Rabbit Creek Country: Three Ranching Lives in the Heart of the Mountain West

Acknowledgments

z 361 z acknowledgments n The Rabbit Creek project grew out of oral history and was an intensely collaborative effort. Deborah and I found special pleasure in conversing with people about our subjects’ lives and hearing about their own. The dedication at the front of the book recognizes the cooperation of Lamb and Elliott descendants and of scores of others whose gathered testimonies gave us a vivid picture of Livermore’s past. Two sodalities contributed greatly to the project and to the making of the book. The first is my walking group—sometimes called “the Jabberwocky.” With these friends, I first discovered the ranch. Jacques Rieux led the way, although, like Fremont, he was not sure where he was going. Dave Cantrell, Rick Price, and Marie-Laure Ryan were on that hike, and their impressions, ideas, and interest have been a source of inspiration. Marie-Laure’s irreverent “interactive video” on Rabbit Creek helped us see the project in a new light. The second is our writing group, Poetry in the Barn, who listened to many earlier versions of the text. We have met monthly over a period of eight years. The Barn Poets unfailingly expressed their eagerness for the next installment of “Josephine, John, and Ida.” We want to recognize them here: Irmgard Hunt, Mateo Pardo, Fernando Valerio-Holguin, Michael Abeyta, and, more recently, Deborah Russell. Their solemn attention, incisive comments on writing style, and lapses into sleep were equally helpful. As the years went by, it sometimes seemed that Deborah and I were researching and writing for them alone. Our subjects’ many relatives were especially supportive. Kay and Tom Quan graciously welcomed us to their house, the old Livermore Hotel. Kay encouraged us from the start, lent us manuscripts, and sponsored our talks to the Livermore Woman’s Club, of which her aunt Jo was once the presiding officer. acknowledgments 362 Deborah and I also enjoyed the hospitality of Jim and Judy Elliott and of Phil and Chris Elliott on numerous occasions. John Elliott’s grandsons Phil and Jim supplied valuable documents and photographs, and proudly showed us the Elliott memorabilia. They shared with us their memories of our three subjects. Without their openhandedness, this project would not have been possible. From John Lee Elliott, there came a stream of memories and vivid images that definitively shaped our reading of his grandfather’s character. Judy and Bill Cass spent a great deal of time with Josephine. Their testimonies were rich in detail and observations; their candor and insights were a boon to the project. Don Lamb knew all three principals well. More so than anyone else, his empathy, tolerance, and psychological penetration have framed the interpretation of the three ranchers’ characters. Owen Lamb contributed to our grasp of the settlers’ everyday lives and ranching activities. Linda Lamb gave us generous access to Josephine’s remaining papers and arranged a meeting with her Lamb cousins. We are grateful for her humanity and understanding. Margaret Ann McLean’s vivid reminiscences and intuitive penetration provided the basis for new interpretations late in the project. Mary Clare Wetzler and Ruth Loper, reaching into their memories, found treasures, and they kept in touch. Ted Wetzler shared his sharp insights about his aunt, the Elliotts, and his grandfather Eugene—for whom he was our major source. We enjoyed his prickly intelligence. It was a great sadness when he passed away before we could meet him. On Ida’s side of the family, Adella Biel Freitag remembered so many important things about her aunt that a new story emerged. The sympathetic interest she showed in Ida and her plight moved us. We are also grateful to her sister Evelyn Biel. Dick Schantz and Ken Lauer took the time to scan, label, and send a treasure trove of Meyer and Biel family photos. To them we extend our heartfelt thanks. Deborah and I also learned a great deal from our repeated contacts with two women who knew the Elliotts and Jo Lamb well. Marian Carson (Babe Boyle), Buck’s former girlfriend, provided the key for understanding the relations between Ida, John, and Josephine. Eva Degney Bradshaw, who was also close to Buck and was Jo’s pupil in the 1920s, gave us a wealth of material about our subjects when they stayed acknowledgments 363 on the Laramie. The succession of letters she wrote (in response to reading earlier drafts of the chapters) spurred us...