Emma, The Rancher's Bride/Poem/Bette Wolf Duncan

How primitive it seemed to her;-

   such wild and untamed glory.

Not even yet a full-fledged state,

   but just a territory.

   Just miles and miles of untamed range.

Montana! Even its name was strange.







Just a newly married bride,

She rode with Caleb by her side.

   Montana!  Such an Indian land,

Sagebrush lurked like hoary scrags

   with such an Indian name.

   upon the windswept plain.

the farther west she came.

   It seemed to grow more savage





So distant from New Brunswick

   and Emma's genteel life.

She wondered what possessed her

   to become a rancher's wife.

loathed hardship, pain or strife;

   But she loved Caleb more than she

to make a rancher's wife.

   and Emma vowed she'd find the strength






When they reached the Shaney Ridge,


   everything went wrong.


his ranch and spread were gone.


   Caleb's dream- the Shaney Ridge-


strength to carry on.


   It was Emma, gentle Emma, gave him


Caleb, with his dream renewed,


   Together they faced years of toil.


   They conquered each dilemma-_


and gentle, genteel Emma.







Bette Wolf Duncan