3 Authors 62 Million Fans and Counting
C. J. Box on Joe Pickett Baxter Black on Audio
Anna Sewell Black Beauty Bicentennial
War Wounds Horses Healing Veterans PM# 40070720
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020 • $5.95
Singing Cowgirl Naomi Bristow
What Works For Us Weaning in the Wilds of B.C.
ST L ! R A UE FI NU SS N I A K OO B
2020 Honourees Rodeo Hall of Fame
IN THE CORRAL
New: Country Music Alberta Wedding! Congratulations to Jared Parsonage and Tulsa Dawn Johnson of Maple Creek, Sask., who tied the knot on Aug 29. Planned initially as quite a large affair, due to COVID the nuptials were scaled back. Tulsa Dawn runs her own business as a registered massage therapist. Jared is a ranked PBR bull rider who has qualified many times for both the PBR Finals and the Canadian Finals Rodeo. The couple resides near Maple Creek.
Western Wall
10
EMPTY SADDLES “I’ve spent much of the ‘COVID times’ working on getting this record out and promoting it. Apart from that, I’ve been staying busy helping a friend in Texas. Just ranchin’, trying to make a hand. Ranching is a passion of mine, and just like music, there’s always something new to be learned. The day you stop learning, you might as well be dead.”
Joachim Fromhold 1947–2020
Honoured Cree Leader Joachim Fromhold of the Mountain Cree Asini Wachi Nehiyawak Traditional Band has passed away. Joe, as he was known to his friends, was a well respected cultural historian, archaeologist, leader, mentor, the author of 35 books, a businessman and innovator in Central Alberta from the late 1960s to early 2020.
Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020
PHOTO BY DEVINA BERGER PHOTOGRAPHY; COURTESY TIM LASIUTA
In August, Colter Wall released his new album, Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs, featuring the old Stan Jones prairie classic Cowpoke. Colter is a young Canadian singer/ songwriter (who happens to be the son of former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall) who has a love for the old cowboy songs and cowboy life. He produced this record himself in the hill country of South Texas, proving that the cowboy “can-do” attitude (or the “Hold my beer and watch this”) attitude is just as prevalent in the recording studio as it is on the ranch. “Producing my own record has been a goal of mine since I started putting out music,” said Wall in an email interview. “It’s a pretty easy gig, to be honest, given you know what it is you’re after.” Wall is influenced by several Canadian artists, including Lewis Martin Pederson — a Saskatchewan poet, songwriter, and cowboy — and the iconic Ian Tyson. Like every other musician out there, Wall was benched when the world stopped turning.
It’s a new name, a new look and a fresh approach to country music and the folks that make it happen. The organization hosts their own Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and, of course, their iconic broadcast, Country Music Alberta Awards. This reinvention spurred on by the pandemic has also opened the doors to exciting online concerts. Be sure to check their website often. You can also get a “heads-up” of upcoming events sent right to you — and yes, fans join for free! Find them on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and of course on their website, CountryMusicAlberta.com
GIDDY UP
WITH GREG SHANNON A Campfire Conversation
Cloud’s Legacy: The Wild Stallion Returns Emmy-award-winning wildlife filmmaker Ginger Kathrens knows how to draw the reader in with her storytelling skills in both writing and photography. She earned her spurs filming all over the world for outfits ranging from Animal Planet to National Geographic. It was when filming the two-part series on “Year of the Mustang” for Wild America that she became enamoured with the small band that roams the Pryor Mountains of Montana. This book is the third in the series following the palomino stallion that she nicknamed Cloud. Kathrens photographed the band’s range and their interactions, all without dipping into the Disney-esque trap of anthropomorphising the horses. (Isn’t that a great word? Essentially it means humanising.) It will take you high and away into the mountains and bring you right into the thick of this band of wild horses, and you will begin to care about their future. It’ll also make you appreciate the outdoor skills Kathrens has to write and photograph not just one, but three books of this calibre. It’s life, death and everything in between up in the Pryor Mountains. Be sure to visit thecloudfoundation.org. Cloud’s Legacy, The Wild Stallion Returns by Ginger Kathrens. Softcover, 160 pages, $24.99CAD. Distributed by Fox Chapel Publishers, FoxChapelPublishing.com.
cowboycountrymagazine.com
The other night my son, brother-in-law and nephews got talking around the fire about our favourite all-time Western movies. Even though it was technically a made-for-TV miniseries, I immediately piped up with Lonesome Dove. I was 23 when I first saw it and fell in love with the largerthan-life characters speaking Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prizewinning words and the amazing cinematography showcasing the vivid scenery of Texas and New Mexico. If you’ve seen the movie, you can’t picture anyone but Robert Duvall in the role of Texas Ranger Augustus McCrae (“I hate rude behavior in a man. I won’t tolerate it.”), and Tommy Lee Jones playing the less verbose, more loyal Woodrow F. Call. But, after our campfire shenanigans concluded that night, I went back to the trailer and did some googling only to discover that Robert Duvall was originally supposed to play Woodrow Call. Apparently, it wasn’t until after he read McMurtry’s book that he fought for the iconic role of Gus. After cracking another camper cold one and a bit more time online, I found out that years before the novel was even written, Larry McMurtry created a screenplay version with John Wayne being offered the role of Woodrow! The rest of the parts were offered to the heavy hitters of the day, with James Stewart tapped to play Gus McCrae and Henry Fonda the role of rogue cowboy Jake Spoon, which eventually went to Robert Urich. As the legend goes, John Wayne turned down the part and the project was shelved for more than a decade. I, for one, think everything happens for a reason and nothing great comes easy. I was so enamoured with the series that I wore out my VHS copies of the movie and now have the DVDs, which I will watch with my grandchildren (when they are born and of age). By the way, I will be pushing hard for the names Augustus and Woodrow for my future grandsons!
