by Fred Gipson
First published 2010
J. O. Langford arrives at the Rio Grande in 1909 with his wife and daughter, seeking relief from chronic illness in the remote borderlands. They build an adobe home on a bluff where Tornillo Creek meets the turbulent river, in country known mainly for bandits and rattlesnakes. The Langfords carve out a life in this rugged wilderness where the Rio Grande makes its great curve through spectacular but unforgiving terrain. Langford faces the daily challenges of frontier existence while battling his failing health. His family adapts to isolation and danger in a land that tests their resolve at every turn. This is the story of homesteaders who found beauty and purpose in one of America's most demanding landscapes, where survival required both courage and an appreciation for the harsh magnificence of the Big Bend country.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, adventure
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, survival
Setting: Big Bend, Rio Grande, Tornillo Creek
Period: 1909
193 pages · Kindle Edition · University of Texas Press