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The Log of a Cowboy: A Narrative of the Old Trail Days
A true-to-life narrative of the escapades and challenges of the frontier’s legendary the cowboy cattle drive.
The Log of a Cowboy brings to life an important, yet short-lived, piece of the American Old West. It’s here that the cowboy earned his reputation and admiration, and it’s through protagonist Tommy Moore that we learn of some of the challenges of the legendary cattle drive. Run-ins with Indian tribes, cattle hustlers, shoot-’em-ups, and the lure of “good whiskey and bad women,” are just some of the troubles that Moore faces, all told with that classic cowboy swagger.
It’s not just the thrill of adventure that makes this such a fascinating tale; The Log of a Cowboy is often seen as a narrative of Andy Adams’s own life after twelve years in the saddle, and although some liberties were taken, it remains one of the most reliable accounts ever written, helping cement the lawless, and revered, Wild West into a national subconscious. Through Moore we learn cowboy colloquialisms like “drifting” and “cutting,” the perils of stampedes, and the innate intuition of these frontier men.
Adams deftly weaves stories within a story, bringing fabled cattleman Shanghai Pierce into this literary world, spinning tales of occult sciences, hitchhiking ox, and astonishing “bear signs.” Much like the Pony Express, the cattle drives of the Old West remain an essential part of American culture, and Adams’s narrative helps to keep it alive through the generations.
This is a must-read for any fans of the Old West, a time when courage and adventure were all part of a day’s work.
Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction that takes place in the old West. Westerns—books about outlaws, sheriffs, chiefs and warriors, cowboys and Indians—are a genre in which we publish regularly. Our list includes international bestselling authors like Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour, and many more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
The Log of a Cowboy brings to life an important, yet short-lived, piece of the American Old West. It’s here that the cowboy earned his reputation and admiration, and it’s through protagonist Tommy Moore that we learn of some of the challenges of the legendary cattle drive. Run-ins with Indian tribes, cattle hustlers, shoot-’em-ups, and the lure of “good whiskey and bad women,” are just some of the troubles that Moore faces, all told with that classic cowboy swagger.
It’s not just the thrill of adventure that makes this such a fascinating tale; The Log of a Cowboy is often seen as a narrative of Andy Adams’s own life after twelve years in the saddle, and although some liberties were taken, it remains one of the most reliable accounts ever written, helping cement the lawless, and revered, Wild West into a national subconscious. Through Moore we learn cowboy colloquialisms like “drifting” and “cutting,” the perils of stampedes, and the innate intuition of these frontier men.
Adams deftly weaves stories within a story, bringing fabled cattleman Shanghai Pierce into this literary world, spinning tales of occult sciences, hitchhiking ox, and astonishing “bear signs.” Much like the Pony Express, the cattle drives of the Old West remain an essential part of American culture, and Adams’s narrative helps to keep it alive through the generations.
This is a must-read for any fans of the Old West, a time when courage and adventure were all part of a day’s work.
Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction that takes place in the old West. Westerns—books about outlaws, sheriffs, chiefs and warriors, cowboys and Indians—are a genre in which we publish regularly. Our list includes international bestselling authors like Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour, and many more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1903
318 people are currently reading
2242 people want to read
About the author
Andy Adams
227 books22 followersAndy Adams (1859–1935) was born to pioneer parents in Indiana, worked in Texas for ten years driving cattle, and settled in Colorado Springs, where he began writing his "real" stories of cowboys in the West.
While still in his teens, Adams ran away from home. He eventually made his way to Texas, where he found work as a cowboy. From 1882 to 1893, Adams witnessed firsthand the golden era of the Texas cattle industry, a time when the cowboys ran cattle on vast open ranges still relatively unrestricted by barbed wire fences. In 1883, he made the first of many cattle drives along the famous cattle trails running north from Texas to the cow towns of Kansas. As farmers began to challenge the ranchers for control of the land, Adams witnessed the gradual fencing-in of the cattle country that would eventually end the short age of the open range. He made his last cattle drive in 1889.
In 1893, Adams left Texas for Colorado, attracted by rumors of gold at Cripple Creek. Like most would-be miners, he failed to make a fortune in the business. He eventually settled in Colorado Springs, where he remained for most of his life. While doing on a variety of jobs, Adams began to write stories based on his experiences as a Texas cowboy. In 1903, he found a publisher for his novel The Log of a Cowboy, a thinly disguised autobiography of his life on the plains. A fascinated public welcomed tales from the former cowboy, and Adams wrote and published four similar volumes in less than four years.
Adams distinguished himself from the majority of other western authors of the day with his meticulous accuracy and fidelity to the truth. As its name implied, The Log of a Cowboy was a day-by-day account of a cattle drive Adams had made from Texas to Montana. The book had little plot beyond the progress of the cattle herd toward Montana, and had none of the romantic excitement offered by less literal chroniclers of the West. Adams' self-avowed goal was to make his fiction indistinguishable from fact, and as one commentator has noted, "in this he succeeds only too well."
While a reader searching for a good story might find Adams' books somewhat dull today, historians and writers looking for an accurate depiction of the cowboy life have found them invaluable. Beyond his five best-known books, Adams also wrote two popular novels for juveniles later in his career. When he died in Colorado Springs in 1935, he left a number of unpublished manuscripts of novels, stories, and plays that historians of the Old West have also found useful.
While still in his teens, Adams ran away from home. He eventually made his way to Texas, where he found work as a cowboy. From 1882 to 1893, Adams witnessed firsthand the golden era of the Texas cattle industry, a time when the cowboys ran cattle on vast open ranges still relatively unrestricted by barbed wire fences. In 1883, he made the first of many cattle drives along the famous cattle trails running north from Texas to the cow towns of Kansas. As farmers began to challenge the ranchers for control of the land, Adams witnessed the gradual fencing-in of the cattle country that would eventually end the short age of the open range. He made his last cattle drive in 1889.
In 1893, Adams left Texas for Colorado, attracted by rumors of gold at Cripple Creek. Like most would-be miners, he failed to make a fortune in the business. He eventually settled in Colorado Springs, where he remained for most of his life. While doing on a variety of jobs, Adams began to write stories based on his experiences as a Texas cowboy. In 1903, he found a publisher for his novel The Log of a Cowboy, a thinly disguised autobiography of his life on the plains. A fascinated public welcomed tales from the former cowboy, and Adams wrote and published four similar volumes in less than four years.
Adams distinguished himself from the majority of other western authors of the day with his meticulous accuracy and fidelity to the truth. As its name implied, The Log of a Cowboy was a day-by-day account of a cattle drive Adams had made from Texas to Montana. The book had little plot beyond the progress of the cattle herd toward Montana, and had none of the romantic excitement offered by less literal chroniclers of the West. Adams' self-avowed goal was to make his fiction indistinguishable from fact, and as one commentator has noted, "in this he succeeds only too well."
While a reader searching for a good story might find Adams' books somewhat dull today, historians and writers looking for an accurate depiction of the cowboy life have found them invaluable. Beyond his five best-known books, Adams also wrote two popular novels for juveniles later in his career. When he died in Colorado Springs in 1935, he left a number of unpublished manuscripts of novels, stories, and plays that historians of the Old West have also found useful.
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January 13, 2025
THIRD, MAYBE FOURTH, READING: August 2024
When it was published in 1903, most readers thought that “The Log of a Cowboy,” an account of an epic cattle drive from south Texas all the way to Montana, was nonfiction. In fact, it was a novel, but the author, Andy Adams, had been an actual cowboy who based his book on his own cattle drive experiences.
