Another Place and Time: Voices from the Carrisa Plains

by Craig Deutsche, 2013. Paperback, 306 pages.

In the early- and mid-twentieth century the Carrisa Plains was a thriving agricultural community in central California. Today it holds only relics of this past: abandoned machinery, empty corrals, decaying homesteads, and a scattering of retired farmers and ranchers.

Fascinated by these remnants, the author, along with a colleague, undertook an oral history to document the way of life which had only recently vanished. Another Place and Time describes the search for these people, many of whom no longer live on the Plains, and this is the thread into which their stories fit. The persons interviewed were fourth generation landowners, seasonal hired hands, cattlemen, sheepmen, and the women who worked with them raising families and holding the community together.

This book is the story of pioneer life in an isolated rural valley. These people were stubborn, and they were adaptable. They were trusting, and they were generous. They made extraordinary efforts to take care of their children, and they were loyal to friends. Some kept to themselves. Some quarreled with neighbors. Some drank, some partied, and some were drifters. Many marriages lasted a lifetime, and others found the work and isolation on the Plains more than their marriage could tolerate. They all, all worked hard, and many of them truly loved the work they did and the place where they lived.

Today few people would accept the circumstances that were the norm in those earlier years. Including many passages quoted directly from interview transcripts, along with maps of the valley, and a number of family trees, this book does, indeed, take you to Another Place and Time.

About the Author

Craig Deutsche spent much of his spare time as a child exploring the lakes, rivers, and hills around his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He insists also that he was a bookworm and that reading was a passion. These activities were largely put aside during his years in college and as a high school science teacher in the Los Angeles area, Upon retirement he led backpacking trips and service outings for several environmental organizations. It was by accident that he discovered the Carrizo Plain National Monument, and for eight years he has explored the backroads and the history of this little known valley. Over one hundred oral histories have been completed in this time, and the stories have been archived in several California libraries. Writing an account of this project and of the people whom he met has represented a return to his early interest in exploring and reading.