Fred H. Settelmeyer, a descendent of German immigrants, was born in Carson Valley in 1892. He and his family engaged in ranching in the western Nevada-eastern California-Douglas County area for more than seventy years. He attended local schools in the valley, and Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. He had intended to become a lawyer, but family problems intruded and he returned to ranch life.

Mr. Settelmeyer became a valuable member of the Carson Valley community. Active not only in ranching, he served on the local school board, in local political affairs, and from 1947 to 1961 in the Nevada State Senate. He also served as a member of the California-Nevada Interstate Compact Commission and as a member of the Pyramid Lake Task Force.

In the Nevada legislature, Fred Settelmeyer became one of the most influential members of the senate. He is probably more responsible than any other single lawmaker for Nevada's conservative postwar financial policies which helped to keep the state from resorting to deficit financing in the face of rising demands on the treasury. Interests in education also made Fred Settelmeyer one of the most prominent supporters of legislation to benefit the public schools and the University of Nevada.

Settelmeyer's career as a rancher also made him an effective lobbyist for the Nevada Cattle Association after he retired from the legislature. His positions with the Interstate Compact Commission and the Pyramid Lake Task Force were the outgrowth of his well-known expertise in water matters. Especially in dealing with the Carson River system, probably no other person can claim comparable knowledge.

The memoir includes recollections of ranch life in Carson Valley, a discussion of a fourteen-year legislative career, discussion and analysis of western water problems, and a philosophical conclusion.