If you love cowboys, Indians, cattle drives, and horses, and you can’t get enough of lawmen, gunfighters, gold miners, and ranching — you will like this book. If you love stories of real pioneers that lived during the rush to build our country, ‘Looking Back’ brings them to life. This book is a is a collection of fifty history columns written over the last thirteen years for Working Ranch Magazine. They are real accounts of the men and women who set out to find their place in the world. Each of these explorers and pioneers carved out a piece of the frontier for themselves and their families. All of them, Americans and immigrants alike, came in search of a better life.
Looking Back: Stories of Real American Pioneers” is the collective work of fifty historical accounts of true events that have been thoroughly researched and written in article form by Bert Entwistle, who previously published them in Working Ranch Magazine. Through hundreds of hours of research, Entwistle educates and entertains his readers with endearing stories and first-hand accounts of the westward expansion, frontier life, and the successes and failures along the way.
The stories begin with Manifest Destiny, the annexation of Texas, and President Lincoln signing the Homestead Act, which ultimately opened up reservation lands in Oklahoma’s Indian Territory to development. As the settlers race to stake their claim, stories come to life about the cowboy experience, encounters, and skirmishes with Native Americans, cattle rustlers, and miners hoping to strike it rich. The cattle industry is thoroughly discussed, with informative stories on open grazing, hardships of droughts, deep freezes, and predatory animal attacks. The American fascination with cowboy life is discussed, highlighting the difference between cowboys and cowmen, the necessity of branding cattle, the beginning of cattle wrestling, and the dangers of rodeos of the past.
Author Bert Entwistle is a master storyteller who brings his stories to life with vivid scenes full of thought-provoking facts. His use of quoted materials from handwritten documents and publications adds a sense of romance to the retelling of the tales found within. The artwork which accompanies his stories is both beautiful and emotionally moving.
I could feel the anguish in the painting titled, Waiting For Chinook as the longhorn steer faces the wolves alone and weak from hunger. I enjoyed reading the true story of Bose Ikard versus the character in Hollywood’s adaptation of the movie Lonesome Dove. My heart broke as I read details about the numerous times treaties were broken, leading to the Trail of Tears and the displacement of thousands of Native Americans.
Mr. Entwistle has a gift for writing that leaves the reader feeling like they are listening to an old friend tell stories. Some stories are heartwarming, full of interesting facts, and outlandish lifestyles. Other stories will shake you to the core, making you question the motives and cruelty of leaders from our country’s past. I feel that “Looking Back: Stories of Real American Pioneers” by Bert Entwistle should be required reading in high schools throughout the US.