Russell Rowland's Page

I'm a native Montanan, born in Bozeman in 1957. My great-grandparents were homesteaders, establishing the Arbuckle Ranch in Carter County in the late 1900s. My writing has reflected my own interest in the development of the Western identity in those early days, as well as my efforts to debunk many of the myths that grew out of the early depictions of this time and place. Rather than romanticizing the experience of working the land, I have evoked many of the harsh realities of the early 20th century in Montana. But I have also made an attempt to explore what strengths these early homesteaders developed to keep them going through these difficult times. My writing reflects the sense of community, devotion to family, and adaptability that helped these people survive a time when support groups and therapy were not even part of the English language.

My first novel, In Open Spaces, was published by HarperCollins in 2002. It made the San Francisco Chronicle's bestseller list, and was named among the Best of the West by the Salt Lake City Tribune. It received a starred review in Publisher's Weekly, and was described as having a 'muted elegance' by the New York Times. Five years later, the sequel to In Open Spaces was released, and The Watershed Years also garnered positive reviews, and was one of three finalists for the High Plains Book Award for fiction. These novels chronicle a fictional account of the Arbuckle ranch, starting with the drowning death of young George Arbuckle, Jr., the oldest son of George and Catherine and a promising baseball prospect. Narrator Blake Arbuckle, fourteen years old when In Open Spaces begins, leaves school in Belle Fourche, South Dakota to work on the ranch. The two novels take us through the next forty years of the Arbuckle story, including the Depression, two world wars, and the underhanded efforts of some of Blake's family members to take control of the ranch.