— Greg Shannon, 840 CFCW Morning Show Co-Host
Email Greg with column suggestions: greg@cfcw.com Hear Greg Shannon & Co-Host Stella Stevens weekday mornings on 840 CFCW! 11
From Wyoming to the World By TERRI MASON
Y
ou name the writing award, this ol’ cowboy has won it. So far, he has sold over 10 million books, and each novel sees him back on the New York Times Best Sellers’ list. His fans span around the world, and his engaging style has made him wealthy. And what did he do with all that money? He bought a ranch. You gotta love this guy. Wyoming born-and-raised author C. J. Box has worked hard for his success. For the first few years of his writing career, he worked full-time and wrote when he could. “Laurie and I ran an international tourism marketing company to encourage travel to the West,” he explained. “So the early books I wrote on airplanes, I wrote in hotel rooms in Germany, you know. Now my office is in the barn loft, so it’s a little more isolated.”
18
C. J. has created the almost-perfect Western hero in Joe Pickett, his star of over 20 novels. Pickett is not your typical largerthan-life, unrelatable male with demons in a troubled past. Instead, Joe is a modernday Wyoming game warden who is a lousy shot, a passable horseman, scrapes by financially and always seems to be accidentally getting a work truck stuck. However, he’s a devoted husband and father, and despite the temptations, he still does the right
PHOTO BY STOCK ADOBE.COM/DAVID
C. J. Box
thing. He is that rarest of all human beings — he is incorruptible. All this, plus, Joe’s elusive friend who always has his back. Nate Romanowski is a falconer and Special Forces guy who moves like smoke through the trees and shoots the biggest handgun made. Woven through each novel is a central plot that reflects today’s concerns, ranging from wind turbines to endangered species. Throw in some shady politicians, downright scary survivalists or some folks that just need killing, and you’re in for a gripping read. How popular are C. J.'s Pickett novels? You ride into any outfitter camp in North America, and you’ll find his books in a packbox. His novels, long dog-eared, line ranch house shelves and are in the glove box of most rodeo trucks. With his Joe Pickett series, C. J. has done for adults what J. K. Rowling did for children — he has inspired a new generation of bibliophiles, and they can’t put his books down. It’s not just women — his crowd at any book signing is 51 per cent women, 49 per cent men — unheard of in publishing. C. J. was on his final leg of his book tour when all hell broke loose, and the world shut down. Months later, I called him at his ranch near Cheyenne for the long-anticipated interview, and outside of not travelling, the pandemic has barely impacted his life.
IMAGE COURTESY PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
“I live in a very rural part of the U.S., in southern Wyoming on a little ranch, and there have been very, very few cases in our county,” said C. J. from his office. “But it’s been such a blessing in a way because sometimes I think I’ve travelled too much,” he said. “I’ve got the next Joe Pickett book done six months ahead of time. And I’ve done tons of fly fishing and golf and just enjoying the summer.” For C. J. and other authors, COVID has provided an uninterrupted writing stretch and has allowed their readers to catch up, and new ones to find his work. “I don’t know how many emails I’ve received or comments on social media, saying ‘During this pandemic, I finally got to your books and I've read all 20 of them now,’” he said. “I get this every single day. So I think the reader has benefitted, in a weird way.” The appeal of the characters in the Pickett series is wide-ranging; Joe is so “real” — he could be your buddy. Nate Romanowski, Joe’s friend and ally, is the pal we’d all love to have — loyal to the bone and dangerous to our enemies. An unusual twist is that all of the characters age in real time. While a reader can start anywhere in the series, like all good stories, try to start at the beginning with Open Season. There’s a bit of Pickett in C. J. himself. Like his fictional hero, C. J. and his wife, Laurie, have three daughters, which brings up my comment that, on paper, he can write
cowboycountrymagazine.com
Joe Pickett Series g Watch for an announcement regarding an upcoming television series! Open Season (2001)
The Master Falconer (2006)
Savage Run (2002)
Force of Nature (2012)
Winterkill (2003)
Breaking Point (2013)
Trophy Hunt (2004)
Stone Cold (2014)
Dull Knife (2005)
Shots Fired (2014)
Out of Range (2005)
Endangered (2015)
In Plain Sight (2006)
Off the Grid (2016)
Free Fire (2007)
Vicious Circle (2017)
Blood Trail (2008)
The Disappeared (2018)
Below Zero (2009)
Wolf Pack (2019)
Nowhere to Run (2010)
Long Range (2020)
Cold Wind (2011)
Dark Sky (2021)
In the most recent book of the series, Joe Pickett investigates a bizarre and unprovoked grizzly attack outside of his range, plus a long-range shooter targets a local judge, and it’s up to Joe to find the answers — and the shooter
19
TRAILBLAZERS
PEOPLE WHO SHAPED THE WEST
John J. Bowlen From P.E.I. to Buckingham Palace By TOM REARDON
ohn James Bowlen quite possibly took the most diverse route ever travelled from P. E. I. to Buckingham Palace. Visiting the Queen in her house was not a lifelong ambition, but here’s how it came to be.
