Customer Reviews

Home Below Hell's Canyon

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This is a terrific personal account of life in Hell's Canyon. It allows the read to vicariously live through the writer, who has a special ability to capture the reader's heart. Raising sheep on the hills of Hell's Canyon and enduring isolation for long stretches must have been hard, and the writer details it well. We also come to learn why she loved it.

This is a true story, and reading it gives one a perspective on living on an isolated ranch without the modern conveniences we take for granted. There are dangers, hardships and frustrations galore, but the author and her family has the pioneer spirit and grit that carries them through the most trying of circumstances. Since I have seen the general area from the river, I am amazed that someone could live there during that time period. It's a wonderful book to read.

Sould be required reading for women comtemplating a 'simple lifestyle'. Combines a picture of the work and the wonder of living on the Snake River in 1933 with 3 small children, isolated from almost everything and everyone. What a wealth of experience graced the life of Grace Jordan at a cost of work and worry that would put most of us modern women to shame. She was the real deal! Visiting the Jordan ranch after reading this book was the icing on the cake! Oh, you can google earth the ranch if visiting it is not an option.

Hell's Canyon on the Snake River between Idaho and Oregon is deeper than the Grand Canyon and almost as majestic and awe-inspiring. About 20 miles of the Canyon is roadless and can only be reached by boat. The only people that live there now are park rangers who get mail from the outside world once a week, but the river can be crowded in summer with jetboaters, rafters, and kayakers. Fortunately, the Forest Service protects the river and the canyon walls from development and exploitation.

In the depression years of the 1930s the Jordan family was desperate and bought a sheep ranch in the Canyon to try to reverse their failing fortunes. They lived with their children at Kirkwood Ranch -- which can still be visited -- for several years. They had a few neighbors scattered up and down the canyon plus a few employees. This is the story of their life as written by Grace Jordan. It's a lively account, filled with descriptions of domestic activities and the eccentric people that passed through her doors. She tells a nostalgic and appealing story of pioneering life in a very remote place.

The Jordan's left the river at the beginning of World War II and Len Jordan went on to become a U.S. Senator, quite a feat considering the hard times he endured during the depression. I suspect, however, that the sheep-herding life he lived in Hell's Canyon was more interesting than his political career.

Smallchief

Like many reviewers, I read this after taking a river tour of Hells Canyon. Oh, how I wish I had read it before! Now I have to go back and spend my time at the Kirkwood ranch poking around and visualizing what it must have looked like when the young family of Len and Grace Jordan and their three young children lived there.

What's lovely about this book is how Grace recounts the events of their life, from the small things such as how they cooked and canned, to the big things like close brushes with danger, the harshness and isolation of life in the canyon. The author's tight writing style is down-to-earth and no nonsense, yet still human, warm and insightful. The character profiles she draws are filled with empathy and humor.

The only drawback is the lack of images in the book. I would have loved to see a picture of the Jordan family, photos of the horses and the sheepherding life, and images of the grounds and landscape.

If you are a fan of slice of life / coping & managing books (like Laura Ingalls Wilder books, pioneer diaries, etc.) then you'll love this. It's a treasure.

My husband and I are pleased and honored to know "little" Joe Jordan. He is taking us with a group back to the ranch this fall and we can hardly wait to see all of the places in the book. Now I am looking for all of Grace Jordan's books to find out more about her brave and adventurous life. She writes like an old friend who is talking to you and telling her story to you.

I read this book AFTER I took the full day Hells Canyon Jet Boat trip from Clarkston, WA and now wish I had read it before. We stopped for an hour at the Jordan's ranch for lunch and had I read this before I would have loved to explore the author's places. It's a lovely book, well-written, that describes her life with her family on the Snake River. Highly recommended reading for those planning to explore Hells Canyon.

I purchased this book after taking a tour of Kirkwood Ranch. The book is well written and gives so much information on what life must have been like during that time and conditions, but does so in a story type fashion that is a pleasure to read. Definitely worth the time to read!

Like Douglas's "Of Men and Mountains", this book evokes a wonderful but challenging earlier period. In addition to giving a great sense of homesteading, the books gives a beautiful sense of the family, and the people who comprised their community.

The book was sent on time and in very good condition for a used book. I would recommend this dealer.