I Once Was A Cowboy: Sixty Years a Canadian Ranch Hand

by Art Hagen

I Once Was a Cowboy explores wanderlust, the price of gritty, hard work and the simple beauty of working outdoors and with horses. Art Hagen's story is an intimate portrayal of his years as a ranch hand in Alberta and BC, demonstrating a way of life from a time when neighbours and cowboys depended on each other for their livelihood and survival. It is not just the story of one person riding alone but of the comradeship of prairie settlers who would give a rover a meal and a bed for the night and ask nothing in return. Hagen pulls readers into his poignant realization of his dreams of being a cowboy, at a time when the frontiers of BC and the West were still in their infancy and the rodeo was an extension of the daily life of the cowhand. This portrait of a Canadian cowboy is a window into the one of the last of the living ranch hands in this country. The myth of the cowboy is revealed by a real person who lived, struggled and helped to build the West one herd, one fence, one horse at a time.

352 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[David Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good look at the last of the cowboys that used to roam from outfit to outfit in the 40s and 50s. Art tells us first hand of his early love for the cowboy ways. Then lives his dream of an actual cowboy. Through the many roads and places he visits you grow a complete understanding of the cowboy and his close companionship with his horse. There is a romance to his story. Of freedom and satisfaction life gives doing what you love.
Once I picked this book I could not let it down.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sitting down with this book was a comfort from start to finish. Art’s gentle storytelling brings the last hundred years of the prairies to life in a quietly moving way. His memoir certainly adds a great deal to Canadian literature, and gives a worthwhile glimpse into the days and heart of the cowboy.