"Steedman...drove 1200 head of cattle from Portland...across Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming to Laramie, encountering deserts, mountain, alkali, plain and Indians." -Des Moines Register, Jan. 15, 1905
"Steedman has told a fascinating story...ways of cowboys, of trails, of horses, of cattle, and of Indians...exceptional vividness...absorbing." -The Critic, 1905
"Steedman...presents the practical side of a cowpuncher...tells how he spent 120 days on horseback and the distance covered was 3000 miles." -NY Times, Dec. 31, 1904
Who in their right mind would attempt to drive 1200 head of cattle over 1000 miles from Portland, Oregon, to Laramie, Wyoming, traversing deserts, mountains, rivers, and wilderness, as well as facing off with hostile tribes on the warpath, angry settlers, and highwaymen?
Montana cowboy and rancher Charles John Steedman (1856-1907) who attempted this feat in 1878 answers this question in his 1904 book "Bucking the Sagebrush; or, The Oregon Trail in the Seventies."
In introducing this book Steedman writes:
"The following account of my experiences during my first trip over the Oregon trail, taken from a diary that I kept at the time and letters which I wrote home, I have written for a dear little friend, my son ....
"Herds of cattle numbering many thousand heads could be driven a thousand miles, practically in a straight line, without meeting an obstacle in the shape of a fence to bar their way, and they subsisted for months on prairie grass alone. Every pound of food was hauled in wagons, for there were only a few points between the Blue Mountains of Oregon and the North Platte, in Wyoming, where a sack of flour or a side of bacon could be bought. Likewise, it was not uncommon to travel two or three weeks without seeing a human being other than your own outfit."
About the author:
In 1876, Charles John Steedman (1856-1907) left Boston for the West, and had Ideas of "careering across the open prairie on a wild mustang, clad in buckskin, with rifle and pistol, spurs and sombrero." His first experience was on a sheep ranch in Wyoming, not far from Laramie City. Being In delicate health with weak digestive powers, at the beginning he had a hard time of it with the poor food. He never rode a mustang or fired a pistol, but he dug post holes and shoveled sand, made hay. and clipped sheep. Work left him exhausted, but soon came health and strength, and then an appetite which could hardly be satisfied. Then there came to the author a desire to become one of the cattle kings; hence he began upon the quest described in the present book.