J. Frank Dobie, the famous Texas historian, once wrote that “if all other books on trail-driving were destroyed, a reader could still get a just and authentic conception of trail men, trail work, range cattle, cow horses, and the cow country in general from 'The Log of the Cowboy.'”
He also said that if this was the only book ever written about cattle driving readers would still know everything they needed to about the experience.
Even today historians maintain that the book “is the best and most reliable account of its kind.”
When it was published in 1903, most readers thought that “The Log of a Cowboy,” an account of an epic cattle drive from south Texas all the way to Montana, was nonfiction. In fact, it was a novel, but the author, Andy Adams, had been an actual cowboy who based his book on his own cattle drive experiences.
J. Frank Dobie, the famous Texas historian, once wrote that “if all other books on trail-driving were destroyed, a reader could still get a just and authentic conception of trail men, trail work, range cattle, cow horses, and the cow country in general from 'The Log of the Cowboy.'”
He also said that if this was the only book ever written about cattle driving readers would still know everything they needed to about the experience.
Even today historians maintain that the book “is the best and most reliable account of its kind.”
February 20, 2014
3 ½ stars. This book was published in 1903. The author, Andy Adams, was born in 1859 in Indiana, grew up on a livestock farm there, and eventually became a cowboy in Texas in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. He knew cattle drives from personal experience, and after leaving the horseback life, moved to Colorado and began writing fiction about what he knew best: cowboys and cattle.
I’ve seen it claimed in reviews here on Goodreads that Larry McMurtry used this book as a source for his Lonesome Dove series on novels, or that Lonesome Dove was a “retelling” of this.
I reckon the truth of the matter is a little different. McMurtry was very likely familiar with the book. It is called in some circles (for example, the Penguin Classics’ circle) a “classic”, and was very popular and well known in the early part of the last century. It could have even given McMurtry the idea of writing a novel about a cattle drive from Texas to Montana (in this case the drive terminates in Fort Benton Montana, near a Blackfoot Indian Agency – the cattle are to feed the Indians). That’s about where the similarity ends.
Well, there are other things in common, I admit. Besides the herd of driven animals being a cattle herd, the people doing the driving are “cowboys”, and their method of locomotion is “horses”. They have “ropes” with which they are able to “lasso” their charges. They have a “wagon” and a “cook” that travel along with them. They do cross a lot of “rivers” on the way. The cattle occasionally “stampede”, which is generally a “pain-in-the-ass” to the cowboys.
But there are a few differences.
The main one is that Log of a Cowboy is far more “realistic” than is Lonesome Dove – but not in a good way. The introduction by Richard Etulain (quite informative) informs us (told you) that the book was confused with non-fiction repeatedly by both critics and readers. And it’s easy to see why. For one thing, it reads like non-fiction. There is nothing about the cattle drive that is not entirely believable in it. (There actually are some things about the cowboys that seem downright ridiculous and very fictional, but we’ll get to that.)
The title indicates the book is a cowboy’s “log”. So think about reading a ship’s log. Think how that might be a good source of information about a ship’s journey. Also think about how exciting that log might be. Yup, that’s about how exciting a log of a cowboy might be too – and this one is just that exciting. (Think about sawing those logs – zzzzzzzzz; or falling off them – now that might be a little bit exciting.)
And the stories that these cowboys tell around the camp fire in the evenings? Wow, talk about long, drawn out affairs that are maybe as interesting and rousing as … hmm …maybe one of those logs with ants crawling on it?
Okay, so the book isn’t exciting. But as I said, it does give what one would suppose is a pretty realistic notion of the nuts and bolts of a late nineteenth century cattle drive, a long one from Texas to Montana. We learn that the remuda (horse herd) included roughly ten horses for each rider. This indicates how often the cowboys had to change mounts in stressful situations, and how they had to plan for horses to be out-of-commission for a variety of reasons, such as losing a shoe, or becoming slightly injured.
Those pain-in-the-ass stampedes? They happen fairly often in Lonesome Dove, often play a minor role in the plot, and generally get resolved in a paragraph or two (describing what might have had to be done over a period of time perhaps stretching into several hours). In Log no stampede described is resolved in a paragraph. With no trouble at all I was able to find a description of a stampede which goes on for eight pages before all the cows, horses and cowboys are back together. So one does learn that stampedes were a real bother on a cattle drive, and the source of an awful lot of the hard work needed of the cowhands.
In a similar manner, though Lonesome Dove has a couple descriptions of very harrowing, even deadly, river crossings, aside from the tragic/dramatic bits, they also are completed without a whole lot of narrative. Log tells of more than one river crossing involving cattle getting “bogged” in soft bottoms or even quicksand, where page after page is devoted to a description of every detail of getting these cattle “unstuck” and across the river. Again, this is interesting, but you quickly lose sight of the fact that you’re reading a novel.
The turn-of-the century sensibilities are on display here, and though not numerous, these bits of the narrative are more than a little irritating. The word “nigger” is used more than once, indeed one of the horses has that as a name; the Native Americans mentioned near the end of the story (“Indians” of course) are described mostly disdainfully; and the casual killing of a mother bear and both her cubs “was unanimously voted the most exciting bit of sport and powder burning we had experienced on our trip.” Well, times were different.
And those fictional cowboys? The most noticeable thing is the way they talk. They all seem to talk as Andy Adams, the literary story teller, might be imagined to talk. I’ll give an extended quote here, from the first page I opened to. All the talk is along these lines.
Lonesome Dove dialogue it surely ain’t. To me the really interesting question about this long jumble of cowboy references (“snubbing post”, “three-quarter rope”) and rather formal grammatical structure, laced with presumably turn of the century phrases (“on her string”’, “which way the cat will hop”, “cuts little figure”) is: could this be the way at least some cowboys really did talk in those days? I suppose it’s possible, but I have no idea how one would find the answer to that question.
So, the talk, although striking my ear as certainly not what I would expect from the mouth of a cowpuncher, could be just as accurate as the descriptions of the cattle drive details.
But one thing I’m pretty sure of is that the descriptions of the cowhands’ visits to the infrequent towns along the trail leaves out something. To hear Adams tell it, the main attractions of having a day (and night) in places like Dodge City or Ogallala was gambling and (maybe) a bit of something to drink. A brothel? Never mentioned. So here, at any rate, we do know that this is a fictional account, even though the “fiction” is perhaps forced by an early twentieth century publisher’s prudery (or maybe the author’s prudery, who knows).
I did enjoy this book enough to finish it, even though sometimes I felt like I was being pulled along behind a horse with a rope around my neck. If you’re looking for a real novel of 19th century cattle drives, look elsewhere. If you want the real low-down on what these drives were like, this will likely be satisfactory.
I’ve seen it claimed in reviews here on Goodreads that Larry McMurtry used this book as a source for his Lonesome Dove series on novels, or that Lonesome Dove was a “retelling” of this.
I reckon the truth of the matter is a little different. McMurtry was very likely familiar with the book. It is called in some circles (for example, the Penguin Classics’ circle) a “classic”, and was very popular and well known in the early part of the last century. It could have even given McMurtry the idea of writing a novel about a cattle drive from Texas to Montana (in this case the drive terminates in Fort Benton Montana, near a Blackfoot Indian Agency – the cattle are to feed the Indians). That’s about where the similarity ends.
Well, there are other things in common, I admit. Besides the herd of driven animals being a cattle herd, the people doing the driving are “cowboys”, and their method of locomotion is “horses”. They have “ropes” with which they are able to “lasso” their charges. They have a “wagon” and a “cook” that travel along with them. They do cross a lot of “rivers” on the way. The cattle occasionally “stampede”, which is generally a “pain-in-the-ass” to the cowboys.
