Item description for 2001 COWBOY POETRY CHRIS ISAACS RHYME REASON PACK SADDLE PROVERB SIGNED BOOK 280

"COWBOY POETRY: RHYMES, REASONS AND PACK SADDLE PROVERBS"
WRITTEN BY AUTHOR
CHIRS ISAACS
COPYRIGHT 2001
SINGED / COLLECTORS LIMITED EDITION
#280 / 2000
PUBLISHER - COWBOY MINER

216 PAGES
HARDCOVER w/ DUST JACKET
SIGNED:
TO DAN & LINDA RUSSELL...
MUTUAL FRIEND
JOHNNY 2...
WESTERN HERITAGE
AMERICAN COWBOY
RANCH LIFE
WEST / WESTERN

SOME CONTENT INCLUDES:
CREATION
THE PROPOSITION
ANTIQUES
THE JOURNEY
WHAT'S A NICKEL WORTH
TRIBUTE TO BEN JOHNSON
BILL BURK'S RX
TO THE WANNA BE'S
SAGA OF CAULIFLOWER JOHN
OUT FUMBLED
DYING BREED
VIEJO
OL' PANCHO
ANGELS CAMP
FRED
GOD'S CANVAS
AND MANY MANY MORE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

The first time I met Chris Isaacs was a Prescott, Arizona, during a the cowboy poetry gathering . I immediately recognized a kindred spirit in Chris. We got together later that night, told a few b.s. stories and had some very pleasant conversation. After a while it had become obvious that he had been down (pretty much) the same road I had. Of course the more you work with a person the more you find out about each other, so it wasn't long until I confirmed the fact that this guy wasn't all talk. Chris had been exposed to about every kind of horse activity there is except showing western pleasure classes. He has been a packer , horseshoer, cowpuncher, rodeo cowboy, and even did a few stints a wrangling dudes. He insists he isn't a real cowboy as he didn't work at it as long as he did at some of the other jobs he's had, but it doesn't take long to realize that he's the kind of man that will make land anywhere he goes. A couple d years ago, Chris, Jesse Smith and I got together and decided we would try to book a few shows as a team. As a result, we formed a threesome and have dubbed ourselves the Cardiac Cowboys. So Chris has become more to me than just an occasional acquaintance; he's my pardner. This book is a collection of poetry that not only spans quite a bit of time but also gives you an in site into many different aspects of western life-including the family life of a sometimes vagabond cowboy-and does it extremely well. So, friends, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride! Hasta luego, Pard. Sunny Hancock Cowboy Poet, Lakeview, Oregon

A three-time winner of the Academy of Western Artists "Will Rogers Award", Chris Isaacs is a poet and storyteller who has lived the life that he writes about. He has seen life from a cowboy's point of view for all of his 60-plus years, and his poems and stories are alive with the heart and humor of life from a cowboy's point of view. He can usually find the funny side of any situation, and is considered by many to be one of the finest humorists in the country.

"It always bothers me that so many people seem to think that cowboy poetry is nothing more than funny stories and bad grammar. Nothing could be further from the truth. Good poetry is good poetry whether it is “The Ballad of William Sycamore” by Stephen Vincent Benet, “Maud Muller” by John Greenleaf Whittier, or “Anthem” by Buck Ramsey. The story of an American experience is being related, and if it is well written it should be recognized. Humor has always been a great part of the cowboy poetry genre, but those critics who say that is all cowboy poetry is, need to dig a little deeper."

Chris has been published in numerous magazines, including American Cowboy, Western Horseman and Cowboy Magazine. He has two books of his work published, Bringing it Home, and Rhymes, Reasons & Packsaddle Proverbs. The latter was nominated for the "Western Heritage Award" by the Cowboy Hall of Fame and winner of the "Will Rogers Medallion Award for Excellence" by the Academy of Western Artists. He also has five albums of his poetry recorded. His album "Both Sides" was voted "Poetry Album of the Year" for 1997, by the Academy of Western Artists. In 2002, his album "Out With the Crew" was voted the same honor. 2005 found him the reciepient the Western Heritage Award by the Wickenburg Az CofC, the Gail I Gardner Award from the Arizona CPG and in 2009 he was inducted into the Arizona Culture Keepers.

Chris has worked at many different aspects of the cowboy life from being a full time working cowboy, to rodeoing, to many years as a packer. In between jobs you could usually find him making a living as a horseshoer. He has a passion for good horses and mules, and has even owned a good dog or two. He currently day-works for area ranches and travels the country with his poetry.

A cowboy (Spanish vaquero) tends cattle and horses on cattle ranches in North and South America. The cowboy is normally a ranch hand in charge of the horses and/or cattle, as is the wrangler. In addition to ranch work, some cowboys work in and participate in rodeos, and many cowboys work only in the rodeo.

