Saddling Up Anyway - by Patrick Dearen (Paperback)

About the Book

Author Patrick Dearen brings the reckless and risky adventures of real cowboys to life with colorful stories from interviews with 76 men who cowboyed in the West before 1932 as well as 150 archival interviews and written accounts from as early as the 1870s and well into the mid-twentieth century.

Book Synopsis

Every time a cowhand dug his boot into the stirrup, he knew that this ride could carry him to trail's end. In real stories told by genuine cowboys, this book captures the everyday perils of the "flinty hoofs and devil horns of an outlaw steer, the crush of a half-ton of fury in the guise of a saddle horse, the snap of a rope pulled taut enough to sever digits. Threats took many forms, all of them sudden, most inescapable--a whooshing arrow or exploding slug, a raging river ready to drag him to the depths, and lightning that rattled bones and deafened if it missed, or came with silent finality if it didn't."

Whether destined to be remembered or forgotten, a cowhand clung to life with all the zeal with which he approached his trade. He was the most loyal of employees, repeatedly putting his neck on the line for a mere dollar a day. Patrick Dearen has brought these reckless and risky adventures to life with colorful stories from interviews with 76 men who cowboyed in the West before 1932 as well as 150 archival interviews and written accounts from as early as the 1870s and well into the mid-twentieth century.

Review Quotes

Cowboy life is told best by those who lived it and Patrick Dearen has gathered together some of the best storytellers in the bunch. Saddle up for a wild ride.

Dearen captures the grit and valor of the American cowboy... It is a fresh and honest tribute to the original American cowboy, not the kind seen in movies and television.

Dearen's book will give you a newfound respect for cowfolk as he shares the risky adventures of those who cowboyed the West from the 1870s-1930s... If you don't know much about cowboy life, the stories told in Saddling Up Anyway will shock and awe you. This book is an entertaining read.

Cowboy life is told best by those who lived it and Patrick Dearen has gathered together some of the best storytellers in the bunch. Saddle up for a wild ride.--B. Byron Price, Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West, University of Oklahoma

Dearen captures the grit and valor of the American cowboy... It is a fresh and honest tribute to the original American cowboy, not the kind seen in movies and television.--Ross McSwain "San Angelo Standard-Times"

Dearen's book will give you a newfound respect for cowfolk as he shares the risky adventures of those who cowboyed the West from the 1870s-1930s... If you don't know much about cowboy life, the stories told in Saddling Up Anyway will shock and awe you. This book is an entertaining read.--Meghan Saar "True West"

About the Author

Author of fourteen books, including eight novels, Patrick Dearen was named a finalist for the Spur Award for the best western novel from the Western Writers of America. He has also published a series of children's novels set on the Western frontier as well as six folklore and history books. Dearen received nine state and national awards in six years as a reporter for two Texas newspapers.