But there are a few differences.
The main one is that Log of a Cowboy is far more “realistic” than is Lonesome Dove – but not in a good way. The introduction by Richard Etulain (quite informative) informs us (told you) that the book was confused with non-fiction repeatedly by both critics and readers. And it’s easy to see why. For one thing, it reads like non-fiction. There is nothing about the cattle drive that is not entirely believable in it. (There actually are some things about the cowboys that seem downright ridiculous and very fictional, but we’ll get to that.)
The title indicates the book is a cowboy’s “log”. So think about reading a ship’s log. Think how that might be a good source of information about a ship’s journey. Also think about how exciting that log might be. Yup, that’s about how exciting a log of a cowboy might be too – and this one is just that exciting. (Think about sawing those logs – zzzzzzzzz; or falling off them – now that might be a little bit exciting.)
And the stories that these cowboys tell around the camp fire in the evenings? Wow, talk about long, drawn out affairs that are maybe as interesting and rousing as … hmm …maybe one of those logs with ants crawling on it?
Okay, so the book isn’t exciting. But as I said, it does give what one would suppose is a pretty realistic notion of the nuts and bolts of a late nineteenth century cattle drive, a long one from Texas to Montana. We learn that the remuda (horse herd) included roughly ten horses for each rider. This indicates how often the cowboys had to change mounts in stressful situations, and how they had to plan for horses to be out-of-commission for a variety of reasons, such as losing a shoe, or becoming slightly injured.
Those pain-in-the-ass stampedes? They happen fairly often in Lonesome Dove, often play a minor role in the plot, and generally get resolved in a paragraph or two (describing what might have had to be done over a period of time perhaps stretching into several hours). In Log no stampede described is resolved in a paragraph. With no trouble at all I was able to find a description of a stampede which goes on for eight pages before all the cows, horses and cowboys are back together. So one does learn that stampedes were a real bother on a cattle drive, and the source of an awful lot of the hard work needed of the cowhands.
In a similar manner, though Lonesome Dove has a couple descriptions of very harrowing, even deadly, river crossings, aside from the tragic/dramatic bits, they also are completed without a whole lot of narrative. Log tells of more than one river crossing involving cattle getting “bogged” in soft bottoms or even quicksand, where page after page is devoted to a description of every detail of getting these cattle “unstuck” and across the river. Again, this is interesting, but you quickly lose sight of the fact that you’re reading a novel.
The turn-of-the century sensibilities are on display here, and though not numerous, these bits of the narrative are more than a little irritating. The word “nigger” is used more than once, indeed one of the horses has that as a name; the Native Americans mentioned near the end of the story (“Indians” of course) are described mostly disdainfully; and the casual killing of a mother bear and both her cubs “was unanimously voted the most exciting bit of sport and powder burning we had experienced on our trip.” Well, times were different.
And those fictional cowboys? The most noticeable thing is the way they talk. They all seem to talk as Andy Adams, the literary story teller, might be imagined to talk. I’ll give an extended quote here, from the first page I opened to. All the talk is along these lines.
”You certainly never experienced the tender passion,” said Fox Quarternight to our horse wrangler, as he lighted his pipe with a brand from the fire. “Now I have. That’s the reason why I sympathize with these old beaus of the bride. Of course I was too old to stand any show on her string, and I reckon the fellow who got her ain’t so powerful much, except his veneering and being a stranger, which was a big advantage. To be sure, if she took a smile to this stranger, no other fellow could check her with a three-quarter rope and a snubbing post. I’ve seen girls walk right by a dozen good fellows and fawn over some scrub. My experience teaches me that when there’s a woman in it, it’s haphazard pot luck with no telling which way the cat will hop. You can’t play any system, and merit cuts little figure in general results.”
Lonesome Dove dialogue it surely ain’t. To me the really interesting question about this long jumble of cowboy references (“snubbing post”, “three-quarter rope”) and rather formal grammatical structure, laced with presumably turn of the century phrases (“on her string”’, “which way the cat will hop”, “cuts little figure”) is: could this be the way at least some cowboys really did talk in those days? I suppose it’s possible, but I have no idea how one would find the answer to that question.
So, the talk, although striking my ear as certainly not what I would expect from the mouth of a cowpuncher, could be just as accurate as the descriptions of the cattle drive details.
But one thing I’m pretty sure of is that the descriptions of the cowhands’ visits to the infrequent towns along the trail leaves out something. To hear Adams tell it, the main attractions of having a day (and night) in places like Dodge City or Ogallala was gambling and (maybe) a bit of something to drink. A brothel? Never mentioned. So here, at any rate, we do know that this is a fictional account, even though the “fiction” is perhaps forced by an early twentieth century publisher’s prudery (or maybe the author’s prudery, who knows).
I did enjoy this book enough to finish it, even though sometimes I felt like I was being pulled along behind a horse with a rope around my neck. If you’re looking for a real novel of 19th century cattle drives, look elsewhere. If you want the real low-down on what these drives were like, this will likely be satisfactory.
January 9, 2022
1881.
Sixteen years after the Civil War whose very mention can still inflame hearts.
A twenty-year-old's first cattle drive from the Rio Grande to Montana.
Over 3,000 head of cattle.
Five months.
Stampedes.
Rustlers.
Hustlers.
Indians.
Whores and gunfights.
Yes, Miss Kitty, there really was a "Long Branch Saloon" in Dodge City.
If you are a snowflake or an IT pajama boy, you will need several days of therapy in a safe room after experiencing this manly narrative from back in the day.
Sixteen years after the Civil War whose very mention can still inflame hearts.
A twenty-year-old's first cattle drive from the Rio Grande to Montana.
Over 3,000 head of cattle.
Five months.
Stampedes.
Rustlers.
Hustlers.
Indians.
Whores and gunfights.
Yes, Miss Kitty, there really was a "Long Branch Saloon" in Dodge City.
If you are a snowflake or an IT pajama boy, you will need several days of therapy in a safe room after experiencing this manly narrative from back in the day.
March 28, 2023
The term log in the title seems misleading, I think the term is a daily record of events as well as being on a water borne vessel.
May 12, 2009
Andy Adams was a cowboy for 12 years. In 1903, flat broke and annoyed by the plethora of ridiculous books that purported to depict the true-life adventures of cowboys, he decided to try his own hand at writing a novel. The result is a beautifully written book, filled with fascinating detail of everyday life on the trail in 1882, as a team of 12 cowhands, 1 cook, 1 horse wrangler and a foreman drive 3100 cattle from Brownsville, Texas to the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Montana.
September 25, 2019
I'm sure this was the book I read in a college class for westerns way back in the 1970's, along with Zane Grey, The Ox-Bow Incident, and some other classics. What I remember is that the trail drive was long and boring... and, therefore, true to real life. Now that I've finally tracked down the book title, I'd like to read it again, and will return here to change my review if needed.
A recommended book if you want to experience a real cattle drive, day to day.
A recommended book if you want to experience a real cattle drive, day to day.
July 1, 2018
If you are tired of the typical Hollywood trashy view of cowboys whoreing it up while on a silly shooting vendetta, then this book is a great way to reset that sterotypical view of western cowboys created by lowbrow Californians. Andy has a very down to earth writing style that reflects his years in the cattle hearding business. The Log of a Cowboy places the reader right in the middle of the birth, life, and end of cattle drive from texas to Montana. The reader is taken into the day to day lives of driving cattle while at night we are treated to campfire stories of life experiences of each team member. The ending of this book is by far the best that I have read in a long while. This book is overall a great portal into what it was like being a true cowboy when America was built on the backs of men. This story is not for weakspirited millenial who is too easily offended.
