Since I'm heading to Texas this summer, I thought I'd read up a bit on it.
The West From a Car Window, by Richard Harding Davis
Loved this. He wrote a series of articles about The West, mostly Texas, for an Eastern magazine whose names escapes me right now, maybe Harper's Weekly, in 1892. This book is the 1903 edition, I think, even though the date says 1892. He looks at the West without too many illusions, even for 1892. He writes about Denver, ranch life, and all kinds of interesting things. He goes to Creed, Colorado, just as it's beginning as a mining town. It's really terrific. Oh, and many of the illustrations were done by Remington, who kicks Russell's ass all over the place.
Life in the Saddle, by Frank Collinson
I had picked this up at a library sale many years ago, and my friend in Clarendon, the one we're going to visit on his ranch, suggested I read it. Collinson and the illustrator both lived in Clarendon for a while, so that's the connection. Collinson came to Texas from England as a teenager in 1872 to work as a cowboy and spent his whole life as a cowboy and rancher. I liked many parts of this book, although since he was an old man when he wrote these pieces, he writes like an old man talks, and that got a little old after a while. Another thing that got real old real fast was the descriptions of the senseless killing of wild animals. I understand that animals die and cattle ranching's about slaughter, but Collinson participated in the extermination of the buffalo in Texas and describes his role in eliminating the grey wolf from Texas as well. Other animals who cross his path don't fare that well either, and that's not even the hunting part. I liked it, but parts of it were too tedious or too graphic for me.
But, as it turns out, I do enjoy a good Pirate tale (not tail) from time to time.
Also, I had to see a theatrical performance of Pride and Prejudice at a friend-of-a-friend's college and it eventually became a game of How Long Can Rachel Stay Awake? 
