Idaho Commission for Libraries

Buffalo Coat (1944) is Carol Ririe Brink's novelized account of events in Moscow, Idaho around the turn of the century. Brink's work details the yearning lives of women and men who feel not quite in tune with their town's spirit, as it traces the rivalries of several town doctors and their visions of life.

Carol Ririe Brink (1895-1981) was born in Moscow, the child of one of the families whose history is adapted in Buffalo Coat. An author of many children's books (including the Newbery Medal-winning Caddie Woodlawn), she also wrote an Idaho trilogy for adults, Buffalo Coat, Strangers in the Forest, and Snow in the River.

Information on Carol Ryrie Brink

www.ncteamericancollection.org/litmap/brink_carol_ryrie_id.htm
Biographical essay and bibliography, prepared by Ericka Streeby, Emmett High School student. This site was created in partnership with the National Council of teachers of English and written by English teachers and their students.

http://users.moscow.com/lchs/buffcoat.html People and Places of Buffalo Coat
Latah County Historical Society, Moscow, Idaho, has a short description of historical people and places on which the novel Buffalo Coat is based.

Book Review:
Maher, Susan Naramore. "Buffalo Coat: Carol Ryrie Brink's Tragic Vision of Opportunity" South Dakota Review. Spring 1995, vol. 33 no. 1

Return to the Tough Paradise Theme Page