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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.
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