One of the last Old-time cowboys here tells his own story: his boyhood in Texas, wandering from ranch to ranch in the Southwest, the trek to Montana with a trail herd, and his life thereafter among the people and ranches of the area. His account is full of anecdotes, humorous or tragic, which themselves illuminate facets of a way of life that is no more. Bob Kennon knew the Ketchums, Kid Curry, and Western artist Charles M. Russell, who was his friend, as well as many prominent ranchmen of his day. "Perhaps I am the last living rider of those boys who, in 1896, came up that long trail to Montana from what was then the largest ranch in the world, the Terrazas Ranch in Old Mexico," he begins. And he goes on to tell just what the cowboy business was really like not only on the trail and the range, but in the wild, infrequent visits to town, encounters with camp cooks and titled Englishmen, rodeo performances, and all that belongs to the cowboy's existence. The smell of the bunkhouse and the atmosphere of the range pervade every page. A typical cowboy, Bob Kennon did not marry until late in life; indeed, he never seemed quite ready to settle down. But settle he did. After his cowboy days were over, he married and held responsible job as forest ranger, stock inspector, deputy sheriff, and doorkeeper for the state senate of Montana, as well as becoming a rancher himself. Ramon F. Adams, Western bibliophile and lexicographer of Dallas, knows the lore and language of the range as perhaps no other man does today. He was the ideal choice to arrange Bob Kennon's story for publication. Mr. Kennon, he says, "through in his eighties, had a keen mind and deep interest in the history of Montana, he began sending me the story of his life, more material, in fact, than I could use." That he was made good use of that material, this book attests. Joe Beeler of Sedona, Arizona, has been described as "the Charles M. Russell of our time." His paintings, drawings, and bronzes of western subjects are now widely held by museums, institutions, and private collections Jimmy M. Skaggs is Professor of American Studies and Economics at Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas.

The American cowboy emerges from these pages as a recognizable human being with little resemblance to the picturesque inventions of the horse opera. Ramon F. Adams, a highly respected authority on the old West, talks straight about what the cowhand really did and thought. His cow-punching, broncobusting, trail driving; his rodeo riding, poker playing, socializing; his horse, guns, rope, clothing, sleeping bag; his eating and drinking habits; his attitude toward God, women, bosses; his unwritten code of conduct--everything about this vanished breed is told with absorbing authenticity, in the rich and varied lingo of the range.

The cowboy — that enigmatic, larger-than-life icon of our culture —has long been considered a figure of fast hands, steel nerves, and few words. But according to Ramon Adams, cowboys, once among themselves, enjoyed a vivid, often boisterous repartee. You might say that around a campfire they could make more noise than “a jackass in a tin barn.” Here in one volume is a complete guide to cowboy-speak. Like many of today’s foreign language guides, this handy book is organized not alphabetically but situationally, lest you find yourself in Texas at a loss for words. There are sections on the ranch, the cowboy’s duties, riding equipment, the roundup, roping, branding, even square dancing. There are words and phrases you’ll recognize because they’ve filtered into everyday language — “blue lightnin’,” “star gazin’,” “the whole shebang” — plus countless others that, sadly, are seldom heard in current speech: “lonely as a preacher on pay night,” “restless as a hen on a hot griddle,” “crooked as a snake in a cactus patch.” As entertaining as it is authoritative, COWBOY LINGO captures the living speech of the Great Plains and serves as a window into the soul of the American West.