FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  May 17, 2007
CONTACT:  Martyn Beeny, (605) 773-8161, martyn.beeny@state.sd.us

New book from South Dakota State Historical Society depicts real cowboy life

PIERRE, S.D.—Jump on a horse and ride across wide-open South Dakota with George Philip in the South Dakota State Historical Society’s newest book, Cowboy Life: The Letters of George Philip. Twenty-one letters from Philip to his children depict the life adventures of cowboys in the open-range era.

In a time when the law of the range governed behavior and nothing but the occasional tree broke the horizon, George Philip saddles up for his uncle Scotty Philip’s outfit. During his years as a cowboy, Philip traveled the range from Fort Pierre south to the Nebraska border, north to the Grand River, and west to Rapid City. His letters take the reader galloping into rattlesnake country on ornery horses, where they can share the dreaded Texas Itch and take midnight rambles in graveyards and trips to Mexico.

Philip does not romanticize life on the range; instead, he tells it as it was—boils and all. He provides fascinating insights into the development of the West, South Dakota and the cowpuncher’s existence, from branding and roping to navigating across the plains by stars and buttes. Cowboy Life mixes humor, hard-nosed “horse-sense,” and poignant reflection, injecting people and places with life, and making us yearn for bygone years.

Cathie Draine, Philip’s granddaughter, provides the introduction to the book, offering insights into Philip’s later law career and his character. The book also features 20 pen-and-ink drawings from award-winning Black Hills artist Mick B. Harrison. In an afterword, Richard W. Slatta, author of Cowboy: The Illustrated History and Cowboys of the Americas, places Philip’s experiences within the wider context of ranching in South Dakota in the years of the open range.

Draine and Harrison will sign copies of Cowboy Life at the Journey Museum in Rapid City, Saturday, May 19, from 1-4 p.m. Draine will also be available to sign books at the Philip Centennial in Philip, Saturday, June 16, from 2-5 p.m.

Available for $25.95 plus shipping and tax, Cowboy Life can be purchased from most bookstores, or ordered directly from the South Dakota State Historical Society Press.  Visit www.sdshspress.com or call (605) 773-6009.