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Cowboys North and South
"What I've wrote in this book," says Will James in the preface of his rough-and-ready account of the Wild West, "is without the help of the dictionary or any course in story writing. I didn't want to dilute what I had to say with a lot of imported words that I couldn't of handled. Good English is all right, but when I want to say something I believe in hitting straight to the point without fishing for decorated language"
He goes "I was born and raised in the cow country, I am a cowboy, and what's put down in these pages is not material that I've hunted up, it's what I've lived, seen, and went thru before I ever had any idea that my writing and sketches would ever appear before the public. For years I've felt the confidence that I could ride and scratch any horse I ever saw. That was a great feeling while it lasted, but too many rough ones gradually shook that confidence out of me, and come a time when I was told that after six months' rest I could maybe ride gentle stock without much danger. I'd rode for the biggest cow and horse outfits from Mexico to Canada, wherever I went I was on a horse, even in the army, and when I was put in the discard to ride only gentle horses was when I tried my hand at drawing and writing of the things I've lived as they really are, and it done me a lot of good to see that my work was accepted by the publishers, not so much for what it brought me as for the chance it gave me to show the readers that a cowboy is just as human as any human ever was and how he's been misrepresented by authors who hunted up material by going thru the country on a Pullman, afraid to mix in the dust and get the true facts."
"But it's just as well they didn't, for the cowboy's life can't be learnt in a day or even a year, it's a life you got to be raised at to understand, and I've had it proved that in my work even tho it may be rough, all the folks of the cow countries are backing me in what I say, and I hear the same holler as I used to when riding the side-winding bucker "stay a long time cowboy."
About the William James was a Canadian-American artist and writer of the American West. He's known for writing Smoky the Cowhorse, for which he won the 1927 Newbery Medal, and numerous "cowboy" stories for adults and children alike. His artwork followed "in the tradition of Charles Russell" and much of it was used to illustrate his books. He was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
He goes "I was born and raised in the cow country, I am a cowboy, and what's put down in these pages is not material that I've hunted up, it's what I've lived, seen, and went thru before I ever had any idea that my writing and sketches would ever appear before the public. For years I've felt the confidence that I could ride and scratch any horse I ever saw. That was a great feeling while it lasted, but too many rough ones gradually shook that confidence out of me, and come a time when I was told that after six months' rest I could maybe ride gentle stock without much danger. I'd rode for the biggest cow and horse outfits from Mexico to Canada, wherever I went I was on a horse, even in the army, and when I was put in the discard to ride only gentle horses was when I tried my hand at drawing and writing of the things I've lived as they really are, and it done me a lot of good to see that my work was accepted by the publishers, not so much for what it brought me as for the chance it gave me to show the readers that a cowboy is just as human as any human ever was and how he's been misrepresented by authors who hunted up material by going thru the country on a Pullman, afraid to mix in the dust and get the true facts."
"But it's just as well they didn't, for the cowboy's life can't be learnt in a day or even a year, it's a life you got to be raised at to understand, and I've had it proved that in my work even tho it may be rough, all the folks of the cow countries are backing me in what I say, and I hear the same holler as I used to when riding the side-winding bucker "stay a long time cowboy."
About the William James was a Canadian-American artist and writer of the American West. He's known for writing Smoky the Cowhorse, for which he won the 1927 Newbery Medal, and numerous "cowboy" stories for adults and children alike. His artwork followed "in the tradition of Charles Russell" and much of it was used to illustrate his books. He was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
- GenresHorses
125 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1923
6 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Will James
127 books43 followersWill James, artist and writer of the American West, was born Joseph Ernest Nephtali Dufault. It was during his creative years everyone grew to know him as Will James. During the next several years, he drifted, worked at several jobs, was briefly jailed for cattle rustling, served in the army, and began selling his sketches and in 1922 sold his first writing, Bucking Horse Riders. The sale of several books followed.
An artist and author of books about the American west and, in particular, horses, Will James wrote the 1926 book "Smoky the Cowhorse". It was awarded the John Newbery Medal in 1927, and remains in print to this day. Several movie adaptations of the story have been created, including a 1933 version that included Will James himself as the narrator.
His fictionalized autobiography, Lone Cowboy, was written in 1930. He also wrote Home Ranch (1935) and he wrote his last book, The American Cowboy, in 1942. In all, he wrote and illustrated 23 books.
In 1991, Will James was named a member of the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.
An artist and author of books about the American west and, in particular, horses, Will James wrote the 1926 book "Smoky the Cowhorse". It was awarded the John Newbery Medal in 1927, and remains in print to this day. Several movie adaptations of the story have been created, including a 1933 version that included Will James himself as the narrator.
His fictionalized autobiography, Lone Cowboy, was written in 1930. He also wrote Home Ranch (1935) and he wrote his last book, The American Cowboy, in 1942. In all, he wrote and illustrated 23 books.
In 1991, Will James was named a member of the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 28, 2018
1947 HC edition with original illustrations of which there are many; all first rate https://www.biblio.com/book/cowboys-n... a dirty shame that GOODREADS doesn't show all the editions; the art is everything. 5 for the sketches and 3 for the text. This is his first book written 1923-1924 with all the latent racism that is to this date US-indelible. Thank God for "the all-night chink restaurant". Where a white man can still get a decent noodle. The stories aren't as good as his later Cow Country IMHO for what that's worth - tuppence on a good day. There are a couple above average stories and much in detailing the work of the cowboy. There is some explicit cruelty. Not a kid's book. A Hard & Cruel World for man and beast. But his drawing; never fails to blow me away.
May 31, 2021
As usual, Will James, shows the hard time and the sweet times through real accounts. He doesn’t sugarcoat things
He’s writing from a different time than anyone nowadays will ever know.
He’s writing from a different time than anyone nowadays will ever know.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews