Paperback, 256 pages
Published January 1st 1979 by McClelland & Stewart
ISBN 0771018622 (ISBN13: 9780771018626)
Genre: Historical Non Fiction/Biography
New or Re-read: NEW
Series: Yes, I accidentally read book 2 first though.
Where I heard about it: I loved the TV show and when I saw it was a book, I knew I had to read it.
Why I read it: This time frame and kind of thing fascinates me. I was familiar with the story from the TV show which I loved. I wanted to know more about his life.
Setting/Time Frame:Interior British Columbia, 1939-1940's.
Spoilers: Probably, it may be hard to write about without them, be warned.
****4 STARS!!****
It was not hard to be drawn into loving the TV show Nothing Too Good for A Cowboy. It all started with a TV movie in 1998, some of the cast was different, but it was a great show. It even included a young Ryan Gosling (sorry I can't find a pic), Yannick Bisson and Sarah Chalke. The movie turned into a tv show which was awesome. Or at least I thought it was.
Cowboys, living in the beautiful British Columbia Interior, what is not to love!?
When I realised it was based on a true life story and book series, I knew I would have to read it.
Fast forward to now. I had to buy the Ebook, as the book was hard to come by. I was drawn into the story right away, but quickly learned I didn't start right at the beginning. Nothing Too Good for A Cowboy was book 2 of 3.
The story starts with Rich and Pan coming up with a game plan for the winter of 1939. They have a lot of cows and have to get them to the various parts of their territory for the winter.
Even in 1939 this was a barren, cold land. They were 100's of miles from civilization. At times 100 miles from the nearest man, let alone townsite. This was the last great wild space. These men were pioneers. They cleared the land, built the roads, built their own houses. It's a little hard to believe that just 50-70 years ago all of this interior BC forest was unclaimed, untouched by man.
These men had to be a bit of everything all rolled into one. They were not just cowboys, responsible for the well being of their cows and horses. They were navigators, wandering the woods without roads and usually without maps. They were engineers building roads, constructing houses, barns, corrals, putting up fences, even draining meadows and swamps to create fields. They were bushmen, hunting for their food, fishing, cutting down tree's, crossing rushing, freezing white water rivers, fending off wolves and bears and every other predator out there for both themselves and their livestock. They were Doctors, looking after themselves and their mates. Rich had to perform surgery on one of his hands, hands (ha!) to stop the blood poisoning from spreading to his heart and killing him. They were veterinarians taking care of their livestock, overseeing the birth of new livestock. They were cooks, making something edible out of what little they sometimes had. Being creative and making food last when they had to. They had to be quick on their feet, to react to anything in a heartbeat. These men were more than just cowboys, they were supermen, heros.
Some of the stories were familiar to me, especially falling into the potato cellar. So they must have been incorporated into the television show.
The chapter on the wolves was amazing. It really showed me what a great man Rich Hobson was. His greatest enemy was also something that he showed such a great, deep respect for.
"Despite the Northern Wolf's brutal killing methods and even though he nearly put our outfit out of business on several occasions, I still have a great liking and respect for him. Strange wolf howls floating up and out of the forest still give me an inexplicable feeling of exaltation. A feeling that the great, untouched wilderness of BC is still unconquered by Man."
His story of his Wolf nearly broke my heart and did have me in tears.
If you have any interest in cowboys and new frontiers than I can highly recommend this book. While he does get a little technical in places, it isn't unreadable to the non-technical person. I found it to be fascinating. It was beautiful and I do plan on reading book 1 and 3 now that I read this one.
****4 STARS!!****
It was not hard to be drawn into loving the TV show Nothing Too Good for A Cowboy. It all started with a TV movie in 1998, some of the cast was different, but it was a great show. It even included a young Ryan Gosling (sorry I can't find a pic), Yannick Bisson and Sarah Chalke. The movie turned into a tv show which was awesome. Or at least I thought it was.
Cowboys, living in the beautiful British Columbia Interior, what is not to love!?
When I realised it was based on a true life story and book series, I knew I would have to read it.
Fast forward to now. I had to buy the Ebook, as the book was hard to come by. I was drawn into the story right away, but quickly learned I didn't start right at the beginning. Nothing Too Good for A Cowboy was book 2 of 3.
The story starts with Rich and Pan coming up with a game plan for the winter of 1939. They have a lot of cows and have to get them to the various parts of their territory for the winter.
Even in 1939 this was a barren, cold land. They were 100's of miles from civilization. At times 100 miles from the nearest man, let alone townsite. This was the last great wild space. These men were pioneers. They cleared the land, built the roads, built their own houses. It's a little hard to believe that just 50-70 years ago all of this interior BC forest was unclaimed, untouched by man.
These men had to be a bit of everything all rolled into one. They were not just cowboys, responsible for the well being of their cows and horses. They were navigators, wandering the woods without roads and usually without maps. They were engineers building roads, constructing houses, barns, corrals, putting up fences, even draining meadows and swamps to create fields. They were bushmen, hunting for their food, fishing, cutting down tree's, crossing rushing, freezing white water rivers, fending off wolves and bears and every other predator out there for both themselves and their livestock. They were Doctors, looking after themselves and their mates. Rich had to perform surgery on one of his hands, hands (ha!) to stop the blood poisoning from spreading to his heart and killing him. They were veterinarians taking care of their livestock, overseeing the birth of new livestock. They were cooks, making something edible out of what little they sometimes had. Being creative and making food last when they had to. They had to be quick on their feet, to react to anything in a heartbeat. These men were more than just cowboys, they were supermen, heros.
Some of the stories were familiar to me, especially falling into the potato cellar. So they must have been incorporated into the television show.
The chapter on the wolves was amazing. It really showed me what a great man Rich Hobson was. His greatest enemy was also something that he showed such a great, deep respect for.
"Despite the Northern Wolf's brutal killing methods and even though he nearly put our outfit out of business on several occasions, I still have a great liking and respect for him. Strange wolf howls floating up and out of the forest still give me an inexplicable feeling of exaltation. A feeling that the great, untouched wilderness of BC is still unconquered by Man."
His story of his Wolf nearly broke my heart and did have me in tears.
If you have any interest in cowboys and new frontiers than I can highly recommend this book. While he does get a little technical in places, it isn't unreadable to the non-technical person. I found it to be fascinating. It was beautiful and I do plan on reading book 1 and 3 now that I read this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment