Idaho Commission for Libraries

Home Below Hell's Canyon (1954), an autobiographical account by Grace Jordan, describes the Jordan family's life on a remote sheep ranch in the 1930s in the Snake River Canyon south of Lewiston. With hard work, determination to live a simple, family-centered life, common sense, and good humor, family members adapt to and come to love their new, tough environment and discover strengths in themselves they never knew existed.

Grace Jordan worked as a journalist and taught writing at the Universities of Oregon and Washington. She married Len B. Jordan in 1924; he became Governor of Idaho in 1951. Grace Jordan published five books and numerous feature articles for the Christian Science Monitor and National Observer. She died in 1983.

Theme Essay

Read the Tough Paradise essay on Home Below Hell's Canyon

Information on Grace Jordan

Idaho Historical Society Reference Series: Grace Jordan

Hell's Canyon Recreation Center website has information on the homestead site at Kirkwood Bar Ranch.

Return to the Tough Paradise Theme Page