High, Wide and Lonesome: Growing Up on the Colorado Frontier

I was enamored by this book. At the same time that this book covers, my great-grandfather homesteaded the place that I grew up on. It was so interesting to hear about those times.

I am from Colorado so I found this book especially interesting. I love to read autobiographies that show of the resilience of a hard life. It is a story of fighting the land and surviving. It is of a time when people were willing to “do without” or to make do with a minimum - working for the future. I loved the characters and learned much from the topics. This novel reminded me of The Little Britches series.

This is a lovely book it brings you the heart of a young boy growing up on the plains. It reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. A quiet joy of a book!

I’d give this book a 3.5 rating. I grew up in the area described in this book so that made it more interesting to me than it might be to the average reader. I enjoyed the description of frontier life and the tools and implements that they used

When this world seems too troublesome, escape to a time that will give you a different perspective. Borland’s writing style will leave you with a feeling that you were there with him.

The TV series “Star Trek” told us the final frontier is space, but in the early 1900’s it was Colorado. “High, Wide and Lonesome: Growing Up on the Colorado Frontier” is an autobiographical tale looking back on Hal Borland’s life as his family moved from Nebraska to eastern Colorado and staked a homestead claim. If they could manage to live on it 3 years, the 320 acres of land would be theirs for “free”. Although they didn’t have to buy the land, the adventure required a major financial investment to purchase all the farming tools (e.g., plow, harnesses, horses, etc.) plus the “sweat equity” to build a house and barn, plant and harvest crops, milk the cows, etc. When you consider these costs, the land was quite expensive!The author does a great job of describing the beauty of the plains to include a variety of flowers, wildlife, sunsets, and even blizzards. He also shares the incredible hardships they faced at times and the old-fashioned values that made this great country – things like paying off your debts, integrity, kindness, endurance, etc.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Hal Borland's memories reminded me of stories I heard from my grandfather, who was born and raised in southeastern Colorado during the early 1900's. His rich prose of his experiences of pioneering along with his father and mother made my imagination fly to what it must have been like over a hundred years ago living in the raw freedom of the wide open spaces. Borland is teller of tales and characters of which no longer exist today. "High, Wide and Lonesome: Growing Up on the Colorado Frontier" made me long for simpler and less-complex times! This book is well-worth the read ... the language, writing style and storytelling of Hal Borland is a lost art and one of his generation's gift to the history!

To understand the harsh and unforgiving early life on an unsettled prairy is a enlightening experience. We forget what people must have gone through. Good book.

Great story of honest people trying to make a go of homesteading .

Well written