1883: In the Texas Panhandle, cowboys refuse to be stigmatized as drinkers and exploited by the wealthy cattle owners who don't pay livable wages. When those very ranchers take away the cowboys' right to own cattle because they believe it will lead to thieving, the cowboys decide to rally and fight.
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1883: In the Texas Panhandle, cowboys refuse to be stigmatized as drinkers and exploited by the wealthy cattle owners who don't pay livable wages. When those very ranchers take away the cowboys' right to own cattle because they believe it will lead to thieving, the cowboys decide to rally and fight.
Read Less
The Canadian River cowboy strike of 1883 really happened. Maybe not exactly like the way Elmer Kelton tells it, but close enough. In the opening pages of the book he uses Hugh Hitchcock to relate what it was like to be a cowboy in the Texas Panhandle and states, "...probably half the cowboys between the Canadian and the Pecos could not have shot themselves in the foot if they had tried. What they did in those days was work, from before they could see in the morning until they could no longer see in the evening." The reason for the strike had something to do with, of course, cattle rustling. The ranchers suspected some of the cowboys were doing it. But when a lynching takes place, on orders from a ranch owner, things really get out of hand....until a jury trial takes place....The Day the Cowboys Quit is probably one of Mr. Kelton's finest books.
xoxoxo
Apr 24, 2007
The 5 stars isn't enough. Elmer Kelton has always been a fine author, but I feel ne outdid his best with this one.
