The author, Bette Wolf Duncan, grew up in southeastern Montana, not far
from the Wyoming border. This is Rodeo Country; and she celebrates this rich
western heritage with poems and photos of regional rodeo champions. She is the
granddaughter of early Montana and North Dakota pioneers; and she was married
to a former cowboy whose grandparents were among the earliest ranchers in
southeast Montana. She can still hear with her heart the pioneers tales of relatives
and other old-timers. This book is the echo of their tales and of good times
remembered.
RODEO COUNTRY contains a collection of poetry and written accounts
that embody much of the history and events that shaped Montana and Wyoming: the
westward movement of the covered wagons; Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West
Show; data and poem about Earl Durand; Wyoming's enactment of the Suffrage Act
(the first state to do so); the Mormon handcart trek through Wyoming; Black
Sunday (April 14, 1935) and the dust bowl; the Johnson County War; the Coal
Mine Disaster at Bearcreek, MT; the disastrous winter of 1885-1886;the
migration of the homesteaders (the Honyockers) from about 1910 to 1922, in
large portions of Montana and Wyoming; and the recession that hit farms/ranches
in the 1980s. And of course the book features bios, stats, photos and poetry
about the rodeo champions from Montana and Wyoming.
RODEO COUNTRY received the 2007 Will Rogers Medallion Award for
Outstanding Achievement in the Publishing of Cowboy Poetry.
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