When I first started my research, I didn’t think I would need more than google and the archives from the University of Wyoming. I mean I was a history major after all and had been raised riding horses and moving cattle. Little did I know that when you are trying portray a time a hundred years before you were born, your research cannot rely on the introvert’s world online. The research is even better. When I tell people what I am working on, people get excited. Often spill a story or two about their parents/grandparents, and in one case dig out a book their uncle had written from his years on the trail. After reading the following book, I had to pass it on to my father, who spurred my love for history and all things western.
Back Trail of an Old Cowboy by Paul C. Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A firsthand account of a cowboy’s life from 1892 to 1983. Paul Young wrote this book from his journals he kept throughout his life. His writing makes you feel as though you were sitting across from him enjoying a cup of coffee and swapping stories over a campfire. Unlike a novel, it was told without pretense and there is not a set plot. However, the character of the author is clear as he writes with humility, humor and honesty not often found in the modern urban world. It is a glimpse into a past many have forgotten. A time before telephones, cars, and calories. When hard work was rewarded and wild horses still ran wild across the Montana landscape.
With a passion for the west, this book offers a great insight to a history that we are losing as those generations are gone and their stories with them.
Whitney Buckley 