February 19, 2024
A masterful novel of the trail that carries the brand of lived experience on every page. Captures the craft of working cattle and its attendant joys and frustrations like nothing else I've read. Also serves as sobering testimony to the pervasive white supremacy and violence that undergirded the "civilizing" of the West.
April 19, 2012
Andy Adams was a prolific writer, and thanks to the University of Nebraska Press, some of this former cowboy's output is still in print. This true-to-life story of an 1882 cattle drive is his best known, and its retelling 100 years later in Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" is evidence of its importance among early works of Western fiction.
Here the protagonist is a young cowboy much like the author, who trailed beef from Texas to Montana at a time just after the buffalo herds were being extinguished from the short grass prairies and homesteading had not yet fenced in the high plains. Oklahoma was still "Indian Territory," Little Big Horn was a recent memory, and Native Americans were in the last shameful stages of being forced off the open rangeland. The railroads were snaking across the land making frontier boom towns where law and order either prevailed (Dodge) or more often did not (Ogallala), and the vast cattle herds of Texas and Mexico finally had a market and access to it.
Adams was born into this world and as a young man cowboyed during the height of the cattle drive era. His book is an account of one trek, delivering 3,000 head of cattle to the Blackfoot Agency in northern Montana. For the protagonist, the initial excitement wears off once the daily routine is established, and besides the occasional stampede and wet weather, the highlights of the journey are brief visits to the cowtowns they pass along the way and the many river crossings, some of which pose enormous difficulties.
We get to know all the men in the outfit by name, and a few stand out, including Flood the foreman, McCann the cook, and the protagonist's trail mate The Rebel, who is older and wiser and something of a mentor. Other personalities emerge, primarily around the campfire on nights when the men get to swapping stories. And Adams passes on a lot of first-hand knowledge about trailing cattle, riding horses, and the day-to-day operation of a drive. Days and nights of the routine are punctuated by episodes of another kind: a rigged horse race, in which the cowboys lose several hundred dollars in wagers, two saloon shootings, the breakdown of the chuck wagon, pulling cattle out of a boggy river, meeting potentially hostile Indians, an encounter with cattle thieves, and a long drive across a waterless expanse of Wyoming.
Reproduced from the original edition published in 1903, the text has an old fashioned look and feel that suit the subject matter and the prose style well. There are also five illustrations. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed "Lonesome Dove." Adams captures the excitement and the reality of the old West before it was romanticized and mythologized by the movies and popular fiction. As companion volumes, I would recommend Ramon Adams' "Cowboy Lingo" and "Come an' Get It," which provide much informative background on open range cowboying. With a good road atlas at hand, you're also able to follow the track of the drive across six western states, from Brownsville to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
Here the protagonist is a young cowboy much like the author, who trailed beef from Texas to Montana at a time just after the buffalo herds were being extinguished from the short grass prairies and homesteading had not yet fenced in the high plains. Oklahoma was still "Indian Territory," Little Big Horn was a recent memory, and Native Americans were in the last shameful stages of being forced off the open rangeland. The railroads were snaking across the land making frontier boom towns where law and order either prevailed (Dodge) or more often did not (Ogallala), and the vast cattle herds of Texas and Mexico finally had a market and access to it.
Adams was born into this world and as a young man cowboyed during the height of the cattle drive era. His book is an account of one trek, delivering 3,000 head of cattle to the Blackfoot Agency in northern Montana. For the protagonist, the initial excitement wears off once the daily routine is established, and besides the occasional stampede and wet weather, the highlights of the journey are brief visits to the cowtowns they pass along the way and the many river crossings, some of which pose enormous difficulties.
We get to know all the men in the outfit by name, and a few stand out, including Flood the foreman, McCann the cook, and the protagonist's trail mate The Rebel, who is older and wiser and something of a mentor. Other personalities emerge, primarily around the campfire on nights when the men get to swapping stories. And Adams passes on a lot of first-hand knowledge about trailing cattle, riding horses, and the day-to-day operation of a drive. Days and nights of the routine are punctuated by episodes of another kind: a rigged horse race, in which the cowboys lose several hundred dollars in wagers, two saloon shootings, the breakdown of the chuck wagon, pulling cattle out of a boggy river, meeting potentially hostile Indians, an encounter with cattle thieves, and a long drive across a waterless expanse of Wyoming.
Reproduced from the original edition published in 1903, the text has an old fashioned look and feel that suit the subject matter and the prose style well. There are also five illustrations. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed "Lonesome Dove." Adams captures the excitement and the reality of the old West before it was romanticized and mythologized by the movies and popular fiction. As companion volumes, I would recommend Ramon Adams' "Cowboy Lingo" and "Come an' Get It," which provide much informative background on open range cowboying. With a good road atlas at hand, you're also able to follow the track of the drive across six western states, from Brownsville to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
October 24, 2012
Andy Adams (1903, 1981). The Log of a Cowboy: A Narrative of the Old Trail Days. Time-Life Books Inc.[return]Set in the late 1800s, Adam's tale is often listed as the best account of cowboy life ever written. The author condensed a dozen year's work experience in the saddle into this book about a five-month cattle drive - - delivery of three thousand head from the mouth of the Rio Grande river (near Brownsville) in southwest Texas to government buyers at the Blackfoot Indian Agency in northwest Montana. Written over a hundred years ago, the account brings vivid images of a dozen cowboys traveling with the outfit's cook / cookwagon, horse wrangler and trail boss to complete their long journey. Along the way they face rain flooded streams, experience night-time stampedes, encounter threatening Indians, ward off cattle rustlers, cross expanses of drought-ridden plains, and visit the rough-shod trail towns of Ogallala and Dodge City. The true-to-life story emphasizes the bond between trail mates who share campfire stories and tall-tales, get taken in a rigged horse race, and become honor-bound to back one another in cowtown gunfights. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in the authentic history of the old West. One cannot mistake this book's influence on the more contemporary Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, and though offensive today can tolerate the author's name of Nigger Boy for a favorite horse. lj (Feb 2011)
January 9, 2022
Andy Adams, a real cowboy riding a horse with a name that cannot be seen in print.
An authentic account was written in 1903 after 12 years of driving cattle as a cowboy this tale embodies one cattle drive from the Texas-Mexican border thru to the Blackfoot Agency in Montana.
A reader whose statement inspired me to read this book remarked, quote "If you are a snowflake or a pajama boy, you will need several days of therapy in a safe room after experiencing this manly narrative from back in the day.", unquote. I'm surprised woke killjoys haven't found this book and censored it.
The author is a master observer of his environment, animals, man, and their behaviours. His experience of a period directly after the Civil War, and during the time of the Indian Wars where tribes were being moved into reservations. This cattle drive retells the long drive to deliver cattle to the Blackfoot Agency in Montana.
Everything one would expect in a western movie, horses, cattle, campfire talk, stampedes, saloons, and life on the trail is recalled in details that Hollywood could never replicate.
Entertaining and free. I found this book on Kindle and knowing the language of the day would be an attraction to read, I was charmed. Highly recommended for those readers that enjoy history as spoken by those who experienced it.
An authentic account was written in 1903 after 12 years of driving cattle as a cowboy this tale embodies one cattle drive from the Texas-Mexican border thru to the Blackfoot Agency in Montana.
A reader whose statement inspired me to read this book remarked, quote "If you are a snowflake or a pajama boy, you will need several days of therapy in a safe room after experiencing this manly narrative from back in the day.", unquote. I'm surprised woke killjoys haven't found this book and censored it.
