During a time of two world wars and a sluggish world economy, many Northern Europeans left their homelands to build the American and Canadian West with dreams of abundance and new life. Spanning a period from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, To Be a Cowboy recounts the dreams and realities of a father and a son. Otto Christensen came to North America in the early 1900s as an indentured farm worker from Denmark with a dream of becoming a successful farmer in Alberta. His son, Oliver, grew up on his father's farm during the Dirty Thirties and soon realized his dream of becoming a cowboy in the mid-1940s. As a rider at the Bar U Ranch -- the largest, most successful ranch in Canada at the time -- Oliver discovered life as a cowboy could not be his for long. Based on oral history interviews and a treasure trove of family papers, To Be A Cowboy is a compelling memoir that paints a portrait of a dying way of life.
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About the Author
Barbara Holliday was a historian on the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site development project for six years. Born in Manitoba, Barbara moved from one Canadian Navy base to another, dreaming of owning a horse and living in Alberta one day. After that dream came true, she moved to Kelowna, where she now lives with her husband and continues to do work for Parks Canada
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Re-creates a bygone era of early Canadian cowboy history,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: To Be a Cowboy: Oliver Christensen's Story (Legacies Shared) (Paperback)
The experiences of two generations of Danish Canadian cowboys are outlined in Barbara Holliday's To Be A Cowboy, even though the focus is upon cowboy Oliver Christensen's story. Historian Barbara Holliday worked on the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site development project for almost six years: her memoir, peppered with vintage photos throughout, re-creates a bygone era of early Canadian cowboy history,
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