Every time a cowhand dug his boot into the stirrup he knew that this ride could carry him to trails 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 inescapablexa 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 didnt 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 men who cowboyed in the West before as well as archival interviews and written accounts from as early as the s and well into the mid-twentieth century.
