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Grass Beyond the Mountains #2
Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy: A True Account of Life on the Last Great Cattle Frontier
The second in Richmond Hobson's beloved a trilogy, Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy , continues the adventure of cattle ranchers Rich and Pan.
It is a story of hardship and endurance--of cattle drives, frozen faces, and marauding wolf packs. It is the story of the cowboy way of life--the starry nights and mountain air. And it is the story and mystery of the author's recurring vision of the blonde dream woman who broke into his solitary existence.
Rich Hobson and his business partner, Panhandle "Pan" Phillips, have established themselves in British Columbia's wild interior as successful cattle ranchers. But their skills are about to be put to the ultimate test as a harsh winter arrives--and so does the Great White North's entrance into the Second World War. With intolerable weather conditions and a shortage of supplies, Rich and Pan will have to pull out all the stops in order to ensure the survival of themselves and their livelihood.
From the celebrated author of Grass Beyond the Mountains comes a true adventure story, told by a natural rancher, pioneer, and storyteller.
It is a story of hardship and endurance--of cattle drives, frozen faces, and marauding wolf packs. It is the story of the cowboy way of life--the starry nights and mountain air. And it is the story and mystery of the author's recurring vision of the blonde dream woman who broke into his solitary existence.
Rich Hobson and his business partner, Panhandle "Pan" Phillips, have established themselves in British Columbia's wild interior as successful cattle ranchers. But their skills are about to be put to the ultimate test as a harsh winter arrives--and so does the Great White North's entrance into the Second World War. With intolerable weather conditions and a shortage of supplies, Rich and Pan will have to pull out all the stops in order to ensure the survival of themselves and their livelihood.
From the celebrated author of Grass Beyond the Mountains comes a true adventure story, told by a natural rancher, pioneer, and storyteller.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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174 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 26, 2023
Great story of one of the last great true wests on earth. Well-written and highly entertaining, it will transport you.
Book 2 in a trilogy about Rich and Pan and their modern day Wild West adventures.
1) Grass Beyond the Mountains
2) Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy
3) The Rancher Takes a Wife
🐎 🐎 🐎
Book 2 in a trilogy about Rich and Pan and their modern day Wild West adventures.
1) Grass Beyond the Mountains
2) Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy
3) The Rancher Takes a Wife
🐎 🐎 🐎
August 14, 2021
Probably the most exciting book I've ever read .
June 3, 2023
Very good.
November 4, 2018
This sequel to Grass Beyond the Mountains is ALMOST as good, maybe 99% as good. Rich Hobson is back along with Pan Phillips, continuing their adventures as top hands on a gigantic ranch in the Chilcotin. I checked out the old TV series, but it looks pretty namby-pamby. In real life the cowboys were experiencing near-death situations which had me on the edge of my seat. I was impressed that when Rich Hobson's society mother from New York arrives, she loves the area so much that she buys a home in tiny Vanderhoof! At the end of the book, Rich finally meets the "dream girl" that he has envisioned so often on his lonely cattle drives. Now it is on to the third book in the trilogy, The Rancher Takes a Wife.
May 21, 2020
Second time reading this account of life as a cowboy in the interior of British Columbia set during the Second World War years. It’s a rollicking good read. A book full of tall tales. And my 11 year old enjoyed many sections of the book, though some of it went over his head. What jumped out at me this time was the names of the places and areas now that I’m living in British Columbia, just north and west of where this book was set. And the various conditions people lived in. Some people like to say the stories are greatly embellished and unbelievable but having worked in similar settings with cowboys in the remote bush of Northern BC and the Yukon with horses, I can say with truth it doesn’t take long for crazy, unbelievable things to happen. Rich Hobson is the consummate cowboy/bushman storyteller for the pioneer cattle ranches on northern B.C. I really do need to find his other two books and read them.
April 17, 2022
The real cowboys of northern B.C. - 10 days taking hundreds of head of cattle through waist-deep snow and minus 60 degree weather is the most harrowing tale in this wonderful book, but it never stops entertaining and enlightening. Beginning in 1939 - beef at 1 cent a pound, and facing huge labour shortages as men went to war - and carving out a living high in the frozen north. Hard-bitten, hard-working, hard-drinking, strong and determined men - this 1951 autobiography is a great follow-up to 'Grass Beyond the Mountain' and a fascinating insight into the early history of British Columbia and real cowboy culture.
November 29, 2024
This is the second in a trilogy of memoirs by Rich Hobson. What a great series, makes one very thankful for modern comforts!
Hobson and his partners were pioneering ranchers in BC's interior. This volume talks about what ranch life was like during the war years (WW2). It also talks about what made their ranches so valuable and some of the hardships they went through to make them profitable. That's where the phrase "nothing too good for a cowboy" comes from.
At turns hilarious and informative, I really enjoyed this book. At the end, in a surprise ending, Hobson finds his dream girl which sets up book three, The Rancher Takes a Wife.
Hobson and his partners were pioneering ranchers in BC's interior. This volume talks about what ranch life was like during the war years (WW2). It also talks about what made their ranches so valuable and some of the hardships they went through to make them profitable. That's where the phrase "nothing too good for a cowboy" comes from.
At turns hilarious and informative, I really enjoyed this book. At the end, in a surprise ending, Hobson finds his dream girl which sets up book three, The Rancher Takes a Wife.
December 31, 2020
I love the way he writes and the adventures were incredible. I don't know if I have ever described a book as a "page turner" for ages. Now I must read his other books.
April 27, 2022
Loved the book. What a life; so different from ours.
November 1, 2012
Cowboys, living in the beautiful British Columbia Interior, what is not to love!?
When I realised that one of my favourite TV shows from High School was based on a true life story and book series, I knew I would have to read it.
Fast forward to now. I had to buy the Ebook, as the book was hard to come by. I was drawn into the story right away, but quickly learned I didn't start right at the beginning. Nothing Too Good for A Cowboy was book 2 of 3.
The story starts with Rich and Pan coming up with a game plan for the winter of 1939. They have a lot of cows and have to get them to the various parts of their territory for the winter. It than follows Rich through the cold Interior winter.
Even in 1939 this was a barren, cold land. They were 100's of miles from civilization. At times 100 miles from the nearest man, let alone townsite. This was the last great wild space. These men were pioneers. They cleared the land, built the roads, built their own houses. It's a little hard to believe that just 50-70 years ago all of this interior BC forest was unclaimed, untouched by man.
These men had to be a bit of everything all rolled into one. They were not just cowboys, responsible for the well being of their cows and horses. They were navigators, wandering the woods without roads and usually without maps. They were engineers building roads, constructing houses, barns, corrals, putting up fences, even draining meadows and swamps to create fields. They were bushmen, hunting for their food, fishing, cutting down tree's, crossing rushing, freezing white water rivers, fending off wolves and bears and every other predator out there for both themselves and their livestock. They were Doctors, looking after themselves and their mates. Rich had to perform surgery on one of his hands, hands (ha!) to stop the blood poisoning from spreading to his heart and killing him. They were veterinarians taking care of their livestock, overseeing the birth of new livestock. They were cooks, making something edible out of what little they sometimes had. Being creative and making food last when they had to. They had to be quick on their feet, to react to anything in a heartbeat. These men were more than just cowboys, they were supermen, heros.
Some of the stories were familiar to me, especially falling into the potato cellar. So they must have been incorporated into the television show.
The chapter on the wolves was amazing. It really showed me what a great man Rich Hobson was. His greatest enemy was also something that he showed such a great, deep respect for.
"Despite the Northern Wolf's brutal killing methods and even though he nearly put our outfit out of business on several occasions, I still have a great liking and respect for him. Strange wolf howls floating up and out of the forest still give me an inexplicable feeling of exaltation. A feeling that the great, untouched wilderness of BC is still unconquered by Man."
His story of his Wolf nearly broke my heart and did have me in tears.
If you have any interest in cowboys and new frontiers than I can highly recommend this book. While he does get a little technical in places, it isn't unreadable to the non-technical person. I found it to be fascinating. It was beautiful and I do plan on reading book 1 and 3 now that I read this one.
When I realised that one of my favourite TV shows from High School was based on a true life story and book series, I knew I would have to read it.
Fast forward to now. I had to buy the Ebook, as the book was hard to come by. I was drawn into the story right away, but quickly learned I didn't start right at the beginning. Nothing Too Good for A Cowboy was book 2 of 3.
The story starts with Rich and Pan coming up with a game plan for the winter of 1939. They have a lot of cows and have to get them to the various parts of their territory for the winter. It than follows Rich through the cold Interior winter.
Even in 1939 this was a barren, cold land. They were 100's of miles from civilization. At times 100 miles from the nearest man, let alone townsite. This was the last great wild space. These men were pioneers. They cleared the land, built the roads, built their own houses. It's a little hard to believe that just 50-70 years ago all of this interior BC forest was unclaimed, untouched by man.
These men had to be a bit of everything all rolled into one. They were not just cowboys, responsible for the well being of their cows and horses. They were navigators, wandering the woods without roads and usually without maps. They were engineers building roads, constructing houses, barns, corrals, putting up fences, even draining meadows and swamps to create fields. They were bushmen, hunting for their food, fishing, cutting down tree's, crossing rushing, freezing white water rivers, fending off wolves and bears and every other predator out there for both themselves and their livestock. They were Doctors, looking after themselves and their mates. Rich had to perform surgery on one of his hands, hands (ha!) to stop the blood poisoning from spreading to his heart and killing him. They were veterinarians taking care of their livestock, overseeing the birth of new livestock. They were cooks, making something edible out of what little they sometimes had. Being creative and making food last when they had to. They had to be quick on their feet, to react to anything in a heartbeat. These men were more than just cowboys, they were supermen, heros.
