English Creek, Part 1, Pages 1-35 Summary

Jick McCaskill is looking ahead to one final summer before turning fifteen. With rain greening the Montana side hills, and the Depression finally seeming to loosen its grip, Jick's young thoughts stretch little further than to the Gros Ventre Fourth of July rodeo and a summer riding the scatter rake for Uncle Pete during the haying season. When Jick's older brother Alec suddenly announces he will not be attending college but instead will marry a local girl and follow his cowherding fancies, Jick's world is suddenly shattered. Jick finds himself questioning what defines a man and realizes his own identity is straining to find its path.

Jick 's home is in the English Creek region of the Two Medicine National Forest where his father, Varick McCaskill, or "Mac" McCaskill as he is known to his...