Book Description

Yet another dynamic personality emerges from the history of the American West in Cow Dust and Saddle Leather, the life story of Ben E. Kemp, cowman and lawman, as told by his son Benny. Kemp's deep commitment to family and neighbors put no limitations on his diversified talents and interests, and his days were filled with escapades and achievements to be envied by the most foolhardy and irresponsible adventurer. At twenty-one, he was considered the best broncobuster in his part of Texas. In the 1880s, he was a Texas Ranger and took part in the last fight between the Rangers and the Indians. His personal acquaintances included outlaws and grizzly bears, and "the hurricane deck of a Western mustang was his throne. He rode high and wide until drought and barbed wire closed in and open range was no more." In addition to new-found heroes, readers will meet many old friends here: Captain George W. Baylor, the Apache Kid, and Black Jack Ketchum are a few of the figures who appear under new guises in their associations with Ben E. Kemp. The primary source information about the life of the Texas Rangers and the Texas and New Mexico frontier makes this book a real find for everyone who reads Western history-and anyone who likes a rattling good tale. Ben W. (Benny) Kemp was a U.S. forest ranger and Catron County sheriff in the state of New Mexico. Born in 1890, he saw firsthand many of the experiences he relates. J. C. Dykes wrote extensively on the west and was the author of Billy the Kid: The Bibliography of a Legend and coauthor of King Fisher: His Life and Times.