The Happy Family

Flying U #3

by B.M. Bower

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Genres: Westerns, Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1910

About the author

Bertha Muzzy Sinclair or Sinclair-Cowan, née Muzzy, best known by her pseudonym B. M. Bower, was an American author who wrote novels, fictional short stories, and screenplays about the American Old West. Her works, featuring cowboys and cows of the Flying R Ranch in Montana, reflected "an interest in ranch life, the use of working cowboys as main characters (even in romantic plots), the occasional appearance of eastern types for the sake of contrast, a sense of western geography as simultaneously harsh and grand, and a good deal of factual attention to such matters as cattle branding and bronc busting.

Born Bertha Muzzy in Otter Tail County, MN and living her early years in Big Sandy, Montana, she was married three times: to Clayton Bower, in 1890; to Bertrand William Sinclair,(also a Western author) in 1912; and to Robert Elsworth Cowan, in 1921. Bower's 1912 novel Lonesome Land was praised in The Bookman magazine for its characterization. She wrote 57 Western novels, several of which were turned into films.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata]

Another title in my B. M. Bower list, this is a collection of nine stories, eight of which feature a new member of the Happy Family, Andy Green. Andy is a great bronc rider, with a secret past that he would never tell the other cowboys. At least he never did in any of these stories. Which is kind of surprising, because Andy loved to tell stories. Except that his were romances, and not in the way we are used to using that term. We learn in the story A Tamer Of Wild Ones exactly what Bower means by her use of that word:

Andy Green, once fairly started in the fascinating path of romance, invented details for the pure joy of creation. If he had written some of the tales he told, and had sold the writing for many dollars, he would have been famous. Since he did not write them for profit, but told them for fun, instead, he earned merely the reputation of being a great liar. A significant mark of his genius lay in the fact that his inventions never failed to convince; not till afterward did his audience doubt.

But don't get the idea that Andy just goes around telling lies all the time. He is actually quite honest, and has a strict code of ethics. It is just that he can tell true details in such a way that they seem outrageously false, and his explanations later seem to annoy people more than soothe ruffled feathers. But he is still a great guy, and I enjoyed the time I spent with him.

As usual, I also enjoyed the Bower style. In the story Ananias Green we meet a group of Easterners who are visiting the ranch where Andy was working at the time, just before he leaves to join the Happy Family of the Flying U. There are a few young women, a couple of dudes, and There was another, a giggly, gurgly lady with gray hair fluffed up into a pompadour. You know the sort. She was the kind who refuses to grow old, and so merely grows imbecile. Meow!

Or this about horses from the story Blink which plops us down into a cold wind that has been blowing for days and days: For horses have nerves, and nothing so rasps the nerves of man or beast as a wind that never stops blowing; which means swaying ropes and popping saddle leather, and coat-tails flapping like wet sheets on a clothes line. Horses do not like these things, and they are prone to eloquent manifestations of their disapproval. There is a great deal of understatement in that statement, I assure you!

The only story which seemed to be somewhat tacked on as an afterthought was the final one, titled Lords Of The Pots And Pans. It was a good story, and of course a ranch cook is always a major figure on any spread, but this was the only one in the collection that did not center around Andy Green, although of course he was mentioned a time or two, such as when he and Pink found out that Slim had eaten the pie they had hidden away for themselves (hoping to be able to snack on it during their nightherd duties). But Andy was not the focus here. Patsy the cook was, and he had a gloriously impressive temper tantrum at one point that took everyone by surprise, and would have been a riot to watch.

Overall, another winner in the Bower stable!

[Rhonda Mast]

Yay, another happy family book. We’re introduced to Andy Green, the newest comer to the Flying U. He’s the biggest lier and I’ve always loved lying. He’s basically what I want to be but can’t be because I have annoying morals.

[Garth Mailman]

The Happy Family of the Flying U

B. M. Bower

Seamlessly continues the story begun in books 1 & 2. Sends the chuck wagon, wranglers, and tourists on a wild goose chase to find a haunted “castle” over rough terrain in a canyon. And a series of similar escapades follow. It is to be remembered that cowboys were boys, teenagers, with all the foibles we come to expect from this demographic. And since cattle, particularly young calves attract coyotes, wolves, mountain lions they were also armed. And yes campfire sings and yarning make one think of youth camp but these campers slept outdoors rode herd on the range. Chapters here concern the challenges of riding chuck wagon with a team of four and providing meals for 15 “men”.

Cloudy in the West and Lookin like rain
Damned old Slicker in the wagon again.

And sheep enter the Flying U Range, them’s fightin words. Having been born a farmer I know first hand what sheep do to pasture range and the way cattle and horses avoid them. Grazing sheep across cattle range is the ultimate insult. I’ve always been uneasy with the idea of Annie Proulx calling shepherds cowboys in Brokeback Mountain. True cowboys hated sheep with good reason.

[Garth Mailman]

The Happy Family of the Flying U

B. M. Bower

Seamlessly continues the story begun in books 1 & 2. Sends the chuck wagon, wranglers, and tourists on a wild goose chase to find a haunted “castle” over rough terrain in a canyon. And a series of similar escapades follow. It is to be remembered that cowboys were boys, teenagers, with all the foibles we come to expect from this demographic. And since cattle, particularly young calves attract coyotes, wolves, mountain lions they were also armed. And yes campfire sings and yarning make one think of youth camp but these campers slept outdoors road herd on the range. The closing chapters here concern the challenges of riding chuck wagon with a team of four and providing meals for 15 “men”.

Cloudy in the West and Lookin like rain
Damned old Slicker in the wagon again.

[Kit]

This was the happiest accident of a book, i picked it randomly on Gutenberg and it was very unexpected! A happy go lucky group of hilarious cowboys fill this book, you'd never pick it from the title would you? Well it was only called The Happy Family on Gutenberg.
The wry characters were hilarious, the descriptions beautiful and well written. All in all a captivating book and the best happy accident!

[Julene Haack]

Some laugh-out-loud moments!

[Tahlia]

I really enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to read more from B.M. Bower. The characters were really wholesome, and I really enjoyed seeing the stories play out.

[Jewel]

This book with copywrite 1907 (my edition is 1910)is a sequel to Chip of the Flying U. It follows the adventures of the Flying U Ranch Crew in the American West. It is a jolly good read, especially if you like cowboy and horse tales set in frontier times.

[Nikki]

This was one of my Dad's favorites when he was a kid, and I liked it too. It's a group of vignettes about a group of cattle ranchers.

[David K. Halls]

Bower is GREAT again.

The characters are fleshed out in ways Bower fans are accustomed to. The dialogue drives the story to a satisfying conclusion. A joy of a read!

[Becky Gullion]

I liked The Happy Family even better than Chip of the Flying U. The escapades of the Flying U's cowboy crew, the Happy Family, had me laughing every few pages.

[Ralph]

The characters grow on you. Good read.