Some of the stories were familiar to me, especially falling into the potato cellar. So they must have been incorporated into the television show.
The chapter on the wolves was amazing. It really showed me what a great man Rich Hobson was. His greatest enemy was also something that he showed such a great, deep respect for.
"Despite the Northern Wolf's brutal killing methods and even though he nearly put our outfit out of business on several occasions, I still have a great liking and respect for him. Strange wolf howls floating up and out of the forest still give me an inexplicable feeling of exaltation. A feeling that the great, untouched wilderness of BC is still unconquered by Man."
His story of his Wolf nearly broke my heart and did have me in tears.
If you have any interest in cowboys and new frontiers than I can highly recommend this book. While he does get a little technical in places, it isn't unreadable to the non-technical person. I found it to be fascinating. It was beautiful and I do plan on reading book 1 and 3 now that I read this one.
December 28, 2014
Rich Hobson continues his tale of the 4 million acre Frontier Cattle Company that he and Pan Phillips, with financing and management from George Pennoyer, built "north of the 53rd" in BC's Chilcotin Country. "Grass Beyond the Mountains" took the reader to 1937 and the first herd of cattle trailed into the ranch. Nothing too Good for a Cowboy picks up the story in 1939. The war has begun and manpower will be scarce but Pan and Rich decide to stick it out rather than fold the ranch.
By this time the reader is familiar with the country, the people (of which Hobson introduces a great many more) and the cowboys' ability to do the impossible. One of the problems is not enough hay in one location, necessitating dangerous cattle drives in the dead of winter from one hay meadow to the next. There may be millions of acres of grass but the meadows are separated by millions of acres of jackpine jungle with centuries of deadfall blocking the way. A 60 mile trip may be only 30 miles as the crow flies.
Civilization has a way of catching up. A "road" is cleared from Quesnel to Anahim, allowing an enterprising soul to begin trucking freight with a second hand Ford truck. A "wagon road" is cleared from the home ranch to Anahim and equipment and supplies no longer have to be packed in. Eventually trails are cleared on the ranch, meadows are drained and developed, by mid-war cattle prices improve and they begin trailing cattle to Vanderhoof to be shipped by rail to the Vancouver Stockyards.
But Hobson has woman problems. For several years, a blonde girl has from time to time appeared in his dreams. He has no idea who she is or where to find her. Until his mother comes to visit. His mother is well connected in NYC and France where she has been alternating since Rich's father died. She falls in love with the country, the ranch and the people, buys property in Vanderhoof and begins developing it with a big fancy house. On the mantle is a picture of Rich's dream girl and a prize Jersey bull. Apparently she is a relative of friends of his mothers who live in Vancouver. No, she doesn't know her name.
Rich Hobson accompanies the next shipment of cattle to Vancouver. Her mother's friends have left for Argentina. His only hope is the Jersey bull. There is a cattle show just ending in Chilliwack and he grabs a taxi. Sure enough there she is showing cattle at the show. Fade to black and open the curtain in the next book "The Rancher Takes a Wife". Which I have just now downloaded from Kobe. Stay tuned.
Grass Beyond the Mountains: Discovering the Last Great Cattle Frontier on the North American Continent
The Rancher Takes a Wife
By this time the reader is familiar with the country, the people (of which Hobson introduces a great many more) and the cowboys' ability to do the impossible. One of the problems is not enough hay in one location, necessitating dangerous cattle drives in the dead of winter from one hay meadow to the next. There may be millions of acres of grass but the meadows are separated by millions of acres of jackpine jungle with centuries of deadfall blocking the way. A 60 mile trip may be only 30 miles as the crow flies.
Civilization has a way of catching up. A "road" is cleared from Quesnel to Anahim, allowing an enterprising soul to begin trucking freight with a second hand Ford truck. A "wagon road" is cleared from the home ranch to Anahim and equipment and supplies no longer have to be packed in. Eventually trails are cleared on the ranch, meadows are drained and developed, by mid-war cattle prices improve and they begin trailing cattle to Vanderhoof to be shipped by rail to the Vancouver Stockyards.
But Hobson has woman problems. For several years, a blonde girl has from time to time appeared in his dreams. He has no idea who she is or where to find her. Until his mother comes to visit. His mother is well connected in NYC and France where she has been alternating since Rich's father died. She falls in love with the country, the ranch and the people, buys property in Vanderhoof and begins developing it with a big fancy house. On the mantle is a picture of Rich's dream girl and a prize Jersey bull. Apparently she is a relative of friends of his mothers who live in Vancouver. No, she doesn't know her name.
