The outlet

by Andy Adams

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - At the close of the civil war the need for a market for the surplus cattle of Texas was as urgent as it was general. There had been numerous experiments in seeking an outlet, and there is authority for the statement that in 1857 Texas cattle were driven to Illinois. Eleven years later forty thousand head were sent to the mouth of Red River in Louisiana, shipped by boat to Cairo, Illinois, and thence inland by rail. Fever resulted, and the experiment was never repeated. To the west of Texas stretched a forbidding desert, while on the other hand, nearly every drive to Louisiana resulted in financial disaster to the drover. The republic of Mexico, on the south, afforded no relief, as it was likewise overrun with a surplus of its own breeding. Immediately before and just after the war, a slight trade had sprung up in cattle between eastern points on Red River and Baxter Springs, in the southeast corner of Kansas. The route was perfectly feasible, being short and entirely within the reservations of the Choctaws and Chero-kees, civilized Indians. This was the only route to the north; for farther to the westward was the home of the buffalo and the unconquered, nomadic tribes. A writer on that day, Mr. Emerson Hough, an acceptable authority, "The civil war stopped almost all plans to market the range cattle, and the close of that war found the vast grazing lands of Texas fairly covered with millions of cattle which had no actual or determinate value. They were sorted and branded and herded after a fashion, but neitherthey nor their increase could be converted into anything but more cattle. The demand for a market became imperative."

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Classics

371 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

Andy Adams (1859–1935) was born to pioneer parents in Indiana, worked in Texas for ten years driving cattle, and settled in Colorado Springs, where he began writing his "real" stories of cowboys in the West.

While still in his teens, Adams ran away from home. He eventually made his way to Texas, where he found work as a cowboy. From 1882 to 1893, Adams witnessed firsthand the golden era of the Texas cattle industry, a time when the cowboys ran cattle on vast open ranges still relatively unrestricted by barbed wire fences. In 1883, he made the first of many cattle drives along the famous cattle trails running north from Texas to the cow towns of Kansas. As farmers began to challenge the ranchers for control of the land, Adams witnessed the gradual fencing-in of the cattle country that would eventually end the short age of the open range. He made his last cattle drive in 1889.

In 1893, Adams left Texas for Colorado, attracted by rumors of gold at Cripple Creek. Like most would-be miners, he failed to make a fortune in the business. He eventually settled in Colorado Springs, where he remained for most of his life. While doing on a variety of jobs, Adams began to write stories based on his experiences as a Texas cowboy. In 1903, he found a publisher for his novel The Log of a Cowboy, a thinly disguised autobiography of his life on the plains. A fascinated public welcomed tales from the former cowboy, and Adams wrote and published four similar volumes in less than four years.

Adams distinguished himself from the majority of other western authors of the day with his meticulous accuracy and fidelity to the truth. As its name implied, The Log of a Cowboy was a day-by-day account of a cattle drive Adams had made from Texas to Montana. The book had little plot beyond the progress of the cattle herd toward Montana, and had none of the romantic excitement offered by less literal chroniclers of the West. Adams' self-avowed goal was to make his fiction indistinguishable from fact, and as one commentator has noted, "in this he succeeds only too well."

While a reader searching for a good story might find Adams' books somewhat dull today, historians and writers looking for an accurate depiction of the cowboy life have found them invaluable. Beyond his five best-known books, Adams also wrote two popular novels for juveniles later in his career. When he died in Colorado Springs in 1935, he left a number of unpublished manuscripts of novels, stories, and plays that historians of the Old West have also found useful.

