English Creek (1984) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

• Alec: The oldest of two boys in the McCaskill family, he causes a family rift with his announcement. Works for the Double W ranch.
• Jick McCaskill: Christened John Angus McCaskill; the youngest ofthe two boys in his family. He is the narrator of this story and is 14 - 15 years old at the time.
• Mac (Varick) McCaskill: Jick's father, a former association rider and now a forest ranger. His appointment was at Indian Head first, then to English Creek.
• Bet McCaskill: Jick's mother, Elizabeth (Lizbeth) Reese.
• Leona Tracy: The girl Alec wanted to marry. She was the daughter of a horse breeder, very pretty, attracting attention with her bright smile. Loved that attention.
• Busby: Ran three bands of sheep:
• Stanley Meixell: An old ranger, prone to drink, acquainted with Mac (father) for years. There was something in the past, involving Stanley and his father, that Jick wanted to find out about.
• Pete Reese: Jick's uncle, brother to his mother, Beth. A rancher, married to Marie.
• Toussaint Rennie: The grandfather of Pete's wife Marie, possibly in his late 70s, a wealth of history. Always laughing, but didn't get along with any family member except his grand-daughter. The was American Indian ancestry in him, but he never said what tribe.
• Marie: Pete's wife, Toussaint's grand-daughter. There was some Native American blood in them, both were dark. Toussaint treated Marie better than he did anyone else.
• Paul Eliason: Mac's assistant ranger. Part of his job was to check over (with Mac) all the gear for the district, the saddles, phone lines and fire equipment.
• Chet Barnouw: A new dispatcher for the forest rangers. He had to be familiar with the phone system and know the forest sections.
• Dode Withrow: A long-time sheep farmer who had often said he'd not do it any longer. His spread was along English Creek. He was a good friend to Mac, and he was married to Midge.
• Pat Hoy: Dode Withrow's herder; constantly ribbed Dode and had worked with him for years.
• Walter Kyle: A sheepherder who summered in the mountains, leaving his neatly kept cabin empty. That cabin needed to be checked on whenever possible, and Mac had Jick do it. He had a telescope that he used to keep track of what was going on.
• Ray Heaney: Jick's best friend, a schoolmate at high school in Gros Ventre
• Wendell Williamson: Present owner of the Double W ranch, which was a big operation unliked by many because of its greedy way of buying up whatever land could be had. Inherited it from his father, Walter.
• Canada Dan: A herder in the Busby band, the first Jick and Stanley visited to help with the sheep counting. Not much liked.
• Earl Zane: The man Leona had been seeing before Alec.
• Isaac Reese: Jick's grandfather on his mother's side. Married to Anna Ramsey. He raised workhorses, came from Denmark where he was Isak Riis; he had a thick accent.
• Isidor Pronovost: A cargodier, one who packs a cargo onto an animal. Isidor's job was to get supplies to rangers at fire lookouts. Jick had to help him and found some difficulties.
• Mr. Vennaman: School superintendent, he got Jick's mother to speak at the Fourth of July picnic.
• Velma Simms: Formerly Velma Croake, she had been married three times and now was single again. She wowed every man in Gros Ventre by wearing skin-tight slacks/ She and Stanley got along well.
• Tollie Zane: Horse breeder who auctioned off horses sometimes, using Leona as rider to draw customers.
• Ed Van Bebber: His sheep ranch was near the ranger station, close to Busby's.
• Mouse: A horse Jick's father rode, mouse-colored.
• Pony: A gentle and steady, short-legged horse Jick rode when he and his father went sheep-counting.
• Bubbles: Stanley's ornery, ewe-necked packstring horse, who caused lots of problems.
• Homer: A brown horse (Brownie, to Mac) that Jick helped pack.
• Marcella Withrow: The only other student who went through school with Jick in the same grade. Marcella figured importantly in the final part of this story.
• Clayton Hebner: One of the workers during the haystacking season, only 12 years old. He started out driving the hay stacker.
• Sanford Hebner: Worked at the Busby place since he was 17 and a lambing job turned sour.
• Good Help Hebner: Real name, Garland, his unkempt sheep ranch was on the North Fork of the Noon Creek. Married to Florene, he was father to many: Roy, Will, Enoch, Curtis, Clayton, Sanford, Garlena, Jonas, Maybella. Good Help took over driving the hay stacker when Clayton couldn't do it anymore. Didn't like work.
• Andy Gustafson: A sheepherder whose spread was under the middle of Roman Reef. This was the band Jick took for sheep counting and had to take the ornery horse, Bubbles, with him.
• Major Evan Kelley: Mac's boss in the Forest Service; he was former army, his style of leadership was that everyone had to jump when he said "Jump". He sent "Kelleygrams" all too often to Mac outlining what he wanted: no forest fires and no guff.

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• English Creek: Where the McCaskill home was located; where the book was focused. English Creek itself was a line of water that meandered through the mountainous area, with various homes and ranches alongside it. It was a major part of the Two Medicine area.
• Noon Creek: Another creek that wandered through the mountain. The Doube W ranch was a large part of it.
• Two Medicine National Forest: Often called "Two" or "Two Medicine", made of many ridges. Roman Reef, Rooster Mountain, Grizzly Reef, Jericho Reef, the Chinese Wall. Part of the Continental Divide. Mac's responsibility as a Forest Ranger was included here.
• Missoula: Where Mac and Murray Tomlin had to attend school; a refresher course for forest rangers. Region One headquarters was there.
• Gros Ventre: The town nearest to English Creek. This is where the rancher's kids went to school.
• Lunchery: A restaurant on Main Street, Gros Ventre, where Jick and his father sometimes were able to stop and have oyster stew.
• Flume Gulch: An area along North Fork and under Rooster Mountain where Jick and his father spent the night after counting sheep at Dode Withrow's place.
• Roman Reef: Jick and Stanley stayed at the line cabin there for a night that became memorable in Jick's mind. Stanley's intervention at the barbed wire on the gate was a life-saver.
• Main Street, Gros Ventre: As Jick rode along, he noted many of the buildings there.
• Sedgewick House: Formerly the Northern Hotel, it was a large false-fronted building on Main Street in Gros Ventre.
• The Medicine Lodge: A saloon in Gros Ventre, run by Tom Harry; it was Gros Ventre's "rough side".

Organizations edit see section history

• CCC: Civilian Conservation Corps - made up of men, during the depression, to work together at conservation jobs. Groups came to help during the forest fire season.
• U. S. Forest Service: Sometimes unemployed men would be asked to help fight forest fires.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Ivan Doig (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.54

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( D ) › Doig, Ivan
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Women's Fiction › Domestic Life
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Historical
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary