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Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp by John A. Lomax.

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  1. Chapter 1

    Dedication

    The author dedicates the book to a group of college friends, expressing gratitude and affection for their camaraderie and shared memories.

  2. Chapter 2

    Epigraph

    The epigraph sets a nostalgic tone, reflecting on the end of the frontier era and the passing of the cowboy's wild, adventurous life, while suggesting that the spirit of that time lives on in song and story.

  3. Chapter 3

    Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp

    This chapter presents a collection of poems and songs from the cattle trail and cow camp, capturing the spirit, humor, loneliness, and camaraderie of cowboy life. The verses range from boastful tales and tragic love stories to reflective moments on the open range, celebrating the unique culture and landscape of the American West.

  4. Chapter 4

    Part I: Cowboy Yarns

    This chapter opens with a vivid depiction of cowboy life, featuring poems and narratives that celebrate the rugged, romanticized West. It includes Arthur Chapman's 'Out Where the West Begins,' which idealizes the region's stronger bonds and truer friendships; Henry Herbert Knibbs's 'The Shallows of the Ford,' a tense tale of a lawman confronting an outlaw friend; 'The Dance at Silver Valley,' where Broncho Bill arrives for a dance and a confrontation over Belle McClure; a nostalgic poem about a cattle round-up and a Cattlemen's Ball; a yarn from an old Texas cowman lamenting the loss of the open range; and 'The Clown's Baby,' a story of a circus clown who uses his own baby to delight a rough mining crowd.

  5. Chapter 5

    Out Where the West Begins

    A poetic celebration of the idealized American West, portraying it as a place of stronger handclasps, truer friendships, brighter skies, and a simpler, more generous way of life, where bonds of home are tighter and hearts ache less.

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  1. Chapter 6The Shallows of the Ford
  2. Chapter 7The Dance at Silver Valley
  3. Chapter 8The Legend of Boastful Bill
  4. Chapter 9The Texas Cowboy and the Mexican Greaser
  5. Chapter 10Broncho Versus Bicycle
  6. Chapter 11Riders of the Stars
  7. Chapter 12Lasca
  8. Chapter 13The Transformation of a Texas Girl
  9. Chapter 14The Glory Trail
  10. Chapter 15High Chin Bob
  11. Chapter 16To Hear Him Tell It
  12. Chapter 17The Clown’s Baby
  13. Chapter 18The Drunken Desperado
  14. Chapter 19Marta of Milrone
  15. Chapter 20Jack Dempsey's Grave
  16. Chapter 21The Cattle Round-Up
  17. Chapter 22Part II: The Cowboy Off Guard
  18. Chapter 23A Cowboy’s Worrying Love
  19. Chapter 24The Cowboy and the Maid
  20. Chapter 25A Cowboy’s Love Song
  21. Chapter 26A Border Affair
  22. Chapter 27Snagtooth Sal
  23. Chapter 28Love Lyrics of a Cowboy
  24. Chapter 29The Bull Fight
  25. Chapter 30The Cowboy's Valentine
  26. Chapter 31A Cowboy’s Hopeless Love
  27. Chapter 32The Chase
  28. Chapter 33Riding Song
  29. Chapter 34Our Little Cowgirl
  30. Chapter 35I Want My Time
  31. Chapter 36Who's That Calling So Sweet?
  32. Chapter 37Song of the Cattle Trail
  33. Chapter 38A Cowboy’s Son
  34. Chapter 39A Cowboy Song
  35. Chapter 40A Nevada Cowpuncher to His Beloved
  36. Chapter 41The Cowboy to His Friend in Need
  37. Chapter 42When Bob Got Throwed
  38. Chapter 43Cowboy Versus Broncho
  39. Chapter 44When You're Throwed
  40. Chapter 45Pardners
  41. Chapter 46The Bronc That Wouldn’t Bust
  42. Chapter 47The Ol’ Cow Hawse
  43. Chapter 48The Bunk-House Orchestra
  44. Chapter 49The Cowboy’s Dance Song
  45. Chapter 50The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball
  46. Chapter 51A Dance at the Ranch
  47. Chapter 52At a Cowboy Dance
  48. Chapter 53The Cowboys’ Ball
  49. Chapter 54Part III: Cowboy Types
  50. Chapter 55The Cowboy
  51. Chapter 56Bar-Z on a Sunday Night
  52. Chapter 57A Cowboy Race
  53. Chapter 58The Habit
  54. Chapter 59A Ranger
  55. Chapter 60The Insult
  56. Chapter 61The Road to Ruin
  57. Chapter 62The Outlaw
  58. Chapter 63The Desert
  59. Chapter 64Whiskey Bill—A Fragment
  60. Chapter 65Denver Jim
  61. Chapter 66The Vigilantes
  62. Chapter 67The Bandit's Grave
  63. Chapter 68The Old Mackenzie Trail
  64. Chapter 69The Sheep-Herder
  65. Chapter 70A Cowboy at the Carnival
  66. Chapter 71The Old Cowman
  67. Chapter 72The Gila Monster Route
  68. Chapter 73The Call of the Plains
  69. Chapter 74Where the Grizzly Dwells
  70. Chapter 75A Cowboy Toast
  71. Chapter 76Ridin’ Up the Rocky Trail from Town
  72. Chapter 77The Disappointed Tenderfoot
  73. Chapter 78A Cowboy Alone with His Conscience
  74. Chapter 79Just A-Ridin’!
  75. Chapter 80The End of the Trail
  76. Chapter 81Endnotes