Want to know how to throw a half-diamond hitch and wield a branding iron? Interested in the recipe for S. B. stew? This authoritative manual by an old-time cowboy explains it all. 600 black-and-white illustrations.

Want to know how to throw a half-diamond hitch and wild a branding iron? Interested in the recipe for S. B. stew? This authoritative manual by an old-time cowboy explains it all. 600 black-and-white illustrations.

Readers brought up on Hollywood westerns will have their eyes opened by this story of a working cowboy. Although he never chased a rustler or rescued a pretty girl and probably couldn't even hire on as an extra in a B-grade western, Ed Alford (or "Fat") has worked cattle most of his life. Fred Gipson's vivid, earthy book about this cowhand, now in paperback, tells what the job is really like, the hardships, the hell-raising, and the sheer monotony of daily tasks.Fat Alford became a cowboy because he didn't think picking cotton was any way for a man to make a living. Although he may not have looked much like a cowboy and certainly started out green, he learned to rope a cow in an impenetrable brush, to break a mean horse, to get by with poor gear, worse food, and sorry mounts in freezing cold or blistering heat and still get the job done.Gipson's warm and rousing account captures the vivid reality of how it was and introduces us to a remarkable character--a working cowhand. This new paperback edition of Cowhand is sure to delight a whole new generation of readers.

When a little boy gets set to spend the day at Grandma's, he's really preparing to go on the cowboy ride of his dreams. With his imagination in tow, he and his pardner (brother) ride their horses (Mom and Dad) to meet their ranch hand (Grandma). After having a great day doing all the things that cowfolk do, this fantastic adventure ends in a wonderfully reassuring way as the cowboy and his "horse" are reunited, just in time to be tucked in bed. This is the quintessential cattle-rustling cowboy fantasy, ideal for all young tots with lots of wonder and imagination in their hearts. Dana Kessimakis Smith was born and raised in Utah. Currently she lives in California with her family, working as a full-time writer and mom. Laura Freeman studied art at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where she lives with her husband and two sons.

In Working Cowboy, Margot Liberty and Barry Head present the oral history of Ray Holmes, a Wyoming cowboy born in 1911. Holmes has spent his life on horseback, herding cattle and doing other work with livestock. Since the time he rode his first horse, Holmes wanted nothing more than to be a cowboy--though his father insisted he would never make a living at it. The determination that started him on his dream has stayed with him throughout his life. Holmes remains a quiet man, averse to bragging but is candid and strongly opinionated. Practical chapters, such as “Some Talk about Cowboys” and “Some Talk about Calves and Calving,” alternate with chapters describing Holmes’s colorful life, including his coping with the blizzard of 1959, listening to the very first radio in the neighborhood, and sleeping with potatoes to keep them from freezing.

Revised to include presidential hats, new celebrity hats, and a fully updated resource listing of custom hatters. The Cowboy Hat Book features an impressive array of cowboy hats, showcasing the wide variety of styles, colors, and fabrics used to create the cowboy hat, now a symbol of America and western culture that is recognized all over the world. Beginning with a brief history of the cowboy hat, the authors go on to explain the building of the perfect hat, its care and feeding, hat etiquette, hat hair, and more. Beautiful photos of real cowboys and movie cowboys sporting their trademark hats illustrate how creases, brims, shapes, and trims are unique to the individual who wears each hat. The Cowboy Hat Book celebrates the history and importance of this unique piece of clothing that hasn't fundamentally changed in more than 100 years. Ritch Rand's family has been making handcrafted hats for over twenty years. His hats have rested on dozen's of famous heads-from presidents to kings and heads of state to movie stars. He lives in Billings, Montana. William Reynolds is president and CEO of the marketing, PR, and advertising agency Banning Company, Inc. The company has a special division that services the western and equine industries. He lives in Malibu, California.