In our latest offering, Western Horseman Books explores the cowboys, horses, history and traditions of North America's greatest ranches. From the arid grasslands of Arizona to the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, these cowboys have been ranching in time-honored ways for more than 100 years. The cowboys are still horseback, gathering, sorting and branding, just as those who came before them, and the horses they ride are as strong and rugged as the land they travel. Complete with stunning photography and compelling stories that trace history from the late 1800s through today. FEatured ranches: Adams, Babbitt, Bell, Crago, CS, Dragging Y, Four Sixes, Gang, Haythorn, O RO, Pitchfork, Stuart, Waggoner.

Loyal to the Land is a sweeping history of one of the United States' largest working ranches, the Big Island of Hawaii's Parker Ranch. Dr. Bergin chronicles the ranch from its establishment on two acres purchased for ten dollars by John Palmer Parker to the years following World War II and the beginning of a new era of family ranch management under Parker’s grandson, Richard Smart. In this wide-ranging and insightful book, illustrated with more than 250 historical photos, Dr. Bergin first discusses the important Hispanic vaquero roots of ranching in Hawaii. He then relates the histories of the five foundation families, providing rich and detailed information on key members who contributed to the Ranch's success. The balance of the book examines every aspect of Parker Ranch development: management, labor, improvements and diversification of livestock, veterinary and animal care programs, and the Ranch’s role and influence on the Big Island and the state.

A unique volume of information and colorful anecdotes about historic ranches, located throughout the American West. In all, almost sixty ranches are profiled, covering twelve states. From the King Ranch in Texas, to the Hash Knife in Arizona, Bill O'Neal tells the history, color and lore of these legendary ranches. O'Neal is a noted Western historian who has written seventeen books and more than 400 articles and book reviews. He has always been captivated by the mystique of the vanished ranching frontier and now he has brought that mystique and lore to life.

Examines the role of the ranchers in shaping the American West and probes their contributions to the nation's cultural development

This heartfelt and often personal work continues the story of the Big Island’s Parker Ranch, one of the largest and most beautiful cattle ranches in the United States. It begins with the dynastic transition in ranch management from the formidable A. W. Carter to his son, Hartwell, who would be responsible for bringing the ranch effectively into the twentieth century. Although supervision of the ranch officially changed hands in 1937, A. W.’s wide-ranging influence continued to be felt for at least another decade. Later Hartwell Carter would also have to contend with the whims of ranch owner Richard Smart, who returned to the Islands in 1959, eager to take direct control of his estate. Under Carter’s stewardship, Parker Ranch raised its cow herd size by fifty percent and, through its subsidiary, Hawaii Meat Company, converted its beef marketing from a range-finished animal to a feedlot-confined, corn-fed, marbled carcass acceptable to the modern housewife. Hartwell Carter was followed by his assistant, Richard (Dick) Penhallow, as ranch manager in 1960. Penhallow’s tenure is given a detailed overview that illuminates his ambitious goals for improvements in water, land, livestock, personnel development, and the economics of the beef industry. Although Penhallow’s grand scheme for reorganizing an inefficient and divided industry into a single cooperative using state-of-the-art facilities ultimately failed, the subsequent history of beef marketing in the Islands bears out the soundness and wisdom of his ideas. In 1962 Smart selected Radcliffe (Rally) Greenwell as Penhallow’s successor. The new ranch manager arrived with strong, traditional values of stewardship handed down from generations of Kona ranchers. Greenwell’s initiatives were clear: to further enhance water development and increase the cow herd by thirty percent. He also instituted research to determine the cause of a scourge among young cattle called yellow calf syndrome. As the nine-year management of Greenwell unfolds, the book offers a close look at the leadership team of the era, which included Harry Kawai, John Kawamoto, Willie Kaniho, Yutaka Kimura, John Lekelesa, and Harry Ah Fong Ah Sam. The author, who became ranch veterinarian in 1970, also provides personal insights in the later sections of the book into the use of the element copper to greatly enhance the growth and health of cattle and the birth and expansion of the ranch’s Animal Health Program. The work concludes with the introduction of the mainland management team of Rubel and Lent, whose attempt to return to a pyramidal management structure took Parker Ranch by storm.

The book chronicles the history and impact of over a dozen great North American ranches.

“The new image of the cattle country that emerges from Atherton’s pages is no less romantic than the prior stereotype; he writes vividly.” —Chicago Tribune Cowboys, gunslingers, and superpowered marshals dominate fictionalized accounts of the American West, but they were minor figures in the true history of the region. In The Cattle Kings, Lewis Atherton restores the leading role to the cattlemen—the genuine adventurers who opened the plains, built empires, and brought prosperity, law, and order to the West. This classic history of the West tells the true stories of rugged cattlemen like Charles Goodnight, Shanghai Pierce, the Lang family, the Marquis de Mores, and Richard King, who were attracted by the challenge of the frontier and the astounding economic opportunities it offered. Self-reliant and progressive, these young individualists revolutionized ranching. The new industry transformed the West, bringing law and order to infamous sin towns like Abilene and Dodge City and leaving an indelible mark on America’s national history and character. Atherton dramatically recreates the realities and economics of everyday life on the ranches, including the role of women, attitudes toward education and religion, and the philosophy of the cattle region. Now with an updated foreword by Western historian Timothy Lehman, this new edition of a beloved classic reveals the true heroes of the legendary cattle kingdoms that created the West. “Containing little glamour and much neglected history, this excellent book will appeal to students of the West, Old and New, and to addicts of history who prefer fact to fireworks; it belongs in all comprehensive collections of Western Americana.” —Kirkus Reviews