|
Post by bobdurham on Feb 1, 2009 9:32:33 GMT -5
Does anyone have any information or sources for Nelson Story's cattle drive from Texas to Montana in 1866? I keep reading mentions of its being a famous drive, the longest drive in history and the first drive to Montana -- but I can't find any info about it.
Thanks, Bob
|
|
|
Post by Herb on Feb 1, 2009 12:23:22 GMT -5
Bob,
I looked in the usual suspects, Hunter's The Trail Drivers of Texas, Dobie's The Longhorns and the Handbook of Texas and could find no mention of it. However, Time Life's Old West series The Ranchers tells of the drive on page 66 and 67.
From what I gathered, it appears that you'll have better luck looking for Montana sources rather than Texas ones.
|
|
|
Post by TRK on Feb 1, 2009 14:10:43 GMT -5
Bob: You can glean some bits and pieces on Nelson Story by going to Google Books (www.books.google.com) and typing in various search terms. I didn't find, however, any references to his 1866 trail drive from Texas to Montana in any books or articles written in the 19th century, but there may be some to be found. There are ample documents showing that Story was in Montana, doing trading, in 1866.
|
|
|
Post by sloanrodgers on Feb 1, 2009 15:14:05 GMT -5
Howdy. I don't know if it was the longest cattle drive because I don't know where a lot of the cattle drives started or where they ended. I do know the end of the trail for Nelson's story was the Bozeman Cemetery. Here's a link with a short biography on him. He was a tough fellow. www.ultimatemontana.com/newsletterarchives/81301.html
|
|
|
Post by bobdurham on Feb 2, 2009 17:12:31 GMT -5
Thanks a lot guys, for ideas of where to look.
Bob
|
|
|
Post by sloanrodgers on Feb 28, 2009 2:38:07 GMT -5
Hey Bob. I'm not sure you're still looking, but I discovered that the last chapter of Marian T. Place's book, American Cattle Drives, East and West is mostly about Story. It looks like a juvenile book, but the cattle tales are interesting. It has some great sketchy ink illustrations by Gil Walker. I'm sure you can pick it up cheap on Ebay, Amazon or somewhere.
|
|
|
Post by bobdurham on Feb 28, 2009 8:54:19 GMT -5
Many thanks, I'll look for the book.
Bob
|
|
|
Post by garyzaboly on May 15, 2009 12:41:42 GMT -5
Nelson Story's long drive was actually retold, in a mostly fictionalized version, in the 1955 Clark Gable movie, THE TALL MEN. It had the cowboys fighting Jayhawkers in Kansas, and Red Cloud's warriors near Ft. Phil Kearney, with Red Cloud himself in a red headdress getting shot off his horse and trampled under the stampeding cattle. Gotta love the movies.
|
|
|
Post by garyzaboly on May 15, 2009 12:43:46 GMT -5
There was also an antebellum cattle drive from Texas to New York City, believe it or not----but I haven't seen any descriptive accounts of it. Must be an interesting story behind that one!
|
|
|
Post by sloanrodgers on Jan 10, 2010 19:32:56 GMT -5
FYI. There's a good article on Story's famed cattle drive by Dan Galiasso in the Winter, 2009 issue of The Cowboy Way magazine in bookstores now. It also includes a few nice paintings by western artist, Bernard Thomas.
|
|
|
Post by Seguin on Jan 10, 2010 21:01:01 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by bobdurham on Jan 11, 2010 9:00:03 GMT -5
That's a great article -- thanks a lot for posting the link.
Bob
|
|
|
Post by sloanrodgers on Jan 11, 2010 10:45:29 GMT -5
Well, the Cowboy Way article is better being newer, illustrated and less accessible. Hmmmppfff!
|
|
|
Post by bobdurham on Jan 11, 2010 15:08:32 GMT -5
I haven't picked up The Cowboy Way magazine yet -- plan to do it this weekend if the bookstores here in Ohio carry it! If not, I may be trying to hit up someone to scan and send me a copy -- hint, hint. The tale of the Nelson Story cattle drive is one of the great ones in the annals of the old west.
Bob
|
|
|
Post by Herb on Jan 12, 2010 23:03:41 GMT -5
Hey Bob,
Somewhat off topic, but if you're interested Palladum Press as been reprinting what they call "The Frontier Classics Library". There's quite a few interesting titles. If you can get your hands on it one of the true classics Andy Adam's The Log of A Cowboy was reprinted a year or so ago, and is well worth acquiring.
I also just received Charles Siringo's A Texas Cowboy, or Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony . While I haven't read it yet, it's a book I've heard about forever.
While Adam's is a work of fiction and Siringo's is autobiographical, J. Frank Dobie considered them the best works on the cattle drive era.
|
|