Gauchos and Gumption

Eighteen-year-old schoolteacher and new bride Leora Maria Banning sails to South America in 1910 to join her husband’s family on their cattle ranch. Far from civilization on the plains of Argentina, Marie struggles to adjust to the rough life of the Pampas, to be accepted for herself, and to realize what loving her husband demands. She learns to make ostrich egg omelets for breakfast, converse in Spanish with the gauchos, and wear “bombaches,” the baggy, calf-length...
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Eighteen-year-old schoolteacher and new bride Leora Maria Banning sails to South America in 1910 to join her husband’s family on their cattle ranch. Far from civilization on the plains of Argentina, Marie struggles to adjust to the rough life of the Pampas, to be accepted for herself, and to realize what loving her husband demands. She learns to make ostrich egg omelets for breakfast, converse in Spanish with the gauchos, and wear “bombaches,” the baggy, calf-length pants worn by the Argentine cowhands. She records her adventures through photographs taken with her simple Kodak box camera. Then, camped a thousand miles from Buenos Aires, Marie discovers she is pregnant. The battle to save herself and her child challenges everything she believes in. This memoir is based on stories and remembrances of the Argentine which Marie related to her granddaughter, the author, while she was growing up. The photographs included are those Marie took during her Argentine honeymoon.