Reviews

[Thom Swennes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The classical days of cattle herding in the Wild West has left an impression on people even now, more than 135 years after the dust has settled. This colorful period of American, in truth only lasted slightly more than twenty years. With the dawning of the Twentieth Century, expansion of the railways made large cattle drives to railheads such as Abilene and Dodge City obsolete. The Outlet presents, in the form of a narrative, the world of the cattle drivers in its heyday. He doesn’t only describe the scenes that are still so familiar through film and television but introduces a basic but little thought of aspect; the business end. By 1889 the open range was being cut up and parceled with the introduction of barbed wire. This book is written in the form of a log and describes life as it was without embellishments. Seen through the eyes of a eye witness, the Wild West doesn’t seem so wild. It relays the tale of people surviving in a raw and dangerous land. I think anyone interested in seeing a true picture of the American west between the years 1875-1895 will enjoy this book. Andy Adams (1859-1935) wrote nine books about life in the west. This is the second book I’ve read from his hand and wouldn’t hesitate in reading the remaining seven. I recommend this book to everyone.

[D. E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An AA. Western Action Adventure (TO)

AA. has penned a western action adventure about the science of collecting, moving and arranging the care for delivery to the different forts across the frontier. These cattle movement occurred monthly and at most were dangerous because of marauding Indians and Outlaws. The best men money could buy were hired for the deliveries. This is an excellent read for the genre......DEHS

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredible how the same themes of geography and local versus federal were also such an issue then.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book refers to the challenge a cattleman has to find a market (outlet) for his cattle, and to drive the herd, or herds, from Texas (or get the cattle out of Texas) and deliver them north. Of course, the cattle also have to be delivered in good physical condition and the herd must include the number of cattle that were promised to the buyer. I enjoyed this book more than his previous books that have descriptions of the cattle drives. The story seemed to come together better. This is another tale (although it seems real) of Tom Quirk the herd boss and also his brother. There is some intrigue in this story because the competition between sellers has become fierce. I like to try to follow all the locations on the map. It is interesting to see how many places they visit and how they navigate from one river to another, as they provide water and grazing to the cattle.

Here are some locations/settings: [Texas: northern boundary, Doan’s Crossing, Medina County, San Antonio, Dimmit County, LaSalle County, Upper Nueces River, Karnes County, Atascosa, Floresville, Cibolo Crossing on the San Antonio River, Goliad County, Los Lobos, Nueces River Valley, Medina County (Sunset Railway), Leona and Frio Rivers, Llano River, Blue Mountains, Brady City and Brady Creek, Buffalo Gap to the Colorado River, Table Top Mountain, Abilene, Elm Creek, Clear Fork of the Brazos River, Red River, Fort Griffin, Brazos River, Chisholm Trail to Kansas, Wichita River, Wichita Falls, Chisholm Crossing, North Fork of the Red River, Uvalde; Kansas: Ellsworth, Dodge (Dodge House, Western Supply Company, Sawlog Creek, Duck Creek, Fort Dodge, Lone Star Saloon), Spearville, Kinsley, Sheriff’s Creek, Solomon River Valley, Pawnee River, Smoky Hill River, Smoky River Valley, Kansas Pacific Railway, Grinnell, Kansas City, Republican River, Stink Creek; Colorado: Purgatoire River, Arkansas River; Arkansas: Mulberry Creek; Wyoming: Yellowstone, Fort Washakie; Oklahoma: Chickasaw Nation, Washita River, Cimarron River, Red Fork Station, Fort Reno, Cherokee Strip (Outlet), Fort Supply Camp, Salt Fork on the Cimarron, Bull Foot Stage Stand midway between Little Turkey Creek and Buffalo Springs; Nebraska: Keith County, North Fork of the Platte River within 10 miles of Ogalalla, Omaha, Little Blue River, Niobrara, Box Buttes, Pierre on the Missouri River; South Dakota: Pine Ridge Agency, Rosebud Agency, Black Hills, South Fork of the Cheyenne River, Belle Fourche River; Wyoming: Fort Laramie, Powder River Hamlet; North Dakota: Little Missouri River, Fort Abraham Lincoln, Beaver Creek, Fort Buford, Alkali Lake; Missouri: Northern Pacific Railway; Montana: Crow Agency, Glendive, Miles City, Powderville, Big Horn, Wolf Creek, Fort Keogh, Cabin Creek River, Yellowstone Valley]

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my review at my blog.