BOY SETTLER IN THE CHEROKEE STRIP

In the beginning, Mr. Siceloff is ""slow on the draw"", and in the end, his ramblin', meanderin' reminiscences are flat and seem as endless as the western prairie. In the 1890's the ""boy settler"" headed west with his poverty-stricken family; it was a slow, rugged journey for the travelers (and is a dragging one for the reader). The settlers were all engaged in well-digging, fencing, building, plowing and planting -- all fascinating to the new western chap. The trapping of ants and the soaping of railroad tracks exemplify two anecdotes which may interest some readers. But it's mainly an endless caravan -- of bland recollections linked to unremarkable observations of the Old West. It is, however, authentic.