Trails Plowed Under: Stories of the Old West

by Charles Marion Russell, Will Rogers (Introduction), Brian W. Dippie (Introduction)

"Russell writes easily, and in the vernacular. He tells of Indians and Indian fighters, buffalo hunts, bad men, wolves, wild horses, tough hotels, drinking customs, and hard-riding cowboys. . . . [He] lived long enough in the West to acquire a vast amount of information and lore, and he has left enough from his brush to prove his place as a sound interpreter of a stirring period and a fascinating country."-New York Times Brian W. Dippie is a professor of history at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and the author of Catlin and His Contemporaries: The Politics of Patronage (Nebraska 1990).

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

211 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1927

About the author

Charles Marion Russell was an artist of the Old American West.

Reviews

[Alexander Rolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The high rating is partly due to how long it has been since I read stories of cowboys and Indians, but Charlie Russell really is a good storyteller. Nice to see some Montana place names again. I didn't know Charlie Russell wrote a book until I came across this by accident in the library, and I'm sure glad I did; I enjoyed it immensely.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inasmuch as western art is not my favorite genre, I do like Charlie Russell's works. He was an artist and storyteller extraordinaire.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic work of Western nonfiction by a Montana artist whose drawings and paintings helped create the iconography of the early cowboy of the open range. Also a storyteller, Russell wrote this collection of yarns and memories before his death, commemorating frontier life in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. It was published in 1927, with an introduction by Will Rogers in the form of a cowboy eulogy. The original edition featured more than 50 of Russell's illustrations, some of them in color.

Unlike the fairly rollicking account of Teddy Blue Abbott, his cowboy contemporary, Russell's book is a more melancholy view of what he remembers as the good old days. His stories are told in an ironic vernacular by an old-timer cowboy named Rawhide Rawlins. Many concern the adventures of cowboys; many also feature Native Americans, in the early years of the agencies (reservations), portrayed with some complexity of feelings, ranging from fear and distrust to respect. Some are outrageously tall tales. Some are spirited character sketches, capturing something of life on the rough, raw land before settlement and homesteading, the motorcar, and civilization - before the plow broke the prairie sod where buffalo and then cattle and cowboys ranged freely.

One of the finest pieces of Western writing occurs in the last chapter, "Longrope's Last Guard," which describes in vivid detail the experience of riding herd on a pitch dark night as the stillness is shattered by an electrical storm that stampedes the cattle and takes the life of one of the men. The burial of the dead cowboy on the open prairie and the subsequent disappearance of his grave is symbolic of the passing of the brief frontier era Russell's words and pictures embrace.

I recommend this book for its capturing of the historical cowboy as remembered by a man who was there and lived among them. As a companion volume, I also recommend Teddy Blue Abbott's "We Pointed Them North," a well-detailed and more light-hearted recollection of the same time and place.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book at an antique show after initially being drawn to the work because of the classic Charles Russell illustrations. Two years after purchasing this book I finally decided to read it. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Charles Russell, along with being an outstanding visual artist, is also a very good writer of short stories.

The stories cover a range of standard western themes: saloons, outlaws, cattle stampedes, Indians and card games. Originally published in 1927, it is surprisingly enlightened when detailing interactions with native Americans. They are treated with respect, and at times, admiration.

His observations of cowboys are written from a period of time when the open range was rapidly being fenced and cowboy life was changing. Russell, through his stories and illustrations, effectively captured a slice in time when being a cowboy was the epitome of freedom and adventure.

[Lucydad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb, unique, incredible writing by Charles Russell...he crafts short stories as well as paintings.

His direct experience with the Montana country during the short period of true open range, remanent Indian tribes and buffalo is extraordinary. Humor here also, and lots of yarns and cowboy language that is a lost vernacular. I truly enjoyed this book, and Russell uplifted me during a week when our family lost a member, and helped me stay sane.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great storyteller! I live the huge place called Wyoming and these stories struck such a cord with me. I love old cowboys and their stories and this will be reread often when I don’t have an old cowboy in person! Highly recommend.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've heard of it, you're probably gonna read it. And you won't be disappointed.

[Ricardo Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading stories from 150 years ago as told by the famous painter, Charles M. Russell. Includes many interesting anecdotes.

[Cws]

W Rus

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unparalleled stories of the old West.