Chilcotin rancher, guide outfitter and longtime Williams Lake Tribune correspondent Gerry Bracewell has recently completed her book Gerry, Get Your Gun.
She will launch the book with a book signing at the Williams Lake Library on Thursday, May 28 starting at 6:30 p.m.
Gerry, Get Your Gun packs the wallop of a 30-30 rifle.
Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association Pat Corbett has many praises for the pioneer.
“Gerry is a pioneer in every respect of the word!” Corbett says in his review.
“The hardships she endured, the many encounters with wildlife and nature itself would frighten the most hardened of outdoor enthusiasts of today.
“Her stories in this book are but a very small glimpse of a life of true western adventure in B.C.’s remotest cattle country.”
Born in 1922, in Northern Alberta, Bracewell spent much of her early life on the family farm.
But her dream was to live in the mountains of B.C.
When she left home at 16 she had little understanding of the adventures that awaited her.
She worked for a short time in Vancouver as a governess, but her wild spirit drove her to accept a job on a ranch in the Chilcotin backcountry where her lifelong friend K.B. Moore trained her as his lead hand.
Determined to succeed, she learned to ride even the toughest of horses and fight off bears, cougars, wolves and coyotes to keep the cattle herd safe.
Recognizing Bracewell’s passion for the outdoors and her natural tracking and guiding ability, KB brought Gerry into his family and trained her to become B.C.’s first licensed female hunting guide.