ground. This is the canvas Mary and Mabel painted a wonderful picture of the world they found here. Let them show you the neighborhood and see if you could follow those footsteps down the trail.

Since the world was created at Katimin, the Klamath River has been home to the salmon runs that fed the eagles and fattened bears and filled the smokehouses of the people. The river is the life-blood that flows thru the canyon veins, like a puzzle, each piece necessary to make it complete. A blood transfusion 150 miles away only slowing foreclosure on farmland in another state, no crops must die. Now less water flows downstream and is murky colored and too warm for the salmon to survive in but the life of a potato was saved! A river with no fish is a watershed dying, when the life of the river dies will life along that river follow? These hardy women managed to live without fries, but a river without salmon would be both unbelieveable and inconceivable to them.

Mary and Mabel wandered into my part of northern california to be schoolteachers. From their story you can see how they knew nothing of what the territory was like, how the people were, or any local customs. They seemed to have a vague sense that it was a 'wild' land. They fit in amazingly well in a land where killing another person meant you had to pay that persons family $100 and law was either non-existant or uneffective. They seem to throughly enjoy themselves and set to learn the culture around them and teach what they can. Surprises are around every corner, from rattlesnakes to mountain lions to injun devils. Surprises such as their trusted friend telling them he couldn't go into one town because he had to 'pay $500 last time.'
A great story that is easy to read and gives a glimpse of the hidden corner of northern california where the hupa, yurok and karuk indians reside.

This is an amazing account, by two very adventurous women, of their time spent in an extremely remote area of this country. Even with the speed of modern automobile travel, the tiny communities along the Klamath River, in Humboldt & Siskiyou Counties of northern California, are still remote. Mary & Mabel's sense of adventure, humor, tolerance & joy radiate from this book. It's been 20 years since I lived near the Company Ranch, in Orleans, and read this story. I'm looking forward to owning my own copy and re-reading it. Another reader recommended a wonderful book of similar format. It's exact title is "Tisha: the story of a young teacher in the Alaskan wilderness". It is available through Amazon. I lent my copy several years ago; it's time to buy another copy and re-read it, too. These books are very difficult to find in bookstores. Thank you, Amazon.

This is the story of ten year old Rachel traveling with her family from Illinois to California. She keeps a journal that is more of a scrapbook of their adventures and disasters along the way. Rachel puts in pictures of things that she doesn't want to forget making this book all the more enjoyable. The ending is abrupt but the rest of the story puts you right there with her family.

This book was quite interesting. It is a story of a young girl, Rachel who is traveling by covered wagon from Illinois to California with her family in the 1850's. She keeps a journal/scrapbook of their adventures/disasters. Her illustrations or "doodles" in this journal were very well done. They clearly defined a great deal of what life was like for any family back then and the courage that they had in order to seek what they thought was going to "better" their way of living.

Just like Marissa Moss' "Amelia" books, this was a hand-written, journal-style book, with lots of pictures. It is the journal of ten-year-old Rachel, who travels with her family of pioneers from Illinois to California in search of a better place to live. In her journal, she records the trip and there are many details! It has humor thrown in, great pictures, and a nice journal format. I've enjoyed reading this book, and I can't wait to read all of Marissa Moss' other historical journals.

I liked this book second favorite.New Dawn On Rocky Ridge was my favorite.In this book,Rose and her parents move into town becuase of tornadoes,fires and droughts on the farm.She meets new friends, and watches her freind Swiney change his name to Nate.

This book is just great. Rose is one of my favorite character. She like to read books and has a great appeal. I think every girl who are around 11~12 would find this book wonderful. So I give 5 stars to this book.

This book is absolutely terrific! Rose Wilder adjusts to life in Mansfield, away from her beloved Rocky Ridge Farm. She meets many new people, has exciting experiences, and also falls in love with her best friend Paul Cooley.