THE GREATEST CATTLE DRIVE

by Paul I. Wellman ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

In 1866, Nelson Story did what was supposed to be impossible and what nobody had dared to attempt before. He drove a large herd of longhorn steers from Texas to Virginia City, Montana. It meant bringing the herd through territory considered to be impassable because of hostile Indians, numerous rivers and 1000 miles of a terrain that included all the extremes. The author has fleshed out the fabulous drive from the skimpy data available. He does it in a thoroughly readable way with a minimum of fictionalized dialogue. His previous books for younger readers include Gold in California and Race to the Golden Spike, among others. He is uniquely at home in describing the West of this period and he shares his know-how about early mining, cattle and cowboys in memorable detail. Mr. Wellman is especially good at revealing an essential point about Story and the cattle barons who followed where he led. These were cowboy businessmen trading on the economic circumstances of their times. No Yankee peddler drove a better bargain or made a more imaginative investment than Story in bringing meat on the hoof to the hungry, isolated miners of Virginia City, where he had started with a gold strike himself. The illustrations of Lorence Bjorklund are expertly well-drawn and lively.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1964

Categories: NONFICTION