Cowboys & Cowgirls

This is the true, sweat-and-dirt tale of the feisty cowboy-child who became the most famous black rodeo performer who ever lived.

Set in the vast Wyoming Territory, The Virginian depicts the loneliness and challenge of an unknown land where the whistle of a freight train sounds across great miles of silence, where easy camaraderie - and sudden violence - are found around the campfire, and where the rough honesty of "frontier justice" is just beginning to impose a sense of society on an unruly populace. For Wister, the West represented a territory of adventure that tests the worth of a man. His hero, as John Seelye writes in his Introduction, has his roots in the historical romances of Sir Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper; he is a man who lives by the classic code of chivalry, ruled by quiet courage and deeply felt honor.

Drawing on real-life cowboy tales, G.A. Henty transports young readers back to the early days of America's frontier with a narrative that's as exciting as it is educational. In this "fiercely accurate" adventure, young Hugh Tunstall travels from England to the American West where he experiences firsthand the lawlessness of the Far West. Hugh finds work on a cattle ranch, encounters hostile Indians, and chases kidnappers. The absorbing narrative also offers authentic accounts of mining camps, lumberjacking, cattle ranching and rapping, with some riveting gunfights, wildfires, horse races, roundups and daring rescues! Recommended for all ages.

A master of narrative momentum and suspense, Zane Grey sweeps readers into his stories and makes them feel that things are out of control, that boundaries are being burst. 

In Riders of the Purple Sage, the most famous novel of the American West, Grey creates a hero of epic proportions, a villain of legendary evil and a world in which the landscape is rendered with such force that it seems to express thoughts and feelings, to become a character in its own right. Indeed, Riders of the Purple Sage derives much of its depth and power from passions whose forbidden and overwhelming nature cannot be expressed by human beings and are therefore embodied in the natural world. In his depiction of the relationship between Lassiter, the hero, and Jane Withersteen, Grey breaks other literary barriers: Jane, modelled on the heroines of the nineteenth-century novel, must come to terms with the values expressed by Lassiter - the harsh, "masculine" values of the twentieth century. Their struggles together represent the tumultuous changes society itself was confronting.

The story of a 6th generation Texan, Gaston Davis, who comes from a ranching background as he explores ranches from Montana to Argentina, and everywhere in between. Gaston works alongside American Cowboys from North to Central to South America. The focus of this documentary is on cattle operations in these countries, but the core of the story is for audiences to see that even though they are thousands of miles apart and separated by decades of advancement and technology, the heart of the American Cowboy remains the same, they will forever serve the people on their respective frontiers.

Here’s the story of a prim schoolteacher who married an experienced frontiersman and moved to a hut made of mud on her husband’s newly claimed land in Texas. Henrietta King dealt with every manmade and natural threat known to the frontier as well as consequences of the Civil War. She expanded her husband’s ranch to over a million acres, cared for the health and education of her Mexican ranch hands, and developed a new breed of cattle that could withstand the Texas heat. Meet a woman who was a major influence in the development of South Texas and its churches, schools, lands, and railroads. At her funeral, two hundred cowboys from the King Ranch rode around her grave in salute to "La Patrona." Part of the “Texas Heroes for Young Readers” series. eBook. Ages 5 to 7.

Even girls can be born with true grit . . . here are the true stories of twelve very independent cowgirls. The voices of these women come to life through fun facts, quotes, and photos, and the special qualities it takes to become a hero are revealed. Everyone has the spirit of adventure; these women will inspire you to express your own! Included are: Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, Georgie Connell Sicking, and more!

Descended from the horses of the American West, the wild horses living on the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, one of the most dangerous places on Earth, were a national treasure and a living legend. Strong and fierce, their ancestors were the mounts of the famous lawmen, hardy cowboys, and notorious outlaws who had once ruled the Wild West. Over the years, these horses had inspired many myths, and were said to be guarded by an implacable band of enormous, ghostly stallions that kept them from harm. But in 1994, after decades of suffering through droughts, food shortages, and all the dangers that go with living on a military-weapons testing site, scores of horses suddenly died. And almost two thousand were in such dire straits that they were unlikely to survive. In a race to prevent more tragic deaths,  a team of dedicated veterinarians, cowboys, soldiers, and other professionals worked to relocate the surviving horses and their foals to safety. Then came the challenge of rehabilitating them, and eventually placing them in loving homes with people who could meet the needs of the highly spirited wild animals. This is the dramatic story of these noble horses' celebrated history, their defiant survival, and their incredible rescue. 272 pages. Ebook.