He was born on the family farm near Cardigan, P.E.I., in 1876. At 15 he went to Boston to build his own life. Wages were a dollar a day. He went through several years in that pay bracket then landed a job with the West End Street Railway as a conductor. At $2.25 per day, it was the best a young man with little education could hope for. By 1900, Bowlen had a wife and $1,000, so he returned home to buy a farm. His farm was a success, but he wanted to see the West, so he sold out and took a train to Winnipeg. In Manitoba, he secured a job managing a farm for a fellow whose sick wife needed him back East. When his contract was done, he returned home and began trading livestock, but the West still called. He made the move in March of 1906. The country around Humboldt, Sask., had been opened for homesteading three years prior. He purchased a 160-acre farm near Muenster. Using workhorses, he got his land worked much quicker than his neighbours who were using oxen. At the end of July, a killer frost levelled his crop. Then came the infamous winter of 1906–07. Much of the livestock in Western Canada perished, including Bowlen’s workhorses. He went to Manitoba and purchased 20 horses. 30
Bowlen showing his registered brands, worked into the linoleum of his Edmonton home
They sold in one day at Humboldt. He made two more trips that winter, paid off the bank and turned a $1,500 profit. But, for the second year in a row, his crop froze. He sold his farm and took a homestead and soon found a source of horses at High River. He made two trips West — both profitable. In 1909 while in Fort Macleod waiting for a train, a man trailed 150 horses into town. Bowlen promptly bought the horses. It was mid-January. He rented a section of land with a haystack on it near High River, hired a man to tend herd and resumed his trip home. That spring, he decided to let his horses eat their way to Muenster. In early May he and his crew departed — a month later they were at Provost. The new settlers needed horses and Bowlen sold them in many new towns along the railway: Macklin, Kerrobert, Unity, and past Saskatoon to Muenster. For six seasons he made that trek. Needing a horse ranch and staging area for his annual trip, he bought a place near Rosebud and hired a man to run it. By 1917 the rangeland around his ranch was being homesteaded, so he sold out and bought the Q Ranch, consisting of 100,000 acres and 1,700 horses. Bowlen hired ranch hands and bought a house in Calgary for his family. Canadian Cowboy Country October/November 2020
PHOTOS CAPTURED FROM J.J. BOWLEN THE VICE REGAL COWBOY
J
///
He spent time on his ranch but was often in Calgary. The winter of 1919–20 changed all that. A chinook melted the surface of two feet of snow that crusted over. Sixty miles to the west, Jim Wallace had grassland that the chinook had bared. He allowed Bowlen and crew to trail his horses in for the rest of the winter. That spring Bowlen dealt all his horses, restocked with cattle, then sold out to the cattleman that had bailed him out. At the 1920 Calgary Stampede, he bought a ranch at Alderson, and soon he had 3,000 horses. Every spring he went peddling horses. Otherwise, he was a ‘hands-on’ rancher and even imported stallions from Texas. His Alderson Ranch grew to be Canada’s biggest horse ranch. Bowlen saw the tractor coming, sold his horses and stocked the place with sheep in 1929. In 1931 he was elected to the Alberta Legislative Assembly, and he held that seat until 1944. He sold the sheep ranch and farms at Claresholm, Pincher Creek and Brooks. After a winter in Florida, he bought land at Cochrane and Carseland. John James Bowlen was appointed LieutenantGovernor of Alberta in January 1950. In 1956, the old horse trader was invited to Buckingham Palace for a private audience with the Queen. He was the first Lieutenant-Governor from a Dominion to receive such an invitation. J.J. Bowlen was Alberta’s longest-serving viceroy, and he died in office December 16, 1959. He is buried in St. Joachim’s Cemetery in Edmonton. c
J. J. Bowlen and one of his stallions; ca. 1909. By 1969, this cowboy already had one of two buildings named in his honour.
At $2.25 per day, it was the best a young man with little education could hope for. By 1900, Bowlen had a wife and $1,000, so he returned home to buy a farm.
PHOTO CAPTURED FROM J.J. BOWLEN THE VICE REGAL COWBOY
*I sincerely apologize for the poor images; the Glenbow Museum Archives was still closed at press time. For more on J. J. Bowlen, read Vice Regal Cowboy: Alberta's J. J. Bowlen by Tony Cashman. —Editor.
Bowlen selling horses to settlers at Luseland, Sask; 1911
cowboycountrymagazine.com
31