48 pages • 1 hour read
Ralph MoodyFather and I Were Ranchers
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Middle Grade | Published in 1950A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “We Move to Colorado”
In 1906, Ralph Moody is eight years old when his family moves from New Hampshire to a ranch on Fort Logan Morrison Road near Denver. His family seeks prosperity in the West and hopes to improve his father’s health, which had suffered from working in a woolen mill. The family, including Ralph’s siblings, Grace, Merrill, Phillip, and Hal, moves into a small ranch cottage. They begin turning it into their new home and acquire two horses, Bill and Nig.
For two weeks, the family fixes up the ranch and adjusts to their new life. An accident occurs when their horses fall into a gulch near a railway trestle. Ralph’s father, Charles, with the help of train workers, rescues the injured horses. Nig is badly hurt but survives. Through the incident, Ralph learns important lessons from his father’s calm and optimistic approach to the situation.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Neighbors”
Ralph and his family start meeting their neighbors at their new ranch. Their first visitor is Fred Aultland, a neighboring rancher, who comes to help after hearing about the accident with their horses. Fred is friendly; he shares advice on horse care and offers to lend them a horse until theirs recovers. Ralph visits Fred’s home and meets his sister, Bessie, who makes him feel welcome by offering donuts and asking him to call her by her first name.
That night, the sound of coyotes howling nearby unsettles the Moody family, so Ralph’s father checks on the animals to reassure everyone. The next day, on his way to fetch milk, Ralph encounters a group of cowboys. One of them lifts Ralph onto a horse for a ride; this is Ralph’s first time on a horse.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Fight, Molly!”
Ralph and his older sister, Grace, attend the local school for the first time, and Ralph meets his teacher, Miss Wheeler. Wearing a Buster Brown suit his mother made, Ralph feels out of place among the other children who are dressed in overalls. He does his best to behave at school as his mother instructed; however, Ralph is bullied by a boy named Freddie Sprague, who taunts Ralph to ride a donkey to embarrass him. Ralph stays on the donkey longer than expected, but he eventually falls and hurts himself.
A few days later, at school, Freddie and the other boys humiliate Ralph by pulling down his pants. Enraged, Ralph retaliates, hitting Freddie until his nose bleeds, defying his mother’s warnings against fighting. Afterward, Grace helps Ralph, but when they return home, his mother punishes him for his actions. Despite this, Ralph feels the fight was worth it. The next day, his father acknowledges the incident casually. When Ralph admits to winning, his father simply responds with, “Good,” imparting a subtle lesson about standing up for himself.
Chapter 4 Summary: “My Character-House “
Ralph’s family continues adjusting to life on the ranch. Ralph’s father refuses to borrow a horse from neighbor Fred Aultland, instead buying a slow mare named Nancy Hanks. Meanwhile, Ralph continues to struggle with his relationship with Freddie Sprague and the other boys at school. At home, Ralph takes on more responsibilities, but he injures himself while hauling crossties. Afraid of disappointing his father, he lies to his mother about how difficult the task is, but guilt soon weighs heavily on him. His parents express disappointment, with his father explaining that neglecting responsibilities harms one’s character. He compares a man’s character to a house, saying that if one fails to uphold responsibilities, it starts to crumble. As punishment, Ralph must wear his Buster Brown suit to school every day and finish hauling all the remaining crossties out of the gulch, ensuring the job is done right this time.
Chapter 5 Summary: “The Big Wind”
One night, a severe windstorm hits the Moody ranch, shaking the house violently and sending tumbleweeds rolling across the plains. By midday, windows shatter, and doors jam in their frames. The family must evacuate. Ralph’s father ties ropes around each family member, and they crawl through the wind and dust to safety. Despite the storm’s intensity, they manage to stay together, although Ralph’s younger brother, Philip, is nearly blown away. They find refuge in a nearby gulch and wait out the storm. The next morning, they return to their cabin to find their home in ruins, their roof gone, and their horses scattered. Neighbors Fred and Bessie Aultland help them and provide shelter for three days while repairs are made.
