Book Description

The Wyoming Frontier meets its match in a tough as nails cowpuncher and cattleman named William Pendleton Ricketts. "A natural book with much interesting information. It contains the best account of trailing cattle from Oregon to Wyoming that I have seen." -J. Frank Dobie William Pendleton Ricketts was a cowboy and cattleman to his core. Heading west at a young age from his parent’s home in Kentucky he ended up in the beautiful wilds of Wyoming. Starting out a cowpuncher learning the trade he battled Indians, Outlaw Broncs, Harsh Winters, and anything that the Wyoming range could throw at him. Later in life he owned several ranches around Gillette “The toughest cow-town on the map.” The Sunnyside Ranch and Rawhide Ranch ran thousands of head of cattle in the area. An extremely harsh winter in the year of 1886 taught him a valuable lesson after losing over 75 percent of the herd. Ricketts was one of the first cattleman in the area to put up hay for the winter. He never suffered a serious loss of any magnitude afterwards. He became an honorary life member of the Wyoming Stockgrowers association. Ultimately settling down in Sheridan, Wyoming, W.P. Ricketts lived the frontier as few have. He shares his experiences here in Fifty Years in the Saddle with a truth that can be felt through the ages. This is the western frontier at its finest. From the Foreword: To qualify as a true western cattleman, one must be able to meet the reverses in life as cheerfully as the good things; in this Mr. W. P. Ricketts, who is the author of “Fifty Years In The Saddle” has amply proved himself. On October 6, 1920, Mr. Ricketts fell from a stock-yards fence while shipping cattle to Omaha. This acci­dent resulted in the loss of his left limb. Later he lost the sight of both eyes. To an active man, these were heavy blows, but in his reaction to them Mr. Ricketts proved his right to the title of a true western cattleman. Then as a climax, his wife, Johannah B. Ricketts, passed away in 1941, two years after the completion of the writing of this book. She had been his constant com­panion and nurse during his years of affliction, and car­ried out his wishes. In spite of all these reverses, Mr. Ricketts, now 83 years of age, is never too low in spirits to relish a good cowboy yarn; he is still actively interested in all that goes on about him. In 1942 he attended the Gillette convention of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association, of which he has been a member for 62 years and is an honorary life member. He attended the Birney rodeo on July 4, 1942, and dis­played a lively interest in events there.