The author is a master observer of his environment, animals, man, and their behaviours. His experience of a period directly after the Civil War, and during the time of the Indian Wars where tribes were being moved into reservations. This cattle drive retells the long drive to deliver cattle to the Blackfoot Agency in Montana.
Everything one would expect in a western movie, horses, cattle, campfire talk, stampedes, saloons, and life on the trail is recalled in details that Hollywood could never replicate.
Entertaining and free. I found this book on Kindle and knowing the language of the day would be an attraction to read, I was charmed. Highly recommended for those readers that enjoy history as spoken by those who experienced it.
December 10, 2010
This book was great. Its less about being a cowboy specifically than it is about a broader unique way of life--leaving home far behind you and striking out on a journey with a group of people. Loggers, whalers, Navy sailors, oil derrick operators. There are few occupations that isolate you to face adversity with a group of relative strangers bound only by a common skill and a will to get paid. I've experienced it and this combined with appealing characters, an ever present sense of adventure, an elegant oscillation between stress and relief made Adams's book highly enjoyable for this reader.
The other incredibly interesting aspect to this book is that it was written in real time (that is, by a cowboy in 1903 about a cowboy in 1903) so the dialogue is the real mccoy and it is fascinating from slang to grammar. Full of gems and one-line life lessons.
The other incredibly interesting aspect to this book is that it was written in real time (that is, by a cowboy in 1903 about a cowboy in 1903) so the dialogue is the real mccoy and it is fascinating from slang to grammar. Full of gems and one-line life lessons.
August 20, 2012
I enjoyed this book. I found it fascinating and interesting. I loved learning how different things were without our modern technology. I was sad when the book ended, I wanted it to continue so that I could learn what a train ride was like and how the reunion with their families went. The version I read was free for my Nook. The formatting and copying were poor quality but I was still able to understand most of it. I would have enjoyed it more if I had read a copy with better formatting and editing.
February 16, 2015
Well-written account of a cattle drive from Texas to Montana in the year 1882. For the first time I understood what cowboys actually did in addition to strumming guitars and blasting away with their six-shooters - though they do some of that too.
September 11, 2010
Excellent and the most informative book on what an actual cattle drive would be like that I am aware of and have ever read. Enjoyed it thoroughly.
February 12, 2016
Andy Adams was a Texas cowboys during the late 1800s. He tells of life on cattle ranches and trail drives.
March 25, 2017
I read this many years ago. As I recall, it is very true account of the early days and life on the cattle drives. Many of these came through New Mexico and many of the drovers were Hispanic.
August 22, 2022
One of the better Westerns I've read. It's like your right there as a can of beans waiting for the cooks cauldron. Dakota Cowboy by Ike Blasingame is another must read.
November 26, 2023
Amazing. An excellent insight into the heart of the American plains and the backbone of America - the cowboy.
October 27, 2019
The tale of a real cattle drive, not long after the Civil War ended, including everything from cattle stuck in a river crossing, to a horse and rider drowning, to a stampede, to a gunfight in a saloon...told by one of the cowboys on the trail.
A great read for anybody who loves the old west and the fresh start it represented.
A great read for anybody who loves the old west and the fresh start it represented.
February 28, 2023
This book has merit when read has as a counterpoint to Western myths. It is told by Thomas Quirk about a cattle drive in 1882, taking place between Texas and Montana over five months, and written about 20 years after the events.
I will be up front about one aspect of this historical period that other reviewers simply overlook, perhaps because in saying “this book tells it like it is” they want to ignore one glaring aspect, the book’s casual racism. This ranges from the narrator calling his black horse “N***** Boy,” or a comment from one herder that, in brief, a good horse is worth more than any Indian or Mexican. This in spite of the fact that the Apaches and vaqueros they encounter were competent and reasonable.
The rest of the tale is about nineteenth-century work, and it turns out that cattle herding was boring and often dangerous; river crossings produced grave markers that demonstrated the deadliness of the the trade. The cowboys worked all hours, and while they did have the occasional time in front of a campfire, none of their yarns were particularly good or noteworthy. Like small talk at the office water cooler, these coworkers’ stories were equally banal and ultimately forgettable.
Along the way, they cross innumerable rivers, encounter cattle rustlers, take a dozen turkey eggs, and kill a mama bear and her cubs in a gruesome manner that the narrator unbelievably describes as “the most exciting bit of sport.”
The cowboys did have two stops in towns, Dodge City and Ogalalla. The latter had prostitutes, which the narrator candidly described as ranging from teenage girls to over-the-hill opium addicts. The narrator spends no time drinking or whoring, which seems suspicious, but if true, underscores the tedium and monotony of the whole experience. Or maybe it’s a reminder that cowboys were primarily doing this all for money (the job, gambling) more than anything else.
However, this raises the question of how much the narrator reflects the author and therefore reality. In dealing with race he hardly is any Mark Twain, but it’s hard to know how much the author was describing something he saw vs believing it himself. It’s tempting to assume that this Northerner was writing about Southerners and particularly ex-Confederates, but it’s hard to tell.
Similarly, he may have played down the drinking and whoring in order to maintain a front of Christian propriety. It’s is difficult to determine if he was protecting himself and his fellow tradesman, or telling the truth. Maybe he simply left out some parts due to censorship concerns.
As a result, the author describes a failed lecture by a professor vs going to a brothel in Dodge City. It is therefore hard to tell how actually dull cowboys’ lives could be, as opposed to how much the author had to leave out just to get this book published or hide his own sins. It therefore raises questions about how real and truthful the entire narrative is. One thing is for certain: the cowboys do not go to church, which may say something, or maybe it doesn’t. This example illustrates that the author made choices about what to include and what to leave out, raising questions about the account’s overall veracity.
As a work of potential fiction, the fact that the author is not the narrator suggests that Adams could have made more of a story out of the whole thing. There is no conflict on the trail, no strong plot, no tension in the obstacles they face, and so forth. Somehow, we have come to romanticize this whole process as being more real, vital, and glamorous than producing a mobile phone or PowerPoint presentation.
In the end, Adams tries to have it both ways. He is not the narrator, which raises the question about how much of this is actually true vs fictional. At the same time, as a potential work of fiction, it lacks the elements that would make it stand out as a novel.
As a consequence, the book rides a line between fiction and nonfiction, and it is satisfying as neither. On balance, it is a mediocre work that reminds us that the reality of the Old West may or may not have been what we imagined it to be, for better or for worse.
I will be up front about one aspect of this historical period that other reviewers simply overlook, perhaps because in saying “this book tells it like it is” they want to ignore one glaring aspect, the book’s casual racism. This ranges from the narrator calling his black horse “N***** Boy,” or a comment from one herder that, in brief, a good horse is worth more than any Indian or Mexican. This in spite of the fact that the Apaches and vaqueros they encounter were competent and reasonable.
The rest of the tale is about nineteenth-century work, and it turns out that cattle herding was boring and often dangerous; river crossings produced grave markers that demonstrated the deadliness of the the trade. The cowboys worked all hours, and while they did have the occasional time in front of a campfire, none of their yarns were particularly good or noteworthy. Like small talk at the office water cooler, these coworkers’ stories were equally banal and ultimately forgettable.
Along the way, they cross innumerable rivers, encounter cattle rustlers, take a dozen turkey eggs, and kill a mama bear and her cubs in a gruesome manner that the narrator unbelievably describes as “the most exciting bit of sport.”
The cowboys did have two stops in towns, Dodge City and Ogalalla. The latter had prostitutes, which the narrator candidly described as ranging from teenage girls to over-the-hill opium addicts. The narrator spends no time drinking or whoring, which seems suspicious, but if true, underscores the tedium and monotony of the whole experience. Or maybe it’s a reminder that cowboys were primarily doing this all for money (the job, gambling) more than anything else.
