William H. Hudson collected these 51 stories told by cowboys around the
evening campfires in four books by Andy Adams (1859-1935): The
Log of a Cowboy (1903), A Texas
Matchmaker (1904), The Outlet
(1905), and Cattle Brands (1906).
By
the rules of trail drive storytelling, they are factual, as actually happened,
and without exaggeration. Storytellers were not allowed to be boastful or to be interrupted.
The collection makes for an entertaining read, as subject matter ranges
over all sorts of topics, and stories are told with a certain cowboy attitude
that brings them to colorful life.
 |
| Andy Adams, 1904 |
Among a few of my own favorites: 1) an account of a marathon of “bear
sign” (i.e., doughnut) making, 2) Bat Masterson supervising a fractious crowd
gathered for a public speaking event, 3) a case brought before Judge Roy Bean, 4)
an explanation for why the Chisholm Trail forks as told to a gullible
new man, and 5) a dispute between a disagreeable trail boss and his riders
over the count of a herd.
First published in 1956 by the University of Texas Press, Andy Adams’ Campfire Tales was
reissued in 1976 by the University of Nebraska Press, with an expanded and
informative introduction. The book is currently available at amazon, Barnes&Noble,
and AbeBooks. For more of Friday’s Forgotten Books, click on over to Patti Abbott’s blog.
Further
reading/viewing:
Image credits: Adams’ photo, The Critic, 1904
Coming up: TBD
Sounds like fascinating reading. I've either read some of this material or seen excerpts.
ReplyDeleteI first read Adams about 30 years ago, and recently re-discovered several of his books online. He has such a natural and easy narrative style -- I thin most writers would kill for it.
ReplyDeleteWill give it a try as time permits.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff!
ReplyDelete