Burro Bill and Me: Death Valley to Grand Canyon by Burro Via the Arizona Strip

by Edna Calkins Price

Burro Bill and Me is a personal memoir of the author who gave up a life as a nurse to a millionaire, to travel Death Valley, Nevada and the Arizona Strip behind a burro. The characters she meets come to life in this book, from the old prospectors, Mormon farmers, thieves,and people who would give their last bite of food to a couple of complete strangers.

197 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

Reviews

[Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delightfully entertaining memoir! It’s the early 1930’s, and Edna is a nurse to a millionaire. However, she falls in love with Bill Price, and the two marry. Soon after, Bill tells Edna, “I can’t take a soft life. It rots a man.” The two set out dreaming of adventure and freedom, roaming the deserts from California to Arizona, traveling by foot, sleeping under the stars, foraging for food and along the way hobnobbing with miners, Indians, sheepherders, and bindlestiffs. They had nothing, except a pack of burros, a herd of goats, a coyote, a dog and a whole lot of beans.

For 10 years, Edna (Mrs. Bill) and Burro Bill traveled through the sun-scorched Death Valley. Mrs. Bill chronicles their life in this hostile environment, recounting their experiences and people they met along the way with a sense of humor and a dash of wit. While there were times they had no water to drink let alone wash in, feed for the animals, or a solid roof over their heads, they never despaired. Mrs. Bill is a trouper for sure, and her inner strength is amazing. Think about eating beans and jerky gravy for weeks at a time, no showering, no bathroom for that matter, sleeping in a tent, dirty clothes. Yuck! She must have deeply loved this man with the wild red hair, bushy beard and turquoise earrings to last more than 10 days! This is home to them, and a trip back East confirms that this is where they belong:

Burro Bill: “What more can a man desire? In this place a man can find his God.”
Mrs. Bill: “Only in one’s self does true security lie. When one has found that inner peace, that deep awareness of his own strength, he is secure in his own heart forever.”

I enjoyed every page! My only quibbles are that I would love to know what happened to the couple after their ten years in the desert (my internet search came up empty), and what is Mrs. Bill’s bean recipe?

https://candysplanet.wordpress.com/

[Sharon Zink · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an account of the author and her husband as they did rough traveling through the SW U.S. at the end of the Depression. Then they had an opportunity to go East, and they traveled just as they had lived: with an old tent on the back of their truck, and they took their animals with them: coyote, young horse, goat, and surely a dog. The author said that as they traveled through Nebraska and different states, crowds of people would come to their campsite to see how they lived, and they could scarcely get rid of them. I did not believe that part.

[Kasey Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Looking back now, I could scarcely believe the bewildering array of adventures that had befallen us since that spring day ten years before, when Bill had revolted against a life of ease and deliberately tossed aside material comforts for the toughest existence left in America—that of foot travelers in the wastelands of the West.”

[VileBill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Simple Life . . .

What a marvelous story! I especially enjoyed it because I am familiar with all of the places in Burro Bill's and Mrs. Bill's adventures (excepting that, being a Westerner myself, I do not know New York or New Jersey). Sadly, we shall not see days like this again.

[Jeff Rowbotham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming love story of eastern nurse and original adventurer living and traveling in Death Valley and other badlands, including a short stay in New York, in the 1930s and 40s. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[gary l hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read.

No matter what station in this life, there is always opportunity to do good. I found this a good heart warming story.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for those wanting to know about the people and places of of he depression years. Also a very human story.

[S Herman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It is well written, from a wife’s point of view. As I have done some canoe camping, I found the historical, very simple camping life experiences particularly interesting. The setting is well described throughout, although I should have kept a map handy to follow their journey. Very different true adventure from any memoir I’ve found.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book in which Edna, a nurse from a Williamsburg family, relates 10 years of travel by burro with her ex-circus performer/adventurer husband Bill during the 1930's. Their travels were "roughing it" to extreme, but they enjoyed a freedom and joy that can only be found where few men and fewer women have gone before. The characters they met are unmatched in courage, determination, and eccentricity, some dangerous, others rude, but most were exceedingly helpful and generous. With her nursing skills Edna saved more than one life during their travels. Her story is skillfully written and reveals fascinating details of the lives of people in that area of our country during America's depression era.

[Jim Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic true story about a man and woman traveling the desert country from Death Valley to northern Arizona on foot with burros to carry their supplies. Their everyday life would be immpossible for most of the rest of us. The reader will be absolutely amazed and sometimes amused at the way this couple dealt with the hardships and dangers of being alone in vast desert country and the things they did to bring in some money. I truly enjoyed every page of this book and eagerly turned to the next page.

[Shelly deBraga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story about the adventures of two people who gave up their city lifestyles to go to Death Valley in the early 1930’s. The got some mules and lived off the land and even though it was a tough life, they did the best they could and learned to love the solitude. They traveled across the land, prospected, and met many interesting people along the way.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves adventure and true stories. I thoroughly enjoyed this easy read.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great story.

I wish I knew more about her life after these three years. And I confess I think the chances they took for seemingly no reason were…well..not advisable. They could either or both have died….Lack of water, or illness due to the dirty water they drank. There really didn’t seem to be any particular reason to take the routes they did. But the story was interesting. I enjoyed reading it. And would definitely recommend it.

[Alex Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would have been a great pleasure to meet this spirited, adventurous woman in person. Ms. Price clearly never encountered a challenge that she couldn't meet with courage and humor, and her travels through the wildlands of the southwest are remarkable. Unfortunately, her writing style is painfully amateurish, which robs her narrative of some of its effect.

[Trebor · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute diamond in the rough! I'm so thankful I for some reason chose this book to read. It was a story of a simpler time in America.I like to think a time so much purer and real. It left me with a good feeling upon completion, a reset of mind and spirit. My best book this year, hands down.