Dakota Cowboy: My Life in the Old Days (Bison Book) [Paperback]

Ike Blasingame (Author), John Mariani (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Bison Book | Publication Date: December 1964

"I've known about Ike Blasingame all my life, knew many of his fellow punchers, white and Indian. Ike was certainly a salty representative of the Texas bronc twister when he came North with that most romantic of cow outfits, the British-owned Matador...[He] takes the reader across the treacherous Missouri River as the spring-softened ice goes out under the horses' feet, into the still wild cow towns, through the round-ups, the prairie fires...There is the authentic smell and feel of the Northern cow country of fifty years ago in the story Ike Blasingame tells." - Mari Sandoz. "Here is one of the most gripping Western tales since Andy Adams' "The Log of a Cowboy" was published in 1903. The telling is considerably like Adams' - warm, human, flavorful. The author, a one-time Matador ranch cowboy, ...lived his story, and he tells it straight in the language of the cow country without contrivance." - "New York Times". "Many of the cowboys who have written about their experiences never really looked at any wider segment of the cattle business than was visible between their horses' ears, but Ike Blasingame did. He paints a big picture without omitting details." - "New York Herald-Tribune".

Product Details

• Paperback: 317 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (December 1964)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803250150
• ISBN-13: 978-0803250154
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am Ray Blasingame, son of the author, February 2, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Paisley Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dakota Cowboy: My Life in the Old Days (Bison Book) (Paperback)

I am the son of Ike Blasingame the author. This is not a fiction book. Every event and place are true. On the map all the creeks and places are in their correct places as well as the tributaries which run into the Moreau River, and Missouri River. There are 3 million acres of the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation leased by the Matador Land & Cattle Co. of Texas who then sub leased to 10 other New Mexico and Texas cattle ranches, all having seperate brands, (like L7, Turkey Track, and DZ). Chief Sitting Bull died in 1899 but Ike Blasingame bought horse from Sitting Bull's brothers, One Bull and Lone Bull.

Ray Blasingame - Paisley, OR

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic cowboy memoir . . ., April 15, 2005

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dakota Cowboy: My Life in the Old Days (Bison Book) (Paperback)

Of all the cowboy memoirs, this is one of the best. Ernest "Ike" Blasingame was barely twenty when he went from Texas to South Dakota in 1904 to cowboy for the Matador Land and Cattle Company on rangeland leased from the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. His account of that experience covers the next 7-8 years, and it's a well-told story full of memorable incidents, cowmen, and horses. There's an excellent balance between informative explanations of the work of cowboys on the ranges and amusing anecdotes, accounts of mishaps and accidents, and nicely drawn descriptions of personalities and behavior revealing depth of character (or lack of it) among his colleagues.

The roll of the seasons and the extremes of weather are well described, including the fatal winter of 1906-07. Indians also figure prominently in the narrative, and you can get a good understanding of the cattle industry itself in the years before the West was transformed by homesteading settlers and small farmers. Demon rum has a role to play in the fortunes and misadventures of these men, and there are insights into the social history of the all-male, bachelor work force who performed the hard labor of working cattle.

Remembered and told 50 years later (the book was first published in 1958), Blasingame tells his story as though it happened yesterday. It is full of youthful enthusiasm and wide-eyed enjoyment of his work and his growing reputation as a fine young bronc rider, taming the company's unbroken horses and winning the respect of the men he works for, who quickly trust him to rep for the Matador at roundups on other ranges.

It's not clear how much of the writing is really Blasingame's. He gives credit to his wife "who wrote this while I talked." And it may well be she to whom we owe the credit for this lucid, well-organized, vividly described memoir. At any rate, as a joint project, it provides a wealth of information and entertainment for anyone interested in the real West of working cowboys. It's a classic. And thanks to the University of Nebraska Press for keeping it in print.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book about cowboy life., July 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Dakota Cowboy: My Life in the Old Days (Bison Book) (Paperback)

This book was read over the air on South Dakota Public Radio several years ago. It is a simply written book about the life of a cowboy at the beginning of this century near Mobridge South Dakota.
I would reccommend this book for children who are wondering about the old west and the life of cowboys.
This is an altogether different type of book than those by Zane Grey or other western authors. The text moves quickly and should be understandable for younger readers. I would think it would be a great book for reading aloud by either parents or teachers.
The auther was an ordinary cowboy who worked with cattle for several years in South Dakota. There are vivid descriptions of the cowboy life including adventures involving, the round-up, stampedes, travel to town, life in the winter, life on the trail, and my favorite rattlesnakes