Fascinating and well written. The book follows closely a group of families that settled in the same area near Ismay, MT. Those that managed to stay and those that picked up and headed west. It is now clear that most of the area is much too dry to farm and is livestock land. He talks to their kids and grandkids, reads their writings and uses a book of interviews of people from the area that was put together in 1972.
My sister gave this book to me. She picked this book up because our mom was born in 1920 in Glasgow, MT. Different railroad (the book follows the Milwaukie Road, Glasgow is on the Great Northern), same scene. Our grandfather had arrived before the homestead act and worked for the railroad. He worked for the land office and proved up on a claim. Our grandmother came west from New York state to teach at the high school. Her mom had let her come because her older brother was already established in Glasgow as an attorney. Mom said that after a drought, a flood and a year when everyone grew a bumper crop of feed corn and the bottom dropped out of the market, grandpa pulled up stakes and headed east to St. Paul in about 1925. Mom also said that her oldest sister was getting ready to go to high school and grandpa had said that he wanted something better for his daughters than to be farm or ranch wives. He sold his land to a family that raised sheep.

If you like this book I would also recommend Miles from Nowhere and Nothing To Do But Stay in my list.