We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher [Paperback]

E. C. Abbott (Author), Helena Huntington Smith (Author), Nick Eggenhofer (Drawings)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1976

E. C. Abbott was a cowboy in the great days of the 1870's and 1880's. He came up the trail to Montana from Texas with the long-horned herds which were to stock the northern ranges; he punched cows in Montana when there wasn't a fence in the territory; and he married a daughter of Granville Stuart, the famous early-day stockman and Montana pioneer. For more than fifty years he was known to cowmen from Texas to Alberta as "Teddy Blue."

This is his story, as told to Helena Huntington Smith, who says that the book is "all Teddy Blue. My part was to keep out of the way and not mess it up by being literary.... Because the cowboy flourished in the middle of the Victorian age, which is certainly a funny paradox, no realistic picture of him was ever drawn in his own day. Here is a self-portrait by a cowboy which is full and honest." And Teddy Blue himself says, "Other old-timers have told all about stampedes and swimming rivers and what a terrible time we had, but they never put in any of the fun, and fun was at least half of it."

So here it is—the cowboy classic, with the "terrible" times and the "fun" which have entertained readers everywhere. First published in 1939, We Pointed Them North has been brought back into print by the University of Oklahoma Press in completely new format, with drawings by Nick Eggenhofer, and with the full, original text.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edward Charles Abbott "Teddy Blue" was born in the County of Norfolk, England, in 1860. He was brought to the United States as a baby by his parents, who eventually settled near Lincoln, Nebraska, which was full of Texas cattle and Texas cowpunchers in the 1870'S, and there he first joined the trail drives.

Helena Huntington Smith, who recorded Teddy Blue's reminiscences so skillfully, is a free-lance writer. Her special interest in Western Americana is reflected by the many articles on Western subjects she has written for The Saturday Evening Post, Reader's Digest, and other magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 263 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press (November 15, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806113669
• ISBN-13: 978-0806113661
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another one for the "Lonesome Dove" bookshelf. . ., October 9, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher (Paperback)

This is an as-told-to memoir of the early years of a cowboy who grew up in Nebraska and drove cattle along the western trails, settling in Montana, where he worked for several cattle owners, all during the 1870s and 1880s. His story covers that brief period of time when the West was open range, before settlers began putting up fences. It's a story told in the 1930s by an old man to a woman from the East, Helena Huntington Smith, who had the presence of mind to capture his life in the printed word before his generation had passed completely (Abbott died in 1939).

Teddy Blue, as he was called, was something of a rip-tearer in his youth, living up to the wilder stereotype of rangeland cowboys, by his own account. On the one hand, there is the fierce recklessness of herding cattle, which through accident and various mishaps took the lives of many young men. And then there is his life in town, befriending prostitutes, drinking hard, shooting up saloons, and on occasion riding his horse indoors.

His favorite job is working as a "rep" for cattle-owners, going to the regular roundups where cattle were sorted and branded, requiring him to retain a vast knowledge of brands used on the range and other markings. For a while, he works for stockman Granville Stuart, who headed up a vigilante effort that significantly reduced the number of active cattle rustlers in Montana. Stuart eventually becomes Abbott's reluctant father-in-law, after the young penniless cowboy takes a shine to one of his daughters.

The book rambles back and forth in time as Abbott more or less free-associates for Smith. And while scholars may question the accuracy of his memory at points, he was easily one of the more widely known figures of the old West for his personality and antics, not to mention having befriended the likes of cowboy artist and writer Charlie Russell, as well as Calamity Jane, even crossing paths with Teddy Roosevelt. His story makes an enjoyable read and evokes with feeling those early "innocent" days of an adventurous youth lived when the West was young as he was. His admiration for the Cheyenne Indians is, he admits, unusual for a white man of the times. And though they were both the best and worst of times (e.g., the crippling winter of 1886-87), he shares with Charlie Russell a nostalgic belief that they were the good old days, the likes of which haven't been seen since.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in cowboying and the old West. It is full of stories and yarns, social history, frontier customs and mores that make that time come alive with an immediacy and intimacy that are seldom found in records of the period.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful stories. "Recollections of a cowpuncher.", September 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher (Paperback)

Helena Huntington Smith took down Mr. Abbott's stories, organized them, added useful footnotes, and succeeded in her part "to keep out of the way and not mess it up by being literary." I have read a few other fine stories told by western men and women. None were better than these. If you are interested in the history of the west from one white man's perspective, this is an excellent place to find it. In several stories he mourns the destruction of the societies that were in the west before the european invasion. While he is clearly a child of his time, he is remarkably senistive (for his day). Altogether a fine book. I recommend it highly.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of "We Pointed Them North", August 29, 2006

By 

Joan P. Vaughan "Nature Lover" (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher (Paperback)

Americans have been fascinated with our early "wild west" history and much has been written about it in books, movies and TV series. I think most of us realize that most of that "history" has been fictionalized in the interest of entertainment. I find it enlightening to read honest, unvarnished and first hand accounts of that early west and discover just what hardships were endured by the hardy folks who lived back then. This book pulls no punches with glorification, and includes the "down and dirty" events and roughness back then. But you surely put the book down at the end with an appreciation of the endurance, patience, humor, honesty and "make do" attitude of these early cowboys, cattle men and settlers. The book tells of actual associations with some familiar, historical characters, which is more entertaining than fiction for the reality of it. I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates reading genuine, first hand "out west" history (and those who love a good yarn while doing it).