Bailing Wire and Gamuza: The True Story of a Family Ranch Near Ramah, New Mexico

by Barbara Vogt Mallery

This fascinating memoir presents moving vignettes of life on a ranch in northwestern New Mexico beginning early in the last century. Barbara Mallery tells the story of her family--the Evon Z. Vogt family--with insight, respect, fondness and humor, concentrating on the years between 1905 and 1986. She might have been writing about many families who lived the ranching life during that erain Northwestern New Mexico, but of course, each family's story is unique. The book is designed to resemble a colorful scrapbook with actual family photos, clippings, and other personal mementos. It is illustrated with more than 30 historical photos that portray a land of enduring history and the people who walked Navajos, Hispanics, pioneering men and women who came to the Southwest from the Midwest and the East.
"Barbara Mallery writes with lyricism and restraint about good times, hard times, and everything in between. . . . A vivid and poignant little book, full of shining culture and shining people. . . . A special addition to the history of New Mexico."--John Nichols

135 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2004

Reviews

[Ronald Mackay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully-written and thoughtfully-illustrated book by one of the last surviving members of the family who created and maintained the Vogt sheep ranch in Northwestern New Mexico.

Barbara Vogt Mallery writes with an objectivity and insight that nevertheless captures the romanticism of the family and the period and generates a gentle nostalgia in those readers who find themselves identifying most willingly with the family, their friends and the characters of that past time.

[Marsha]

El Moro area