Home Below Hell's Canyon

Hell's Canyon on the Snake River between Idaho and Oregon is deeper than the Grand Canyon and almost as majestic and awe-inspiring. About 20 miles of the Canyon is roadless and can only be reached by boat. The only people that live there now are park rangers who get mail from the outside world once a week, but the river can be crowded in summer with jetboaters, rafters, and kayakers. Fortunately, the Forest Service protects the river and the canyon walls from development and exploitation. In the depression years of the 1930s the Jordan family was desperate and bought a sheep ranch in the Canyon to try to reverse their failing fortunes. They lived with their children at Kirkwood Ranch -- which can still be visited -- for several years. They had a few neighbors scattered up and down the canyon plus a few employees. This is the story of their life as written by Grace Jordan. It's a lively account, filled with descriptions of domestic activities and the eccentric people that passed through her doors. She tells a nostalgic and appealing story of pioneering life in a very remote place. The Jordan's left the river at the beginning of World War II and Len Jordan went on to become a U.S. Senator, quite a feat considering the hard times he endured during the depression. I suspect, however, that the sheep-herding life he lived in Hell's Canyon was more interesting than his political career. Smallchief

I read this book AFTER I took the full day Hells Canyon Jet Boat trip from Clarkston, WA and now wish I had read it before. We stopped for an hour at the Jordan's ranch for lunch and had I read this before I would have loved to explore the author's places. It's a lovely book, well-written, that describes her life with her family on the Snake River. Highly recommended reading for those planning to explore Hells Canyon.

I purchased this book after taking a tour of Kirkwood Ranch. The book is well written and gives so much information on what life must have been like during that time and conditions, but does so in a story type fashion that is a pleasure to read. Definitely worth the time to read!

Like Douglas's "Of Men and Mountains", this book evokes a wonderful but challenging earlier period. In addition to giving a great sense of homesteading, the books gives a beautiful sense of the family, and the people who comprised their community.

This is a terrific personal account of life in Hell's Canyon. It allows the read to vicariously live through the writer, who has a special ability to capture the reader's heart. Raising sheep on the hills of Hell's Canyon and enduring isolation for long stretches must have been hard, and the writer details it well. We also come to learn why she loved it.