I grew up watching Roy Rogers and John Wayne, and throughout middle school, I read a ton of Louis LāAmour, because my brother was growing a healthy collection of his novels. So itās really no surprise that this is my brotherās book and I only borrowed it. He gave it to me because itās considered the most realistic portrayal of the life of a cowboy.Ā
The book definitely reads like nonfiction even though itās a novel. Itās very informative and realistic, and it provided new information that Hollywood movies and the arguably more sensational western fiction of Louis LāAmour could provide. I never realized how dangerous river crossings were and how the cowboys had to look out for bogged cattle. Iām also not sure the number of horses each cowboy required is commonly portrayed in media. Each cowboy needed 10 horses in case of injury and to avoid overworking the horses, so they had to keep up with the remuda of horses on the trail in addition to the cattle. The various methods of calming cattle or stopping their stampedes were also interesting to read about.
I would consider this a good supplement to western fiction because it delves into the more boring day to day that might drag down a conventional novel, but I wouldnāt recommend this purely for entertainment value. I was positively bored for the first few chapters and regretted picking it up, but then I got into the groove and the book picked up a bit. A lot of chapters were a bit dry, but some parts were genuinely engaging, particularly the more action-packed moments. There is very little dialogue in the book, and what there was wasnāt particularly interesting.Ā
And of course, it was typical of the time periodās sensibilities. There was common usage of the n-word, they killed a mama bear and her two cubs for sport, they shot off their guns in a town for the fun of it, and the campfire stories were questionable. But in terms of accuracy, I suppose it didnāt fail, though there was no mention of brothels, which was a curious omission.Ā
