Dakota Cowboy: My Life in the Old Days

by Ike Blasingame

"I've known about Ike Blasingame all my life, knew many of his fellow punchers, white and Indian. Ike was certainly a salty representative of the Texas bronc twister when he came North with that most romantic of cow outfits, the British-owned Matador...[He] takes the reader across the treacherous Missouri River as the spring-softened ice goes out under the horses' feet, into the still wild cow towns, through the round-ups, the prairie fires...There is the authentic smell and feel of the Northern cow country of fifty years ago in the story Ike Blasingame tells." - Mari Sandoz. "Here is one of the most gripping Western tales since Andy Adams' "The Log of a Cowboy" was published in 1903. The telling is considerably like Adams' - warm, human, flavorful. The author, a one-time Matador ranch cowboy, ...lived his story, and he tells it straight in the language of the cow country without contrivance." - "New York Times". "Many of the cowboys who have written about their experiences never really looked at any wider segment of the cattle business than was visible between their horses' ears, but Ike Blasingame did. He paints a big picture without omitting details." - "New York Herald-Tribune".

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

Reviews

[Roger Darnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of a half-dozen Bison Books I've collected over the years. I am now determined to read them all, on the strengths of this extraordinary account from Ernest "Ike" Blasingame, as well as John G. Neihardt's unforgettable The River and I, and Stanley Vestal's Jim Bridger: Mountain Man, another personal favorite.

Mr. Blasingame dedicated his account to the cattlemen and cowboys with whom he worked - "and to my tireless wife, who wrote this while I talked." Since that's explained at the beginning, and leads us all to imagine these two conversing much further along in Ike's life, I'd love to be able to properly acknowledge this essential collaborator. As written by RD Scheer in his review, "... it may well be she who gets the credit for this lucid, well-organized, vividly described memoir."

I agree with that 100 percent - and will add, it would be impossible to not feel Ike's presence relating these tales. He is the person who lived these experiences over the course of eight years in Dakota and the Cheyenne Indian Reservation, starting in 1904. Readers are provided with a map of the Dakota Reservation Range from that year, with symbols and a legend indicating the most prominent brands, including those of the British-owned Matador company. From there, year by year, we ride along with Ike, other aboriginal Americans, cowboys and other iconic characters, and tens of thousands of cattle. Ike tells tales of horses, wolves, and even snakes, that are the stuff of legend. The hardships he faced seem terrifying, especially when you consider that he was "barely 20" when the adventure began.

I have a very strong sense that many people heard these stories over the years first-hand, and attempted to persuade Mr. Blasingame that he needed to write them down. Undoubtedly, we all owe a debt of gratitude to Mrs. Blasingame - and The University of Nebraska Press - for keeping them alive. Many thanks!

[Gilberto Ortega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ike was a cowboy who live in the last years of open prairie cattle business. Showed what life as a cowboy first hand. Enduring frigid winters, and learning life lessons through cowboying. Silly stories and being homesick. Ike eventually married and bought a ranch yet yearning the cattle drives that once were.

The book was ok. Learn a bit

[Stan Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous look at life in the Dakotas at the turn of the century - nineteenth to twentieth. This was sort of the last frontier of the west because it was the last area to get rail service. There are great stories in this book.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was a fascinating memoir of the last days of vast cattle herds, it was not well-written. Each story left me wanting more, and the allusions the author made to learning more about those stories were not always fulfilled.

I loved learning about the "old days" but Ike Blasingame just can't compare to Will James!

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just started ... So far I'm enjoying reading about the life of this cowboy. He writes about herding cattle, the commardarie of the cowboys, cowboy humor, the mighty Missouri River, etc. If you want to get out of your everyday life and live like a cowboy in your mind -- this is a good way!

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my review at my blog.

[Quentin]

i thought that the book had a lot of old fashion ways
there was a lot of things that went rong it hard to follow but a good book

[Marge Martin]

Not very well written, but I did like it

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story and how it really was back then.