From his home on the Texas Panhandle, John R. Erickson, rancher and author of the bestselling Hank the Cowdog series, saw firsthand the raw power of two megafires that swept across the high plains in 2006 and 2017. "These were landmark events that are etched onto the memory of an entire generation and will be passed down to the next. They made the old-time methods of fighting fire with shovels, wet gunny sacks, and ranch spray rigs a pathetic joke." Yet Bad Smoke, Good Smoke, while relating a tale of gut-wrenching destruction, also provides a more nuanced view of what is often a natural event, giving the two-sided story of our relationship with fire. Not just a first-hand account, Bad Smoke, Good Smoke also synthesizes and explains the latest research in range management, climate, and fire. Having experienced the bad smoke, Erickson tries to understand a rancher's relationship to good smoke and to reconcile the symbiotic relationship that a rancher has with fire. Evocatively chronicled, Erickson tells what it is like trying to stop the unstoppable: Bad Smoke, Good Smoke gives voice to the particular pains that ranchers must face in our era of climate change and ever more powerful natural disasters.

That's right! It all starts with Hank as a puppy enjoying his family's backyard home. But, feathers really fly when Hank the puppy defends his backyard against invading -- Phantom Ducks? Hank's mother says it's a good time for him to go out on his own before the dogcatcher arrives! Hank makes his way to the Twitchell Livestock Auction. Will he join up with Slim, the cowboy he meets there? Or will the dogcatcher provide his new home? Hear Hank sing "Leaving Home." Bonus Stories: Included on this audio are the first two Hank the Cowdog short stories ever written!

When John Erickson, author of the Hank the Cowdog book series, saved up and purchased a tract of Panhandle property near Perryton, it set off a chain of discovery. Who lived in Texas over a thousand years ago? In Porch Talk, John Erickson and his archaeologist friend Doug Boyd investigate this question while explaining the art and science of archaeology for middle readers. On the Perryton ranch, John and his friends unearthed a ghost town that dated back to around 1300 CE. They found a sprawl of widely spaced pit houses occupying an area of 300 acres in John's West Pasture. It is unclear how many people lived there, but it was a place where babies were born and the elderly died and were buried. Women nursed children, made cornmeal in stone metates, and stitched clothes of leather while the men hunted bison using arrows tipped with points made from Alibates flint. Porch Talk features the kind of conversation John and Doug might have on the porch after a day of work in the field. For more than twenty years, they worked together on this and other prehistoric sites, sharing a fascination for the ancient people who occupied the area. How did these people work, play, and survive? Any person today who picks up Porch Talk, young or old, will learn about archaeology, prehistoric Texas, and the importance of taking care of the land. The conversation will ignite your curiosity and make you aware of the brave and sturdy people who occupied this land long ago.

The Moon is made of... When Hank makes the mistake of asking Drover what he's doing, Drover reveals his observation that the moon looks like a cookie! After some highly scientific discussion and calculations, Hank and Drover agree that the moon is a cookie, not swiss chesse. And, when Loper sets down Sally May's picnic basket, which contains some oatmeal raisin cookies, the plot thickens, and Hank realizes the cookie moon was a sign that he should...you'll never guess what! Hank and Drover end it all by singing a funny song, "It Doesn't Make Sense."

The isolated Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle stretched before John Erickson and Bill Ellzey as they began a journey through time and what the locals call "the valley." They went on horseback, as they might have traveled it a century before. Everywhere they went they talked, worked, and swapped stories with the people of the valley, piecing together a picture of what life has been like there for a hundred years. "Through Time and the Valley" is their story of the river--its history, its lore, its colorful characters, the comedies and tragedies that valley people have spun yarns about for generations.
Rancher Erickson is an insider who knows his territory and has the gifts to tell about it. A wry and delightful humorist, he tickles our funnybone while touching our feelings. Outlaws, frontier wives, Indian warriors, cowboys, craftsmen, dance-hall girls, moonshiners, inventors, big ranchers, small ranchers-all are part of the Canadian River country heritage that gives this book its vitality.

"The American cowboy is a mythical character who refuses to die," says author John R. Erickson. On the one hand he is a common man: a laborer, a hired hand who works for wages. Yet in his lonely struggle against nature and animal cunning, he becomes larger than life. Who is this cowboy? Where did he come from and where is he today? Erickson addresses these questions based on firsthand observation and experience in Texas and Oklahoma. And in the process of describing and defining the modern working cowboy-his work, his tools and equipment, his horse, his roping technique, his style of dress, his relationships with his wife and his employer-Erickson gives a thorough description of modern ranching, the economic milieu in which the cowboy operates. The first edition of this book was published in 1981. For this second edition Erickson has thoroughly revised and expanded the book to discuss recent developments in cowboy culture, making The Modern Cowboy the most up-to-date source on cowboy and ranch life today. "We meet the modern cowboy (his dress depends on weather, chores, and vanity) and follow him through the year: spring roundup, branding and 'working' the calves; spotting problem animals and cutting them from the herd; repairing windmills and mending fences; fall roundup, and feeding animals in winter. . . . This is a lively portrait, sure to appeal to all Western buffs."- Publishers Weekly "For a straightforward, highly readable account of today's cowboy, you can't do better. . . . Informative, engaging, and clearly the real thing."- Kirkus Reviews "Erickson has caught the ambience of the working cowboy, what he loves to do, and what he must do to keep a ranch operating day-to-day and season-to-season. In doing this, he actually provides an account of how much cowboying has changed in the hundred or so years of its existence."- Western American Literature

A Wild and Windy Tale When an enemy spy (in a chicken suit ) sneaks on the ranch, it's going to be a wild day for Hank. Will Hank be able to protect the ranch and some newfound valuables of his? But Hank's biggest challenge will be whether he (and Drover) can lead a rescue to save Slim from his ride on a Runaway Windmill? Hear Hank and Drover sing the catchy "A Dog Should Smell Like a Dog" song.

Hank the Cowdog's Greatest Hits Vol. 3 & 4 have the 44 songs from twenty-two of Hank's adventures (#'s 23-44). Packed with both hilarious and beautiful songs this collection is a real treasure! Where else can you hear a (Buzzard Chant), a classical version of (Me Just a Worthless Coyote), Slim's soulful (Song of the Road) or learn some of life's lessons like (I Will Never Eat Another Fishhook), and many, many more great songs!

For more than a hundred years, American cowboys have made their living through the skilled use of horse and rope. Whole libraries have been devoted to the horse, but no one, until now, has written a thorough study of the origins and evolution of ranch roping--which differs from arena roping as practiced by rodeo cowboys. Author/cowboy John Erickson studies ranch roping from every angle: its origins in the Old World; old-time loops and throws; the influence of modern team roping; and the endless debate between those cowboys who rope 'hard and fast' and those who 'dally.' Mixing scholarship with his working-cowboy's knowledge of the subject, Erickson tells stories of cowboys who could not resist fitting their loops on "things that ort not to be roped," such as elk, deer, badgers, bears, and bobcats. He tells of jackrabbit roping contests, and of cowboys who roped mice, geese, hogs, wives, or a runaway milk wagon. Anyone who has ever "built a loop" or even thought about it will find this book hard to put down.