A Texas Cow Boy

Siringo, Charles A., 1855-1928Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.2

Word count: 328K words
Chapters: 33

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Texas Cow Boy by Charles A. SiringoAuthor: Siringo, Charles A., 1855-1928,Language: English, Class: F350.5: United States local history: Mississippi River and Valley. Middle West, Release Date: Dec 15, 2011

Editor's review

A Texas Cow Boy is Charles A. Siringo's firsthand memoir of the West, recording the labor, travel, and daily life of Texas cowboys in the late nineteenth century. Its value lies not in legendary gunfight narratives but in its plain, direct voice, which preserves concrete details of cattle driving, horse breaking, camp food, and the dangers of the trail, offering readers primary-source material for understanding the American western cattle industry. The prose bears clear marks of colloquial speech and its era, and the narrative is loose, yet this is precisely what makes it feel authentic. It is best read as a historical source rather than as a tightly structured literary work. While reading, one may focus on the relationships between people and horses, between people and their companions, and between people and the wilderness, and sense the rhythm of a vanished working life. For readers studying American local history, ranching history, or interested in western subjects, this book offers a plainer reference than film and television portrayals.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in American western history and the history of the cattle industry
Historians and folklore researchers seeking firsthand memoir material
Readers who enjoy firsthand oral-style narrative and do not mind a loose structure
Writers and translators who want to understand nineteenth-century Texas daily life

Not a good fit for

Novel readers expecting tight plotting and literary rhetoric
Readers unaccustomed to nineteenth-century English colloquialisms and dialect
Academic readers seeking systematic ranching history with annotations

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to understand the author's identity and historical context, then skip to specific scene chapters according to interest.
Prepare a simple map of the American West and follow the place names and migration routes mentioned in the book.
Do not scrutinize dialect and colloquial expressions word by word; grasp the scenes and characters' actions instead.
After reading, excerpt details about cattle driving, horse breaking, and camp life as historical notes.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a true memoir?

It is a memoir based on the author's own experiences, recounting the life and work of Texas cowboys in the late nineteenth century; it is not a work of fiction. The narrative is primarily firsthand observation and has an oral quality.

Can readers with only basic English understand it?

The book retains considerable colloquial speech, dialect, and period language, which will pose obstacles for readers with only basic English. It is advisable to use a dictionary or an annotated edition, grasp the general sense of scenes first, and not scrutinize every word.

What are the features of this edition?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg and is a free e-book containing the original English text without modern scholarly annotations. It suits readers who want direct access to the primary text and are prepared to supplement background information themselves.

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About the author

Siringo, Charles A., 1855-1928 Author · American · 1855–1928

Charles A. Siringo (1855–1928) was an American cowboy, Pinkerton detective, and writer. He spent his early years in the cattle country of Texas and on cattle drives, and later turned his own experiences into the memoir A Texas Cow Boy, which preserves a wealth of firsthand detail about ranch work, trail drives, and everyday cowboy life. Its style is plain and colloquial, with a touch of humor, and it is regarded as one of the more representative early cowboy narratives. He also wrote History of Billy the Kid, drawing on famous figures and events of the Western frontier in a reportorial, eyewitness manner. Two of his works are held in this collection. Public information on his early education, family life, and the details of his detective career is limited, so they are not discussed here. Overall, his writing is grounded in personal observation and offers vivid, unpretentious material for understanding nineteenth-century life in the American West.