Customer Reviews

Grass Beyond the Mountains: Discovering the Last Great Cattle Frontier on the North American Continent

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Outstanding! This book was an absolute, heart pounding thrill to read. An epic illustration of the unstopable drive of the human heart and the unyeilding will of man to print his own name across the pages of time. Men and women of a class that survives now, only in the memories or our lost heritage. People with unconquerable spirit and no notion of the impossible. If comparison were possible, this book would be the Bendigo Shafter of non-fiction but even the endless imagination of the great Louis L'Amour could not stand against the unforgiving truth of a land not tamed by man. The writing is clear and descriptive, showing the obvious education and experience of it's author, a man who chose ranching by choice rather than out of necessity. As the pages turn, the reader gets a look into the lives of these mountain men and without effort, we learn to understand each and every character, almost to the point of friendship. Quite an accomplishment in a fast-paced 250 page book. The pride, drive, knowledge, and respect of these men for the world they lived in is unparelleled. Though I was forced to perform certain daily activities, my mind never left the book until I could complete it's last inspiring page and sit breathlesly paralized in awe and admiration of this newly created dream world. This is the greatest book that I have ever been given the pleasure to read and I don't hesitate to say that the next two books I read will be the conclusion to it's sequence.

This book debunks the cowboy myth and shows the life of a rancher the way it really is. Well written, with tragedy and humor on every page, this book also shows the relationship between man and horse the way it should be. If I hadn't already been there, I'd go looking for a cowboy job now.

There was a time, that can be recalled by just a few who are still alive, when northern British Columbia Canada was much like the American West. This book describes the adventures involved in surviving and prospering in cattle country. When you are done with the book you will feel that you have learned enough to lead a winter cattle drive through unknown country. As Pan says in the book, "Nothin' to it, nothin at all.

Nothing to reading it, that is. This is one of the first nonfictions books I've read that I have ever liked. I got interested in it when I saw the TV show 'Nothing Too Good For A Cowboy' and had to read the books. This book made me laugh and almost made me cry. The characters are too funny and very heart-warming.

Pan Phillips had the "Pan Phillips International Airport" at his fishing camp beyond Anahim Lake B.C. For several years, we flew into his little airport between 2 lakes. Pan told us some of the same stories that are in this book. Louis Soukup was one of the first pilots to the area. Louis would fly in, any equipment that Pan needed, on the pontoons of his airplane. This book gives the stories as though you were sitting at the feet of the men who were the first settlers in this area of British Colombia. It is really an adventure to read.

We own the Legacy Ranch high in the mountains of Northeastern Utah. For years we have loved the beauty of the unspoiled wilderness. Nursing newborn elk calves, watching Canadian Lynx outside their lairs, and many other adventures have cast us in the mold of lovers of the wilderness. To read the adventures of true cowboys, who started with nothing else but their "grit" and ended up with lives spent plumbing the depths of fun and hard work was one of the top literary experiences of our lives. This book, far better than the sequels, will be part o four Christmas giving this year.

Great detail and wonderful reading pleasure. Can't wait to read the other two sequels about life in the Western North American Continent. Though situated in Canada, no story could be any more American than the true tales of Mr. Hobson.

Here I am ordering another copy of this book. I keep "loaning" them. I received my first copy in the mid-1950s as a horse/cowboy-loving teenager in Indiana. My USFS Ranger uncle sent it to me because he knew....!!! Knew it would be another huge nudge in getting me out to the Great Pacific Northwest other than just for visits. I made it in 1968 and my husband and I have visited the area depicted in the book countless times. I will soon turn 70 and have enjoyed reading this book every few years throughout my life. It is most compelling. The reviews of others are definitely right on. What more can I say other than, read it?

I live on a ranch in Montana and enjoyed the cowboy reality of this book. Those men were tough! I too am purchasing my second copy to pass on as it is that good.

I found "Grass Beyond The Mountains" to be well written, interesting, and made me feel as if I was experiencing a part of history that was an interesting chapter in the development of the North American Continent.