Rich Hobson accompanies the next shipment of cattle to Vancouver. Her mother's friends have left for Argentina. His only hope is the Jersey bull. There is a cattle show just ending in Chilliwack and he grabs a taxi. Sure enough there she is showing cattle at the show. Fade to black and open the curtain in the next book "The Rancher Takes a Wife". Which I have just now downloaded from Kobe. Stay tuned.
Grass Beyond the Mountains: Discovering the Last Great Cattle Frontier on the North American Continent
The Rancher Takes a Wife
November 16, 2020
I love all the Rich Hobson books! This one didn't disappoint!
August 27, 2013
synopsis:
richmond hobson and panhandle phillips form the frontier cattle company, which becomes one of the largest cattle ranches in british columbia, second only to the gang ranch. their land ranges from bella coola to quesnel to vanderhoof. this story is their tribulations the first winter that they are truely on their own, without a huge backer.
what i liked: learning about the early days of bc. the realities that they had to go through are unimaginable, just to bring the cattle through the winter. people losing feet and hands due to frostbite, cattle dying in droves because of the cold; it is so hard to fathom. the fact that the road only came up to quesnel, and after that everything was either train or horse trail.
what i didn't like: there seemed to be a lot of focus on the other cowboys, rather than pan and rich.
richmond hobson and panhandle phillips form the frontier cattle company, which becomes one of the largest cattle ranches in british columbia, second only to the gang ranch. their land ranges from bella coola to quesnel to vanderhoof. this story is their tribulations the first winter that they are truely on their own, without a huge backer.
what i liked: learning about the early days of bc. the realities that they had to go through are unimaginable, just to bring the cattle through the winter. people losing feet and hands due to frostbite, cattle dying in droves because of the cold; it is so hard to fathom. the fact that the road only came up to quesnel, and after that everything was either train or horse trail.
what i didn't like: there seemed to be a lot of focus on the other cowboys, rather than pan and rich.
January 8, 2009
Second of a trilogy by Rich Hobson.
After losing everything in the stock market crash Hobson, & partner sidekick Panhandle Phillips travel to Northern British Columbia in search of new frontier land. They found the Frontier Cattle Company spanning over a million acres. These are stories from Hobsons first years at the Batannuni Home Ranch on the shores of Batannuni Lake, 100km north-west of Quesnel. I've been spending the past 3 falls working out of cabins on this very lake. A true history.
After losing everything in the stock market crash Hobson, & partner sidekick Panhandle Phillips travel to Northern British Columbia in search of new frontier land. They found the Frontier Cattle Company spanning over a million acres. These are stories from Hobsons first years at the Batannuni Home Ranch on the shores of Batannuni Lake, 100km north-west of Quesnel. I've been spending the past 3 falls working out of cabins on this very lake. A true history.
July 11, 2016
Alison, Central patron, July 2016, 5 stars:
Set in remote British Columbia in the early years of World War II. The young men were going to war, no longer available to ranch. Cows still needed feeding, overseeing, driving to market, etc. Plenty of adventure fighting extreme cold and harsh frontier conditions. You also pick up on Rich Hobson's attitudes toward nature, wolves, first nations -- much more understanding than I've read in memoirs written by white men pre-World War I. I'll read his other book next.
Set in remote British Columbia in the early years of World War II. The young men were going to war, no longer available to ranch. Cows still needed feeding, overseeing, driving to market, etc. Plenty of adventure fighting extreme cold and harsh frontier conditions. You also pick up on Rich Hobson's attitudes toward nature, wolves, first nations -- much more understanding than I've read in memoirs written by white men pre-World War I. I'll read his other book next.
January 11, 2011
This is the second of three books recounting Hobson's amazing experiences while "pioneering" the raising of cattle in British Columbia, just before and after WWII. An unusual topic, but a true story well worth reading.
February 14, 2013
The story follows the first, and chronicles the set up of the ranch and cattle company and the adventures and trials involved. I enjoyed it even more than the first. Off to the library to get the 3rd and final book in this series!
February 27, 2008
Again, absolutely fascinating as a fifth grader. A classic cowboy adventure mixed in with enough of my own hometown heritage to really create a go-to must-read again and again.
June 13, 2008
I love this book! I read it after the tv show went off the air and I've read it numerous times. Definitely worth picking up!
October 14, 2009
Ranching in the Black water area of B.C. - see review for Grass Beyond the Mountains - True Story - Ranch just sold for 4.5 Million
March 12, 2010
Follow up to Grass Beyond the Mountains but by now I was tired of his style. Amazing how values change too - they drain all their swamps.
March 21, 2012
Read my review at my blog.
March 24, 2024
The second book was just as good as the first! The toughness and grit of these frontier cowboys is just amazing to read about. Looking forward to reading the third book.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews