Surviving the Sand: My Family's Struggle to Farm the Pasco Desert

by Helen Lingscheit Heavirland

"Dad's eyes danced. His grin held happiness...hope. 'We're home!' he announced. Mom stared out the pickup window. Silent. Lifeless...Tufts of skinny grass and small grayish green bushes surrounded us. The land lay flat in every direction as far as I could see." Helen Lingscheit Heavirland spent her early years in western Oregon's beautiful woods, where her father Wayne Lingscheit's work as a logger provided a comfortable home. But Wayne dreamed of farming, and Columbia Basin Project irrigation opened a new opportunity. In 1954 he and his wife Gladys moved their family--seven-year-old Helen, baby Hazel, twelve-year-old Frank, and fifteen-year-old Emma--to raw land in Pasco, Washington, that was mostly bunchgrass and sagebrush. The only structures were a roofless outhouse, an eight-foot by sixteen-foot wooden shack, and a pen for sheep and goats. In Surviving the Sand, Helen shares her family's hardscrabble yet heartwarming story, chronicling common hardships many faced in the Columbia Basin Project's early settlement days. She describes breaking sod, plants destroyed by wind-whipped sand, and a harrowing first winter sleeping outside after a storm shredded their tent, but also simple joys like fresh apricots, Crokinole games, and letters from loved ones. Most of all, she relates how--despite the heartache, arduous work, and tough times--her family loves, laughs, and works together as they chase her father's seemingly impossible dream.

270 pages, Paperback

Published November 7, 2022

Reviews

[Stephanie Carter]

This was a really fun read about a family settling the land to farm in Pasco, WA in the 1950s. My own grandparents also came to this area as part of the Columbia Basin Project, and many of the stories I’ve heard from them are very similar to what the author’s family went through. It was fun for me knowing so many of the landmarks mentioned, and brought to mind my own memories of growing up on a farm in the early 2000s (with much less hardship than the 1950s farmers faced, to be sure). The story is told from the author’s perspective as a young girl, so it kind of felt like a Laura Ingalls Wilder type story. I’m always amazed by the sacrifice, determination, and grit of the Columbia Basin pioneers to turn an arid landscape into thriving farmland, and I’m glad that the story of at least one family’s humble beginnings is preserved with this book. It’s worth a read, especially if you are from the Columbia Basin/Tri-Cities area!

[CR]

This one I didn't care for. I felt like it was hard to understand and not engaging.

[Jaclyn Knight]

This book has a little Laura Ingalls flavor, telling the story of a family struggling to make the land productive in the 1950s. A wholesome, well written family story.

[Lt]

It's not very well written or edited, but it is an interesting story. The family sure had grit to survive and thrive the way they did.

[Paula]

It was a great story of how 1 family worked hard, stuck together, put up with a lot and ultimately realized great things.