Lone Cowboy: My Life Story

by Will James

1930. Illustrated by the author. The narrative of Lone Cowboy tells how a little boy, hardly more than a baby, becomes an orphan in the West; how an old French trapper, whom the boy calls Bopy, adopts him and takes him on his long, long hunts; how when he is hardly more than a little boy Bopy is lost in an icy river and the child, heartbroken, rides down into the prairie region alone-on his own. James gives a complete and varied idea of how a cowboy lives as he moves toward his remote objective-becoming an artist. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Genres: Biography, Westerns, Memoir, Nonfiction, Animals

444 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1930

About the author

Will 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.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a youngster, this was one of my favorite books and authors. I read this right after I read Smokey, a Cow Horse

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the book, Lone Cowboy by Will James, he talks about his life growing up in the old west in the late 1800s. It's a novel to get a picture of what a cowboy's daily life and background were truly like in the period of U.S.history when ranches were a big part of the western scene. The sketches by James add much charm and character to the book so that we can see just exactly what he was talking about in his story. A really unique aspect that I enjoyed was as a cowboy he draws in his readers with his cowboy voice and way of language like you are on the journey with him. James lived a life of a trapper and a rancher growing up in Canada, Montana and throughout the US. One thing that really was hard to grasp was where and when he was because he bounced around all over the place doing rodeos and ranching or when he goes to jail. Over all this was a very informational and fun book to follow and see the illustrations that he did himself while he was growing up throughout his life.

[Katelynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute BANGER. Idk what to say, but if you like books try to read this one because it's good. It's good because it's good and that's all you need to know. It's kind of old and yeehaw but Will James had a brat summer no matter the season in this book. Except when bad things happened. Bro got that me espresso.

[William Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A part of time gone.

A down to earth read.No nonsense realistic. I enjoyed the book from start to finish. Excellent all round read for folk interested in the American west circa 1880 to 1930 .

[Lisa-Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book while holed up at a Wyoming ranch. James was an authentic cowboy from the early 1900s. He became famous when he wrote “Smoky: The Cow Horse” and won the Newberry prize in 1927. He wrote about 15 or 20 cowboy books in total. This is his “fictionalized autobiography.” What a cool concept. You take your life, and then you re-write it the way you wish it would have happened. He was born to a young French Canadian couple, but the book says he was raised by a semi-crazy fur trapper. He wrote about being orphaned, but he lived with his parents until he was 15. He learned to ride a horse before he could talk. He admits to wild escapades of horse-stealing, after which he served time in Nevada prison. I am not clear which parts were fiction, but I can guess. One redeeming thing is that he was a wonderful artist. He included many pen and ink drawings of horses, ranches and cowboys, which I enjoyed. The best parts of the book described his itinerant wanderings through western America at a time when it was still unsettled. He paints a romantic picture of the Old West and cow camps in general. It made me want to take a road trip.

[Gabbzookz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing autobiography gives account of a life at the turn of the century in the wild west! My favorite part was unexpected, Will is an extra in the movies and has interesting encounters with the stars of the day. I highly recommend.

[Chris Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biography is not the life story I found out after reading it. Still a good yarn by a man that lived the cowboy life.