The West has always kept a firm hold on Brooks Gist's imagination. He began early to read of the heroic labors of the pioneers, he could see the many accomplishments of the swift moving present, but he always wondered-what of the years between? He asked many questions of those who could remember the story from the beginning. From these stories and from his boyhood memories he has created with factual detail and human interest this story of early California life.
Of the book itself he says "In this story of the San Joaquin Valley I have sought to bring to life some of our colorful ancestors quite familiar to everyone in the past  but now swiftly disappearing from the scene. This is an historical theme but  have always felt that history should not be a dull, dead, subject. It is alive and tingling with the accomplishments of the past and in writing about it I have tried to keep it warm and glowing in the bright spirit and enthusiasm of those who lived the life and made the story themselves."