The Rock House Ranch: My Lazy-A-Bar Days

Ranch life in the 30's and 40's was a juxtaposition of romance and hard reality. Cattle drives, campfires, bucking broncs, and "making do", are what Barbara Corn Patterson experienced as a child growing up on a ranch in southeastern New Mexico. Her rich pioneer heritage will kindle memories of a by-gone time when neighbors were neighbors, and a business deal was sealed by a simple handshake. Families and friends working and playing together during the Great Depression and World War II, in an environment where one's livelihood and survival were threatened by the harsh conditions of the American Southwest, provide a beautifully written backdrop for this bittersweet memoir of a dying way of life.

Barbara Corn Patterson is the fourth-generation descendant of a prominent New Mexico ranching family. She has experienced the West as very few Americans have, and began her book as a way of life with her grandchildren.

Ms. Patterson raised four children on a farm in the Pecos Valley, and recently retired from nursing to pursue her life's dream of seeing the world and writing about her experiences. She still lives in Roswell and maintains the Lazy A Bar brand.