Antecedents
Originally, the word designated a herdsboy who was employed as a cowherd, often on foot (riding requiring skills and investment in horse and equipment rarely available to or entrusted to a boy). Herdswork was often done - more often with sheep or goats - by minors in Antiquity, and still is in various third world cultures; the teenagers of a South African tribe even maintain a specific traditional form of Nguni stick fighting, to defend themselves and their herds.

But in the western culture, herding cattle was rarely left to boys, except as trainees at least approaching manhood, especially as schooling became generalized, and the term became disassociated from the boyish age, at first retaining the notion of low status often implied by 'boy' in professional designations, later being extended to the whole ranch culture.

North America
During the 16th century, they brought the tradition and their horses, the ancestors of the "wild" mustangs, with them to the New World through New Spain (later Mexico). The mustangs are called wild but in reality these are feral animals as they are descended from domestic horses.

Though popularly considered as an American icon, cowboys are a New Hispanic tradition, which originated in the Central States of Mexico, Jalisco and Michoacan, where the Mexican cowboy would eventually be known as a "charro". Historically, the northern parts of Mexico (New Mexico) originally included most of the territory of the American southwest including Texas. In the early 1600s, the Spanish crown, and later independent Mexico, began offering empresario grants in what would later be Texas to US citizens who agreed to become Mexican citizens and convert to Catholicism. In 1821 Stephen F. Austin and his East Coast comrades became the first yankee community speaking Spanish. Following Texas independence in 1836 even more Americans immigrated into Texas and to the empresario ranching areas. Here they were impressed by the Mexican vaquero culture, borrowing vocabulary and attire from their counterparts.

The buckaroo, also a cowboy of the vaquero tradition, developed in California and bordering territories during the Spanish Colonial period. The word Buckaroo, still a common term in the Great Basin and many areas of California and intermittently in the Pacific Northwest, appeared in 1889 in American English, derived (influenced by 'buck', as folk etymology) from bakhara, itself an anglicized alternate since 1827 of 'vaquero', Spanish for cowherd which only entered English one year earlier and itself originates in the Latin vaca 'cow'.

Following the American Civil War, their culture diffused eastward and northward combining with the earlier cowboy tradition that was following the cattle trails out of Texas northward and westward. Sharing the same base, their traditions became indistinguishable with a few regional differences still remaining.

Over time, the cowboys of the American West developed a culture of their own, a blend of frontier and Victorian values. Such hazardous work in isolated conditions bred a tradition of self-dependence and individualism, exemplified in their songs and poetry.

By the 1890s, the open ranges of the Indian Territory were gone and the large cattle drives from Texas to the railheads in Kansas were over. Smaller cattle drives continued at least into the 1940s, with Arizona cattle driven to the railhead at Magdalena, New Mexico. Meanwhile, ranches multiplied all over the developing West, keeping cowboy employment high, if somewhat more settled.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Western movies popularized the cowboy lifestyle but also formed persistent stereotypes. In pop culture, the cowboy and the gunslinger are often associated with one another.

Much has been written about the racial mix of the cowboys in the West, but cowboys ranked low in the social structure of the period and there are no firm figures. The Cattle on a Thousand Hills by John Ambulo in the March 1887 issue of The Overland Monthly states that cowboys are "... of two classes—those recruited from Texas and other States on the eastern slope; and Mexicans, from the south-western region. ...". Census records bear that out. The cowboy occupation undoubtedly appealed to the freedmen following the Civil War. It is estimated that about 15% of all cowboys were of African ancestry—ranging from about 25% on the trail drives out of Texas, to very few on the northern ranges. Similarly, cowboys of Mexican descent also averaged about 15%, but were more common in Texas and the southwest. American Indians also found employment as cowboys early in the history of the West. Many of the early vaqueros were Indians trained to work for the Spanish missions in caring for the mission herds. Following the dissolution of the reservation system around 1900, many of the Indian trade schools also taught ranching skills to Indian youth.

Thanks for choosing this sale. You may email for alternate payment arrangements. We combine shipping. Please pay promptly after the auction. The item will be shipped upon receipt of funds. WE ARE GOING GREEN, SO WE DO SOMETIMES USE CLEAN RECYCLED MATERIALS TO SHIP. DO NOT BE TOO PERSNICKETY.

Please leave feedback when you have received the item and are satisfied. Please respond when you have received the item.

If you were pleased with this transaction, please respond with all 5 stars! If you are not pleased, let us know via e-mail. Our goal is for 5-star service. We want you to be a satisfied, return customer.

Please express any concerns or questions. More pictures are available upon request. The winning bid will incur the cost of S/H INSURED FEDEX OR USPS. See rate calculator or email FOR ESTIMATE. International Bidders are Welcome but be mindful if your country is excluded from safe shipping.