The little book about the Vandevert ranch is the type of little books to be found in small towns across America. They are found for sale on the counters of small grocery stores, hardware stores, fishing tackle stores and bait shops – local stories written by local folks (usually older people) to capture some of their family history and local “color” in stories of the past. This one is one of those little books about the Vandevert ranch near Bend Oregon. The stories, told as a journal, start at 1892 when “the family” first settled in Oregon, and becomes personal reminiscences of the author starting around 1934 when she was five years old. Much of the book is very specific to family history, detailing birthdays, deaths, jobs and whatnot of the individual family members. This is important and interesting for the intended audience (the family), but of little meaning for those of us that are “accidentally” looking in from the outside. However, there are still many interesting “gems” about ranching, shopping and schooling in that era. There is also an interesting section concerning the army’s activities during WWII. Apparently Bend was the headquarters of the Western branch of the Army Corps of Engineers training activities. This resulted in something like 100,000 men “invading” the local community. These weren’t all there at the same time, but rather came in waves of new recruits learning their new profession as Army engineers.