However, this raises the question of how much the narrator reflects the author and therefore reality. In dealing with race he hardly is any Mark Twain, but it’s hard to know how much the author was describing something he saw vs believing it himself. It’s tempting to assume that this Northerner was writing about Southerners and particularly ex-Confederates, but it’s hard to tell.
Similarly, he may have played down the drinking and whoring in order to maintain a front of Christian propriety. It’s is difficult to determine if he was protecting himself and his fellow tradesman, or telling the truth. Maybe he simply left out some parts due to censorship concerns.
As a result, the author describes a failed lecture by a professor vs going to a brothel in Dodge City. It is therefore hard to tell how actually dull cowboys’ lives could be, as opposed to how much the author had to leave out just to get this book published or hide his own sins. It therefore raises questions about how real and truthful the entire narrative is. One thing is for certain: the cowboys do not go to church, which may say something, or maybe it doesn’t. This example illustrates that the author made choices about what to include and what to leave out, raising questions about the account’s overall veracity.
As a work of potential fiction, the fact that the author is not the narrator suggests that Adams could have made more of a story out of the whole thing. There is no conflict on the trail, no strong plot, no tension in the obstacles they face, and so forth. Somehow, we have come to romanticize this whole process as being more real, vital, and glamorous than producing a mobile phone or PowerPoint presentation.
In the end, Adams tries to have it both ways. He is not the narrator, which raises the question about how much of this is actually true vs fictional. At the same time, as a potential work of fiction, it lacks the elements that would make it stand out as a novel.
As a consequence, the book rides a line between fiction and nonfiction, and it is satisfying as neither. On balance, it is a mediocre work that reminds us that the reality of the Old West may or may not have been what we imagined it to be, for better or for worse.
December 5, 2021
A fine, rip-roaring memoir (fictional) of a young cowboy’s first experience on a cattle drive, based on the author’s own experience of cowboy life.
A young, sixteen year-old Andy Adams, dissatisfied with staying at home, leaves his ranch in south Texas and joins a cattle drive moving three thousand head of cattle from Brownsville, Texas all the way to Montana. Along the way, he faces every obstacle of the cowboy days: harrowing river crossings, friendly (and unfriendly) Indians, herd-cutting thieves, and cheating card sharks in Dodge (and Ogalalla) all amid very long days and often unpleasant weather, both hot and cold, too wet and too dry.
A reader is required to suspend disbelief that the writer is an average cowhand. Two examples: Being awakened by a compadre with the exhortation, “If you expect to be a cowboy, son, do your sleeping in the winter.” Or, discussing the ladies of the night in Ogallala, “Here (in the Dew Drop Inn) might be seen the frailty of women in every grade and condition. From girls in their teens launching on a life of shame to the adventurous who had once had youth and beauty in her favor but now was discarded and ready for final dose of opium and the coroner’s verdict.”
Likewise, the fast-draw shootout at the very end of the drive seems placed as of necessity: what’s a cowboy book without a fast-draw? But these suspensions of disbelief are not difficult.
Instead, a reader is easily drawn to the lively depictions of life on the trail as a cowhand. It is compelling in its description of very long days in the saddle; exceedingly dangerous and hard work; the intimate connection between a cowboy and his horse; the common, natural cooperation with other outfits in facing enemies or natural difficulties; and the stories told and yarns spun in the few idle times around the camp fire. A chapter on the loss of another outfit’s foreman to drowning while crossing a river is a particular poignant stop in the story.
It ends with successful delivery of a herd a few head larger than when they left the Mexican border, a cowboy’s sends of deep satisfaction in a job well done, along with his anguish at leaving horses with whom he had deeply connected. A very satisfying tale.
Caution: readers will find it easy to be offended by the name of the protagonist’s horse and some of the labels applied to others. But of course if we refuse to read history (or fiction from another era) that meets only our view of purity of thought and word, we will be much the poorer for understanding other eras and other times.
A young, sixteen year-old Andy Adams, dissatisfied with staying at home, leaves his ranch in south Texas and joins a cattle drive moving three thousand head of cattle from Brownsville, Texas all the way to Montana. Along the way, he faces every obstacle of the cowboy days: harrowing river crossings, friendly (and unfriendly) Indians, herd-cutting thieves, and cheating card sharks in Dodge (and Ogalalla) all amid very long days and often unpleasant weather, both hot and cold, too wet and too dry.
A reader is required to suspend disbelief that the writer is an average cowhand. Two examples: Being awakened by a compadre with the exhortation, “If you expect to be a cowboy, son, do your sleeping in the winter.” Or, discussing the ladies of the night in Ogallala, “Here (in the Dew Drop Inn) might be seen the frailty of women in every grade and condition. From girls in their teens launching on a life of shame to the adventurous who had once had youth and beauty in her favor but now was discarded and ready for final dose of opium and the coroner’s verdict.”
Likewise, the fast-draw shootout at the very end of the drive seems placed as of necessity: what’s a cowboy book without a fast-draw? But these suspensions of disbelief are not difficult.
Instead, a reader is easily drawn to the lively depictions of life on the trail as a cowhand. It is compelling in its description of very long days in the saddle; exceedingly dangerous and hard work; the intimate connection between a cowboy and his horse; the common, natural cooperation with other outfits in facing enemies or natural difficulties; and the stories told and yarns spun in the few idle times around the camp fire. A chapter on the loss of another outfit’s foreman to drowning while crossing a river is a particular poignant stop in the story.
It ends with successful delivery of a herd a few head larger than when they left the Mexican border, a cowboy’s sends of deep satisfaction in a job well done, along with his anguish at leaving horses with whom he had deeply connected. A very satisfying tale.
Caution: readers will find it easy to be offended by the name of the protagonist’s horse and some of the labels applied to others. But of course if we refuse to read history (or fiction from another era) that meets only our view of purity of thought and word, we will be much the poorer for understanding other eras and other times.
July 26, 2023
This is a fictional account of a cattle drive that starts from Mexico, across the Rio Grande and up to the Blackfoot Agency in Montana. According to one analysis, by Harvey L. Carter (https://www.jstor.org/stable/40168989) who retraced the cattle drive descriptions, the Andy Adams book was written in such a realistic manner that it has fooled some reviewers into thinking it is a description of a real cattle drive. It reads kind of like a cattle drive meets the television show "How It's Made." It's really interesting facts kind of can get you to sleeping after awhile; it's a historical look into the 1880's. Because of that, I rate it OC for outdated cultural depictions and racial slurs. I took one star off because it could have used some editing so that the reading would go more smoothly. There are some fictional locations, but also lot of references to real places. I was fascinated by the way they navigated by going from river to river. Here are some of the locations that I was able to find (some of the rivers can be found flowing between and through more that one state: [Texas: Sabine River, Colorado River, Cibolo Creek (Ford), San Antonio, Rio Grande River, Brownsville, Fort Brown, Point (Port) Isabel, Arroyo Colorado, Atascosa, Santa Gertrudis Ranch (fictional), Nueces River, Great Western Cattle Trail, Indian Lakes, Clear Fork of Brazos River, Wichita River, Pease River, Buffalo Gap, The Staked Plains (Llano Estacado), Doan’s Crossing on the Red River (historic site); Georgia; Mexico: Paso Ganado, Matamoros Steamer; Kansas: Abilene, Dodge (Long Branch Gambling House), Mulberry Duck Creek south of the Arkansas River, Sawlog Creek, Jetmore City, Solomon River, Western Kansas, Beaver Creek, Republican River; Oklahoma: Fort Sill, Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, Washita River; Colorado: North Fork of the Canadian River, South Platte River; Montana: Culbertson; Nebraska: Ogallala, Blackfeet Indian Agency, Helena, Black Hills, Rosebud River, Sweet Grass, Musselshell River, Fort Benton, Teton River, Two Medicine Creek, Silver Bow, Sun River, Missouri River; Wyoming: North Platte River, Horse Creek, Squaw Creek, Powder River, South Fork of the Cheyenne River, Yellowstone River, Crazy Woman Creek, Tongue River; Nebraska: Deadwood]
October 23, 2018
General Overview
A detailed journal of the true cowboys. Probably not what my first journey into the Western genre should have been.
