Andy Adams

Cattle Brands Andy Adams

Originally published in 1906, Cattle Brands, written by Andy Adams, is a collection of 14 entertaining short stories depicting not only the life of cowboys in the wild, wild West, but also the harrowing skirmishes with banditos, thrilling shoot-outs, attempt at and the recapture of stolen chattel from fierce desperados, and much, much more exciting accounts that make one think it all actually happened.
Andy Adams (May 3, 1859 - September 26, 1935) was an American writer of western fiction. Andy Adams was born in Indiana. His parents were Andrew and Elizabeth (Elliott) Adams. As a boy he helped with the cattle and horses on the family farm. During the early 1880s he went to Texas, where he stayed for 10 years, spending much of that time driving cattle on the western trails. In 1890 he tried working as a businessman, but the venture failed, so he tried gold-mining in Colorado and Nevada. In 1894, he settled in Colorado Springs, where he lived until his death. He began writing at the age of 43, publishing his most successful book, The Log of a Cowboy, in 1903. His other works include A Texas Matchmaker (1904), The Outlet (1905), Cattle Brands (1906), Reed Anthony, Cowman: An Autobiography (1907), Wells Brothers (1911), and The Ranch on the Beaver (1927).
"Life on the frontier in the eighties is vividly portrayed in the fourteen stories which Mr. Adams, "a veteran cowboy," has included in this volume. These are tales "of the desperado; of man-to-man difficulties; of queer characters; the adventures of the cowboy in the field of politics, the capture of outlaws by rangers; and the ransom of rich rancheros who have been kidnapped." Some titles are: Drifting North, Bad Medicine, A winter round-up, A college vagabond, The double trail, Rangering, and The story of a poker steer. "These stories are somewhat slight in texture, more suited to the ephemeral needs of a magazine than a bound volume, but they have a ring of sincerity about them and an insight into essentials." "To many people they will seem more enjoyable than the longer stories by Mr. Adams. Their merit lies wholly in the obvious truth to life of the scenes."