John R. Erickson

Here under one cover are the collected writings of John R. Erickson about characters who have entered his life on the High Plains country of the Texas Panhandle. Erickson writes with authority about ranching and cowboying in the modern era, always with an eye for the humor of everyday incidents. Some of his friends are widely known, such as artist Ace Reid and noted fiddle player Frankie McWhorter. Others are cowboys who work the big ranches between the Canadian and Beaver rivers. They share the stage with some of Erickson's four-legged friends: the Phantom Cow, Texie, the Incredible Burping Dog, an Arabian horse called Dandy, Callie the cat, and Eddy the raccoon.

For more than a hundred years, American cowboys have made their living through the skilled use of horse and rope. Whole libraries have been devoted to the horse, but no one, until now, has written a thorough study of the origins and evolution of ranch roping--which differs from arena roping as practiced by rodeo cowboys. Author/cowboy John Erickson studies ranch roping from every angle: its origins in the Old World; old-time loops and throws; the influence of modern team roping; and the endless debate between those cowboys who rope 'hard and fast' and those who 'dally.' Mixing scholarship with his working-cowboy's knowledge of the subject, Erickson tells stories of cowboys who could not resist fitting their loops on "things that ort not to be roped," such as elk, deer, badgers, bears, and bobcats. He tells of jackrabbit roping contests, and of cowboys who roped mice, geese, hogs, wives, or a runaway milk wagon. Anyone who has ever "built a loop" or even thought about it will find this book hard to put down.

A collection of articles and essays by John R. Erickson, which have been published in ""Texas Highways"", ""Oklahoma Today"", ""The Dallas Morning News"" and more. Many of the pieces are anecdotal, based on Erickson's experiences and observations on ranches. Others are more historical.

A book about the texture of modern cowboying in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

Hank starts out to give Pete the Barncat a little scare, but to his surprise Pete turns out to be Sinister the Bobcat. Hank finds himself on a mission to save Little Alfred. Hank stumbles upon Madame Moonshine and gets trapped by Rip and Snort. Will Hank find a way out and will he rescue Little Alfred?

One of the best, if not the best, firsthand account written by a twentieth-century working cowboy. His knowledge of the country, combined with his writing and artistic abilities, make this book required reading."" - Oregon Historical Quarterly""I would rank The Cowboy at Work among the best books ever written about the American cowboy, maybe the best. Every word Fay E. Ward wrote can pass the tests and cross-examinations of the severest critics in his field: The saddlemakers, horse trainers, ranchers, and cowboys who have an uncanny knack for smelling out a fraud. The core of his knowledge is as timely and accurate today as it was fifty or seventy-five years ago."" - John R. Erickson, one of America's best-known working cowboys, in his Foreword to The Cowboy at Work.""Here is a book by a man who knows what he is talking about. Fay Ward, an old time bronco buster, rough-string rider, cowhand, and wrangler, has roped, thrown, and hogtied an astonishing passel of facts and herded them into a vivid corral of cow country Americana.""-Chicago Sun Tribune""Head and haunches above anything else on the subject."" - Arizona Highways

"I never keeled a dug before," a killer horse named Tuerto threatens Hank. What has brought Hank to this desperate situation? Why is he wearing a dress? Is that really Hank at a little girl's party?

What happens when an honest, hard working dog falls heir to a fortune? How is Hank, a steak loving dog, changed so that he would say, "We'd be fools to trade priceless corncobs for a miserable pile of steak scraps"? Hank and Drover fight over "money," put on airs, even quit their jobs, and leave the ranch.

Who's killing the ranch's chickens? What's Ranch Security going to do about it? These are the critical questions in Hank's sixth adventure. A fiendish murderer is loose on the ranch. Never has Hank followed so many clues or interrogated more suspects. Every character in the book turns out to be a suspect--including Hank himself.

Hank's thoughts turn to romance. He decides that he has been working too hard and needs a vacation. Hank goes to visit his true love, Miss Beulah the Collie, and encounters all kinds of challenging situations on the way. Will his intuition and investigating powers be enough?

Hank faces a baffling new mystery which begins with the death of a calf on the ranch. Hank goes on a very dangerous mission to spy on the coyote village and arrest the murderer. A pack of wild dogs also complicates the plot. It takes all of Hank's deductive powers to solve this one

Hank's third adventure opens with Hank in trouble again, so he decides to make a visit to town to see his sister. Sounds innocent enough, but then Hank takes his nieces and nephews on a garbage patrol and gets captured by the dog catcher. Will he find a way out?

The second book in the series opens with Hank defending the ranch against the attack of a Silver Monster Bird. Later he is stricken with the dreaded disease, Eye-Crosserosis. Hank visits the cave of a witchy little owl named Madame Moonshine. On the audio version, Madame Moonshine sings the song "I Am a Witch."

The popular Hank the Cowdog series is based on the humorous antics of the canine Head of Ranch Security. In this first book, Hank and his little buddy, Drover, set out to solve a series of baffling murders on the ranch. Is Hank a suspect? An Outlaw? Can he clear his good name?