Style
The Log of the Cowboy is a transcription of the writings of Andy Adams, of his memories of moving a great herd of cattle across the wilds of the American West. Told from his perspective, they are clear, interesting, and truly help to paint a picture of activities. The book feels episodic, with each chapter an almost standalone tale after the first few.
His personal experiences really sell the West. This is not a work of pure fiction, it being set firmly in real events. Therefore, it is not as exciting as what I had maybe thought I would read. However, its telling of real events is put over well enough by Andy Adams, that it is a slow but interesting read. For myself anyway.
Story
As I have briefly covered so far, this is the story of Andy Adams, who, after his brother’s success, signs on with a cattle herd to take them north. Fortune, and adventure await them if they are successful.
They come across a great variety of challenges along the way. From Native American's, and rivers, to thieves and stampedes, all that could get in their way does. But there is never a threat. It never feels like things aren't going to go well. Obviously rarely does a book plunge into a spiral of failure, but some do pose the threat of it really well. This book sadly doesn't for me.
It is interesting though, and the episodic feel of the chapters make it a slow but pleasant ride.
Final Thoughts
If you've delved into the Western Genre before, give this a go. If not, maybe try something that’s a bit more fictional.
A detailed journal of the true cowboys. Probably not what my first journey into the Western genre should have been.
Style
The Log of the Cowboy is a transcription of the writings of Andy Adams, of his memories of moving a great herd of cattle across the wilds of the American West. Told from his perspective, they are clear, interesting, and truly help to paint a picture of activities. The book feels episodic, with each chapter an almost standalone tale after the first few.
His personal experiences really sell the West. This is not a work of pure fiction, it being set firmly in real events. Therefore, it is not as exciting as what I had maybe thought I would read. However, its telling of real events is put over well enough by Andy Adams, that it is a slow but interesting read. For myself anyway.
Story
As I have briefly covered so far, this is the story of Andy Adams, who, after his brother’s success, signs on with a cattle herd to take them north. Fortune, and adventure await them if they are successful.
They come across a great variety of challenges along the way. From Native American's, and rivers, to thieves and stampedes, all that could get in their way does. But there is never a threat. It never feels like things aren't going to go well. Obviously rarely does a book plunge into a spiral of failure, but some do pose the threat of it really well. This book sadly doesn't for me.
It is interesting though, and the episodic feel of the chapters make it a slow but pleasant ride.
Final Thoughts
If you've delved into the Western Genre before, give this a go. If not, maybe try something that’s a bit more fictional.
January 3, 2020
I really enjoyed this book, published in 1903. It is clearly written, although I did not always understand some of the cattle-moving terminology. The only reason I gave it 4 (really 4 1/2 stars) is that the Kindle edition does not include the map or illustrations.
There is a lot of fascinating and little-known detail. From the necessity of team work, we see that men were able to put aside some of the bitterness of the Civil War. Blacks seem to have been treated fairly for the most part, and Adams took note that there were places where Blacks were treated as equals. There was still a sense of some danger to be had when encountering Indians -- fears of theft or the potential for being attacked by the warriors. What is also interesting is that the 3,000+ head of cattle brought up from Mexico were destined for the Blackfoot Agency to be provided to the Indians in Montana. The particular group he describes was led by an able and intelligent foreman; the owner of the herd was generous and well-respected, and the older and experienced drovers did what they could to keep the younger lads out of trouble. Yes, there is an incident in which someone was killed in a bar dispute (leftover bitterness from the Civil War and general hotheadedness being responsible); there are some tall tales, accidents, and a lot of sheer hard work. I was most surprised to learn that a good drive with plenty of grass and water along the route actually fattened the cattle up; I really thought the opposite would be true, but intelligent leadership and good conditions on the trail brought a desirable outcome (although there were plenty of opportunities to lose one's herd as well). Definitely a great read, and don't get discouraged if you don't know all the terminology or old-fashioned slang.
There is a lot of fascinating and little-known detail. From the necessity of team work, we see that men were able to put aside some of the bitterness of the Civil War. Blacks seem to have been treated fairly for the most part, and Adams took note that there were places where Blacks were treated as equals. There was still a sense of some danger to be had when encountering Indians -- fears of theft or the potential for being attacked by the warriors. What is also interesting is that the 3,000+ head of cattle brought up from Mexico were destined for the Blackfoot Agency to be provided to the Indians in Montana. The particular group he describes was led by an able and intelligent foreman; the owner of the herd was generous and well-respected, and the older and experienced drovers did what they could to keep the younger lads out of trouble. Yes, there is an incident in which someone was killed in a bar dispute (leftover bitterness from the Civil War and general hotheadedness being responsible); there are some tall tales, accidents, and a lot of sheer hard work. I was most surprised to learn that a good drive with plenty of grass and water along the route actually fattened the cattle up; I really thought the opposite would be true, but intelligent leadership and good conditions on the trail brought a desirable outcome (although there were plenty of opportunities to lose one's herd as well). Definitely a great read, and don't get discouraged if you don't know all the terminology or old-fashioned slang.
December 23, 2020
There was a time every boy (and lots of little girls) wanted to be a cowboy. This book brings back those times in the words of a Texas teenager who embarks on his life's first great adventure as a cowboy on an epic cattle drive from south Texas to Montana. Listed as fiction, the story lacks the dramatic "folderol" of most western fiction, being based on the author's experiences of a decade on the trail in the late 1800s. It surely was part of the research McMurtrey and Michener did when they wrote other mythic cattle drive fiction in "Lonesome Dove" and "Centennial." Both of those wonderful stories echo with the events and dialog in this book. It has been in print since its first publication in 1903.
In many ways, "The Log of a Cowboy" is a coming of age story in a more innocent and honest time. It is about the satisfaction of doing a hard, dirty job well, about the thrill of exploration, learning to take responsibility, teamwork, friendship and about the beauty and danger of the vast American prairie.
Warning: there is language in this book offensive to modern, politically correct standards. But there is no sadistic violence, no gratuitous sex, no buildings blown up, no innocent people wantonly slaughtered. These are cowboys with the compassion to pull a calf out of a boggy river bottom. And they have much to teach us.
I particularly recommend this edition of the book because it has a wonderful introduction by Donald Reeves, the Curator of Cowboy Culture at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. His introduction is written with the knowledge of a scholar and the poignance of a man who loves and respects the history and traditions of the American West.
In many ways, "The Log of a Cowboy" is a coming of age story in a more innocent and honest time. It is about the satisfaction of doing a hard, dirty job well, about the thrill of exploration, learning to take responsibility, teamwork, friendship and about the beauty and danger of the vast American prairie.
Warning: there is language in this book offensive to modern, politically correct standards. But there is no sadistic violence, no gratuitous sex, no buildings blown up, no innocent people wantonly slaughtered. These are cowboys with the compassion to pull a calf out of a boggy river bottom. And they have much to teach us.
