Writing the West: Books for Cowboys and Cowgirls

Kids worldwide grow up dreaming of being cowboys and cowgirls. Hollywood has shown heroes on the silver screen sitting tall in the saddle, pushing cows and chasing outlaws across the wild west. Taylor Sheridan’s television series Yellowstone elevated interest in cowboy culture, while also providing a modern day approach filled with soap opera level romance, political intrigue, and explosive showdowns. But living as a working cowboy is not always a life full of action, and history tells us it was often lonesome nights on the range looking at stars and listening to distant coyotes.

   Many of these depictions that blend folklore and fiction got their start in the written word, in books such as Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove and True Grit by Charles Portis, leaders in a genre with many fans. Fellow novelists like Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour keep readers enthralled with their series of showdowns across the western frontier, heroic characters valiantly escaping death and protecting the people they love. These tales offer insights far beyond the plot with glimpses into the western way of life and historical struggles like relationships between the Native Americans and white settlers and the tension between fence building farmers and cattle driving ranchers.

  There’s no doubt these provide great entertainment, but when it comes to educational books about the American west, several writers have managed to capture the joy of a good story and still educate their audience with factual insights and observations.

    Chris Enss is one such writer. She’s a New York Times Best-selling author whose books about the wild west capture everything from outlaws to trick ropers to Hollywood heroes and cattle barons. A few notable ones include: Along Came a Cowgirl: Daring and Iconic Women of the Rodeos and Wild West Shows and How the West was Worn: Bustles and Buckskins on the Wild Frontier. She’s written about everything from Roy Rogers and Dale Evans to mail order brides and the gold rush.

  For those longing for more rodeo based books, the queen of rodeo journalism, Kendro Santos, offers insights into bull riding with her book Ring of Fire: the Guts and Glory of the Professional Bull Riders Tour. Her colleague Gail Woerner highlights the rise of roping in her book Rope to Win: the History of Steer, Calf, and Team Roping, whereas rodeo cowboy W.K. Stratton provides a personal memoir in his book Chasing the Rodeo.

  For cattle drive enthusiasts, The Log of a Cowboy by Andy Adams provides an easy to read and insightful description of the ins and outs of pushing cattle. The Cowboy at Work by Fay E. Ward covers everything from ear marks to ways to work wild cattle, with beautiful sketched illustrations depicting the words on the page.

  Reading these books paints a fuller picture of the history of the American cowboy and cowgirl and the evolution of modern rodeo out of their lifestyles and daily ranch tasks. In the same way that rodeo preserves these traditions even while some ranch tasks become more automated and cattle are shipped to market rather than pushed, these stories prove the past is not forgotten and will never be.