Chapter 6 Summary: “We Become Real Ranchers”
After the windstorm, it rains for most of the next two weeks, allowing the family to focus on repairs around the ranch. Fred Aultland’s men eventually find their lost horses, Nig and Bill, though both are weak. During this time, Ralph helps his father, Charles, fix the wagon and build a new kitchen. However, their mare, Nancy, weakens and dies.
In exchange for Charles helping repair the storm damage at his ranch, another neighbor, Mr. Wright, gives the family a new mare named Fanny and a puppy named King. The Moodys attempt to train Fanny as a plow horse, but she proves stubborn and refuses to pull the plow. Ralph and his father continue trying to break her in despite the challenge. Fred jokes about Fanny’s stubbornness and advises Charles about preparing the land for the upcoming planting season. The family soon realizes that their ranch is at the end of the irrigation ditch, limiting their access to water. Understanding the difficulty this poses, Fred offers to share his irrigation water with them, knowing the land will be hard to farm without it.
Chapters 1-6 Analysis
In the early chapters of Father and I Were Ranchers, the Moody family adjusts to life on a Colorado ranch after leaving New Hampshire in 1906, where factory work had made Ralph’s father, Charles, ill. Their westward move embodies the cultural ethos of the era where ideals of the American Dream and Manifest Destiny encouraged Americans to seek opportunity in the less settled regions of the country. While the East offered structure and industrial growth, the West promised rugged individualism, self-reliance, and a direct connection to the land. For the Moodys, ranch life embodies these ideals, offering the promise of prosperity in Colorado’s untamed landscape. The ranch itself symbolizes both opportunity and hardship, capturing the dual nature of pioneering life. As they strive for success, the family faces numerous obstacles that reflect the central theme of the story: The Impact of the Environment on Character Development, particularly on young Ralph.
The challenges of the rugged landscape are evident from the start. In Chapter 2, the family faces their first major obstacle when their horses fall into a gulch, requiring a difficult rescue. These initial struggles escalate with a devastating windstorm in Chapter 5, which destroys both the Moody home and that of their neighbors. Such events teach Ralph and his family essential traits like resilience and adaptability, which are crucial for survival in this unforgiving environment. Despite these hardships, Ralph develops a deeper connection to the land and its animals. His responsibilities on the ranch steadily increase: In Chapter 1, he cares for injured horses, and by Chapter 6, he is attempting to break in the stubborn mare, Fanny. As he tackles these tasks, Ralph matures, learning to manage the unpredictability of nature while cultivating a stronger sense of duty.
Ralph’s father, Charles, shapes his son’s growth. He instills in him integrity and responsibility, foundational topics in Ralph’s Bildungsroman which centers on The Importance of Self-Reliance and Integrity. In Chapter 4, Ralph is punished for lying about the difficulty of his work; he learns that maintaining character requires consistency and honesty. Charles’s metaphor about character being like a house that deteriorates when neglected becomes a defining lesson for Ralph, underscoring the value of personal responsibility. This focus extends to other aspects of Ralph’s development, such as standing up to the school bully, Freddie, in Chapter 3. Each experience further molds Ralph’s sense of self-reliance, shaped by both the physical demands of ranch life and the moral lessons his father imparts.
Internal and external conflicts drive Ralph’s evolution. Externally, he confronts obstacles like Freddie’s bullying, the physical demands of ranch work, and natural disasters. Internally, Ralph grapples with his self-image, the expectations set by his parents, and his sense of morality. These conflicts mature Ralph, teaching him valuable lessons about courage, responsibility, and perseverance.
The theme of The Dynamics of Community in Rural Settings is also central to the Moodys’s adaptation to ranch life. Neighbors play a crucial role in the family’s survival. In Chapter 1, Fred Aultland assists with the injured horses, offering practical advice and support. This act of kindness highlights the cooperative nature of rural communities that rely on shared resources and mutual aid. The importance of community becomes even more apparent in Chapter 5 when Fred and Bessie take the Moodys in after the windstorm. This interdependence recurs throughout the story, with neighbors like Fred and Mr. Wright providing support, whether by offering horses, water, or practical guidance. These budding relationships underscore the essential role of cooperation in the survival and success of settlers in the rural West.
