...west was still a rough place. William Dean Ritter had left his small Montana farm two years earlier to become a cowboy. Having learned his craft on... ...st -- that to become a man. This first novel follows him from his Montana farm to a Texas cattle drive. Along the way, he en- counters a big slic... ...intains it wasn’t his fault. I was born and grew up on a small, bottom-land farm that bordered Bighorn Lake where the soil was rich and the winter... ...on. Now, don’t get me wrong -- my folks were good God-fearin’ people and our farm was a great place to grow up for Mary and me, but our nearest ne... ...her’s books and, by sixteen, it was clear to me that I was going to end up a farmer for life if I stayed there. Of course, nobody called me Montana... ...d me, giving me a hug I hadn’t seen the likes of since the morning I left the farm. “Montana, I especially want to thank you. When I turned to you... ... 87 off fast and was very flat. That’s where we were. Lots of ranches and farms, but not much to fix your eyes on as we rode. It all looked pret... ... to be too dry to grow much. Said he planned to irrigate it from the lake and farm it. I guess he never got that far along.” “Where’s Bat now?” ask...

...s the first novel in the series and introduces sixteen year old William Dean Ritter, aka "Montana." Two separate adventures take him from his Montana farm to a Wyoming cattle ranch, Dodge City, Kansas and Texas in his pursuit of the dream to become a cowboy. Along the way something unexpected happens - he becomes a man. The book also introduces Montana's famous horse "Spir...

... west was still a hard place. William Dean Ritter had left his small Montana farm three years earlier to become a cowboy. Having learned his craft ... ... Three years ago I left home to be a cowboy – somethin’ I couldn’t be on our farm. My first real job was at a big ranch in Wyoming. That job was im... ... Unfortunately, they didn’t have the education or skills to do much more than farm or fight. Some became very successful, but there were a lot of ‘e... ...ou to Texas?” “Nice meeting you too, sir,” I answered. “I started out on a farm in southern Montana and left home at sixteen to be a cowboy. I wa...

...arts to obtain the fee instead of the improvment for life only of the parsonage farm, was the cause. And whilst thus warm with mutual malevolence, ...

...e watery gulf. It has its oxen, patient as those of laud, and fortunate is the farmer who succeeds in mastering one of these humble, toiling brutes, f... ...forage for provisions and incidentally to plunder the houses of the Portuguese farmers in the vicinity. While engaged in this freebooting enterprise, ... ...navigators of his time may be thus supplied: Captain Cook, the son of a common farm laborer, was born in the village of Marton, Yorkshire, England, Oc...