In the summer of 1979 John Erickson learned that Lawrence Ellzey was looking for a ranch hand. "Lawrence and his son Tom had a cow/calf and yearling operation headquartered on Wolf Creek, some twenty-five miles southeast of Perryton, Texas, and I was interested in the job. There were many qualities I admired in the Ellzey family, but the one which bound us most closely together was our love of ranch life, in all its forms and expressions: the beauty of a sunset on Wolf Creek; the changes in the weather; pride in horses and horsemanship; an endless curiosity about the land and the peculiar...

Erickson's articles and essays have been published in "Texas"" Highways, Livestock Weekly, The ""Dallas"" Morning News, The ""Dallas"" Times Herald," and" American ""Cowboy ."""This collection is arranged by Place; From Buffalo to Cattle; The Cowboy; Cowboy Tools; Ranch and Rodeo; Animals; and This and That.""Many of the pieces are anecdotal, based on Erickson's experiences and observations on ranches. Others required some research and are more historical. Some are essays in which Erickson views contemporary life through the lens of cowboying. But all of them are vintage master storyteller...

"The American cowboy is a mythical character who refuses to die," says author John R. Erickson. On the one hand he is a common man: a laborer, a hired hand who works for wages. Yet in his lonely struggle against nature and animal cunning, he becomes larger than life. Who is this cowboy? Where did he come from and where is he today? Erickson addresses these questions based on firsthand observation and experience in Texas and Oklahoma. And in the process of describing and defining the modern working cowboy-his work, his tools and equipment, his horse, his roping technique, his style of dress,...

"Confessions of a Horseshoer" offers a close and personal look at the mind-set of a professional horseshoer (farrier) who also happens to be a college professor. The book, an ironic and playful view of the many unusual animals (and people) Ron Tatum has encountered over thirty-seven years, is nicely balanced between straightforward presentation, self-effacing humor, and lightly seasoned wisdom. It captures the day-to-day life of a somewhat cantankerous old guy, who has attitude and strong opinions.
Throughout the book, Tatum ponders the causes that led him into the apparently opposing...

The isolated Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle stretched before John Erickson and Bill Ellzey as they began a journey through time and what the locals call "the valley." They went on horseback, as they might have traveled it a century before. Everywhere they went they talked, worked, and swapped stories with the people of the valley, piecing together a picture of what life has been like there for a hundred years. Through Time and the Valley is their story of the river-its history, its lore, its colorful characters, the comedies and tragedies that valley people have spun yarns about for...