Stirrup High

by Walt A. Coburn, Dale L. Walker (Introduction), Fred Gipson (Foreword)

Walt Coburn’s father pioneered in Montana Territory, joined the Vigilantes who chased road agents, and eventually built up one of the biggest cow outfits in the young state. The Circle C Ranch spread over thirty thousand acres in northern Montana, near the town of Malta. Walt is rather small for age fourteen—only “stirrup high” to his pony Snowflake—when he works on the Circle C and learns a lot from the tough cowboys, and from his own scrapes and falls. His summer vacation from school increases in excitement when Kid Curry and other members of the Wild Bunch loom on the horizon. Stirrup High conveys all the know-how and atmosphere of roughing it on a ranch in 1903.

Genres: Westerns

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Bookworm]

This was fantastic; it's a man's reminisces of his fourteenth summer on his dad's ranch in Montana, when he was only 'stirrup high'. I loved it more than I thought I would; he has a Fred Gipson flavour. Walt Coburn did more than the average kid dreamed of doing-he not only helped train robbers get away, but he survived being drug by a spooked horse, went on a cattle drive, and met the governor of Montana-to name a few. If you enjoy the west, and it's writer, you'll want to stop and read this narrative book with it's flavorful characters and interesting history! I'd like to read some of the westerns he wrote..

[Sage Keegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This autobiography is a great coming of age story in the west. Walt Coburn was the son of a true American cowboy a tough old man who pioneered the Montana Territories. This autobiography really gives an idea of roughing it on a ranch in 1903.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walter Coburn tells of his summer as a 14-year-old boy in northern Montana, working on his father's ranch. It is a huge spread of open range, with a large outfit of cowboys. Coburn remembers in vivid detail the incidents of that summer, devoting a large part of his book to the fall roundup, where despite his age and his size (stirrup high) he makes every effort to earn the respect of the other men as a hand. Unlike some books of this kind, Coburn is especially good at bringing to life the personalities of each of the men, from Brewster the range boss to Humpy Jack the nighthawk (horse wrangler) and George L. the cook. He is expert at developing suspense as well, while details of weather, landscape, meals, horses, clothing and gear are also well described.

At fourteen, a boy's feelings run close to the surface, and Coburn shares often the excitement, the anxieties, sorrows, embarrassments, and small triumphs of his days. Besides riding roundup, helping herd cattle across the Missouri River, and enduring a furious electrical storm and flood, he rides with his father in a thrilling cross-country harness race, and he gets to feel like an outlaw when he encounters bank robbers Kid Curry and his Wild Bunch. Nicely touching is saying goodbye to a young friend from another outfit who is returning to his home in Texas. Enjoyable reading for any age. Thanks to the University of Nebraska Press for keeping this fine book in print. Also recommended: "The Home Ranch" by Ralph Moody.

[Luke Keegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really shows how tough it was to live on a ranch in the 1800s. It had a lot of good information about cowboying the traditional way. It included a lot of the things that happened on his first roundup.