A first-hand account of a chronically ill man who uproots his family to settle on the banks of the Rio Grande, written with the author of Old Yeller.   To the wild and fabulous country where the Rio Grande makes its big bend, J. O. Langford came in 1909 with his wife and daughter in search of health and a home. High on a bluff overlooking the spot where Tornillo Creek pours its waters into the turbulent Rio Grande, the Langfords built their home, a rude structure of adobe blocks in a land reputed to be inhabited only by bandits and rattlesnakes. Big Bend is the story of the Langfords’ life in the rugged and spectacularly beautiful country which they came to call their own. Langford’s account is told with the help of Fred Gipson, author of Old Yeller and Hound Dog Man.   “Big Bend. . . is the story of a way of life, beautiful in its simplicity, a story that can be read again and again for it is a book of substance.” —New York Herald Tribune   “Not a big book this, but as warming to the senses and to the heart as a mesquite fire on the open hearth. It is, also, a book that reflects a commonality of the Western experience of this Nation—a homesteader’s story.” —San Francisco Chronicle   “This is one of those rare books of actual experience with the smooth continuity of the best fiction.” —Houston Chronicle