By Dan Guarino
ISBN: 900000008X
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher:
This book is no longer available
This book is out of print, but we still get copies in from time to time. Please contact us if you're interested in a copy.
Reviewed for Carbon County News by Gary Robson on 11/11/2002
Every community should have a book like Living in Pleasant Valleys: Life in Carbon County, Montana, by Dan Guarino. I was disappointed when the book went out of print last summer, and very pleased to see it become available again last week.
[Note: As of March 2004, it is once again out of print. We hope to see another printing, but there isn't one scheduled at this time.]
There are plenty of books available about the history of the Red Lodge area, yet Guarino covers it succinctly and well, peppering his text with some great vintage photographs of everything from the construction of the Beartooth Pass to a can of Red Lodge Sweet Peas.
It's not just Red Lodge, though. He covers some background on today's Carbon County communities, like Bearcreek, Boyd, Bridger, Edgar, Fox, Fromberg, Joliet, Luther, Roberts (where Guarino lives), Rockvale, Roscoe, Silesia and Washoe. Even more fascinating is the description of dozens of other Carbon County towns that you can't find on a map, like Bean, Bowler, Chance, Duff, Gebo, New Caledonia, Scotch Coulee, Shupak, String Town, and lots more.
To me, though, the best parts of the book are the ones that explain living today in Carbon County. He covers schools, government offices, water rights, weed control, fencing laws, free range, stream access, and much more.
If you're a new rancher or farmer, Guarino's book forms a great tutorial on subjects like irrigation, with photographs and descriptions of just about every common piece of irrigation equipment. He discusses how canal companies are formed, who owns rights, and even defines terms like miner's inches and acre feet.
Last, but not least, Living in Pleasant Valleys has some great statistics. Believe me, you'll be the hit of the party if you know that Carbon County has almost as many sheep as people, or that there were 130 llamas and alpacas on the tax rolls as of February 1999, but only 2 emus, ostriches, or rheas.
This review only touches on a fraction of the information that Guarino packed into the 170 pages of his book. If you live in Carbon County, or you plan to, then Living in Pleasant Valleys needs a spot on your bookshelf.