Inspirational true story of the life of Margaret Duncan Brown, a Shepherdess in Colorado’s early days. The book was published posthumously from her diaries. Her nephew and attorney for her estate wrote:
"I found her writings stored around the ranch house, mostly on small tablets that she carried in her pockets while tending sheep. I had the enriching experience of organizing the writings... When she died, she had a beautiful, improved ranch of 713 acres, debt free… The richest heritage is, of course, her indomitable spirit, her great sensitiveness, perception and philosophy of life, which live in these writings."
In reading the book we learn of the life of Margaret Brown, who was born in a small town in the South, of "gentle Southern parentage". She was a bright and studious girl and received her teaching certificate at age 16. Although very attractive, she was shy and retiring. In 1900, at age 18, she married Thornton Brown, whom she called “Dick". By her account, he was “The only sweetheart I ever had”, and she loved him dearly.
For 15 years, the couple lived in Cripple Creek, Colorado. She noted, it was “A full and happy life". Dick had become a bank manager, but eventually grew tired of his career. Having ranched as a young man, he longed for an outdoor life. Margaret wrote in her diary of 1915, “My dream is to have a ranch, a life of peace and plenty, with considerable leisure, time to read, think and commune with nature.”
Margaret and Dick bought a ranch in northwestern Colorado, 160 acres in the Elk River Valley. They soon realized that their new life was quite different from what they had expected and only Dick had experience in ranch work. They put themselves to the task, but sadly, in 1918, Dick died of the Spanish Flu. Margaret stayed on alone, lived an amazing solitary life of hard work, trial and error and sheer determination to succeed. She lived alone on her ranch for 47 more years, expanding bit by bit, succeeding at the business of sheep ranching, despite all odds against her.
Her images are alive, and you can easily put yourself in her shoes and see her beautiful Colorado ranch-life and her beloved sheep. The edition I sell is from 1982 and is new, with some slight markings on the cover.
A short essay, "A Little Bunch of Sheep" by Margaret Duncan Brown, is reprinted at the back of the book; published in 1958 in Reader's Digest. That article was the only writing she had published in her lifetime. Brown passed away in 1965, but fortunately her nephew published this boo
