Elizabeth Mann

Last Ranch Elizabeth Mann

The LAST RANCH shares the author's experience of a family's concentrated efforts to try to bring back to life a splendid historical ranch in the hills of the south Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. An additional hand was their 12 year old son Eric, who had grown experienced in the ways of cattle and isolation during their three years of homesteading life in the Upper Squamish Valley, near Vancouver.

This bold and energy-intensive cattle ranch undertaking coincided with the ten year period of the highest inflation and interest rates which North America has ever experienced. This fact undercut the success of the project in an unexpected way. Impacting as well was the growth of bureaucracy which caused ongoing delays of their progress.

Known commonly in the 1970's as those 'back to the landers', the author and her husband had earlier known city lives of university educations and professional directions. Her husband's interests were devoted to Architecture which he put aside to pursue an alternative way of life.

The author also offers an updated examination of the ongoing loss of British Columbia ranches and the reasons behind these changes.