I particularly recommend this edition of the book because it has a wonderful introduction by Donald Reeves, the Curator of Cowboy Culture at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. His introduction is written with the knowledge of a scholar and the poignance of a man who loves and respects the history and traditions of the American West.
April 8, 2023
(If I could, I'd give this 3 1/2 stars) I have to hand it to Adams in that he details just about everything going on during a incredibly long and dangerous cattle drive in which in the end, they actually had more heads than they started with. These cowboys were that good. Adams conversational writing style puts you on the trail as he describes the West beautifully. But it's also dangerous as the cowboys chase after the stampeding cattle and have to make split-second decisions in trying to head them off, and then having to round up strays, all with little sleep. It's amazing when you learn what a cowboy is thinking on the trail. It's intense. But you learn all this within the first 200 pages or so of the book, so the rest -- 187 pages -- is repetitive with another river crossing, another round of stories at the nightly campfire, another stampede, and so on. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this book, up to around page 200. I just think a good editor and publisher back then should have had a long talk with Adams about tightening the draft. One other thing. In this day and age, it's still somewhat shocking to some of us to be reading along and suddenly out of the blue comes the n-word. It stopped me. Adams uses it to name one of his horses and uses it when describing Black men. He doesn't call anyone the n-word, he uses it as a descriptor. I know the history of the word and know that it was more common back then for it to be loosely said. I bet Adams would argue that he meant no harm; it's what he learned growing up. Anyway, I'm not saying it should be edited out, like those folks who removed all the n-words in an edition of Huck Finn. It's authentic of its time, which Adams captures in an important addition to our Western canon.
August 13, 2023
Although this is a fiction, this felt more like a nonfiction in its believe-ability. So much so, I've actually read that people have made the mistake in thinking this is a nonfiction detailing the actual log of a cowboy during a long cattle drive. Given that this was written based on the author's own experiences as a cowboy, it makes sense. It was his attempt to give people an unromanticized depiction of the West.
Overall I enjoyed the book, but it's because the West is an interest of mine. I think only people interested in cattle drives and the West would find it as interesting, as things do get rather tedious and monotonous at points. Even repetitive, as the terrain rarely changed. Land, then rivers, land then rivers. I struggled in sections of the book because of this, but it makes sense that there would be lulls in a cattle drive. It'd be hellish if the entire drive was action upon action. I wished the empty chapters were less drawn out, but at the same time, it did make it feel like we were right alongside the cowboys for the ride.
The dialogue was a bit rough to get through, especially the chapters where characters sat around to tell stories at their campfire at night. It felt awkwardly written, clunky, and some of the stories told by the characters felt aimless. Thankfully that's few and far in between.
I would also like to point out, this was written in 1903. As you would expect, the language chosen for certain races is unfortunate. Including the decided name of the main character's favorite black horse. Such is the ugly truth of our history. Just as a heads up for anyone who was interested.
Overall I enjoyed the book, but it's because the West is an interest of mine. I think only people interested in cattle drives and the West would find it as interesting, as things do get rather tedious and monotonous at points. Even repetitive, as the terrain rarely changed. Land, then rivers, land then rivers. I struggled in sections of the book because of this, but it makes sense that there would be lulls in a cattle drive. It'd be hellish if the entire drive was action upon action. I wished the empty chapters were less drawn out, but at the same time, it did make it feel like we were right alongside the cowboys for the ride.
The dialogue was a bit rough to get through, especially the chapters where characters sat around to tell stories at their campfire at night. It felt awkwardly written, clunky, and some of the stories told by the characters felt aimless. Thankfully that's few and far in between.
I would also like to point out, this was written in 1903. As you would expect, the language chosen for certain races is unfortunate. Including the decided name of the main character's favorite black horse. Such is the ugly truth of our history. Just as a heads up for anyone who was interested.
December 3, 2023
If you're interested in the old West trail, this is a unique opportunity to get a closer look at a cowboy's day to day life, written by someone who actually worked the trail for a number of years in the late 1800s.
That being said, despite it being a work of fiction, it is hardly a novel.
In fact, it seems to be a curated compilation of several episodes of a typical cattle drive, that were either lived or heard of by the author during his days on the range. This makes the book fascinating and somewhat monotonous at the same time, as it depicts in great detail how to turn a stampede, handle bogged cattle or fix a waggon wheel.
Another interesting aspect about the book is that it is not in the least politically correct. It reflects the southern mentality of the post-civil war, and freely employs the 'N' word and dispenses unkind remarks towards Indians. This was a sign of the times and should be taken as part of the historic realness of the book, but if you're particularly sensitive to such topics this may not be a book for you.
My final remark relates to my previous comment on "curated compilation". In a cattle drive that extended over 3.000 miles and 5 months, going through cities such as Dodge and Ogallala, commonly known as the Sodome and Gomorrah of the Old West, there is not a single remark or allusion to any man on the outfit soliciting the services of a prostitute or frequenting a brothel.
In my view, this is another reflection of the mentality of the time, when it may have been acceptable to call your horse "Nigger boy" but not to openly talk about prostitution.
All in all a great read, but only for those who are curious of life in the Old West.
That being said, despite it being a work of fiction, it is hardly a novel.
In fact, it seems to be a curated compilation of several episodes of a typical cattle drive, that were either lived or heard of by the author during his days on the range. This makes the book fascinating and somewhat monotonous at the same time, as it depicts in great detail how to turn a stampede, handle bogged cattle or fix a waggon wheel.
Another interesting aspect about the book is that it is not in the least politically correct. It reflects the southern mentality of the post-civil war, and freely employs the 'N' word and dispenses unkind remarks towards Indians. This was a sign of the times and should be taken as part of the historic realness of the book, but if you're particularly sensitive to such topics this may not be a book for you.
My final remark relates to my previous comment on "curated compilation". In a cattle drive that extended over 3.000 miles and 5 months, going through cities such as Dodge and Ogallala, commonly known as the Sodome and Gomorrah of the Old West, there is not a single remark or allusion to any man on the outfit soliciting the services of a prostitute or frequenting a brothel.
In my view, this is another reflection of the mentality of the time, when it may have been acceptable to call your horse "Nigger boy" but not to openly talk about prostitution.
All in all a great read, but only for those who are curious of life in the Old West.
October 2, 2018
Author Andy Adams wrote The Log of a Cowboy in 1903, based on his personal experiences working on cattle drives. Adams was frustrated by glorified versions of cowboy life written by other authors, and he wanted to set the record straight. He did a splendid job of describing the work of cowboys on cattle drives during a time of transition in the Western United States. In the process, he provided modern readers with a classic, an authentic look at cowboy life in the past. The reader is exposed to the intricacies of cattle drive management, and the endless problems that arise on the trail. I was engrossed in the story, and did not want the cattle drive to end.
This book is a must-read for readers who are interested in expanding their knowledge of cowboy life, cattle drives and western history. Some dialogue and descriptions seems stilted, possibly due to over-zealous literary copyeditors of the time. Lengthy storytelling around the campfire provided welcome entertainment during down time from driving unpredictable livestock over hundreds of dusty miles. Thankfully, Andy Adams' voice prevails. The author has succeeded in sharing a candid real-life view of cowboy life on the trail.
This book is a must-read for readers who are interested in expanding their knowledge of cowboy life, cattle drives and western history. Some dialogue and descriptions seems stilted, possibly due to over-zealous literary copyeditors of the time. Lengthy storytelling around the campfire provided welcome entertainment during down time from driving unpredictable livestock over hundreds of dusty miles. Thankfully, Andy Adams' voice prevails. The author has succeeded in sharing a candid real-life view of cowboy life on the trail.
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