The Trail to Ogallala (Texas Tradition Series)

by Benjamin Capps, Don Graham (Afterword)

The Trail to Ogallala (Texas Tradition Series).

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

286 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Benjamin Capps was an award-winning novelist and chronicler of western life. Among his works are The Trail to Ogallala, The White Man's Road, The Warren Wagontrain Raid, Sam Chance, and The Indians and The Great Chiefs (Time-Life Old West Series).

Capps was also the author of numerous published short stories, articles, essays, and book reviews. In 1991 he won the Western Writers of America Spur Award for one of his short stories, "Cimarron, The Killer." He wrote on many subjects and did not consider himself only a western writer, even though his greatest successes were western novels.

However, he was primarily interested in the past and its influence on us today. Much of his writing's appeal lies in his knowledge of the Old West's folklore. According to Capps, his writing's aim was to be authentic and "to probe the human nature and human motives" involved in his stories. His works were painstakingly researched for historical accuracy and generally explored lesser known facets of the American frontier. The Western Literature Association honored Capps with the Distinguished Achievement Award in October 1986.

Reviews

[Arthur Spanjer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The era of the Cattle Drives lasted about 30 years in the late 1800's. When the railroads made their way t0 Texas as far as the cattle had to go was Fort Worth. The Trail to Ogallala is rich historical fiction with explanations from the gear utilized to the egos involved and the hard back busting work it took to get 3,000 head of cattle from roughly the Texas Hill Country of Texas (Llano and Mason are mentioned) 2500 miles north to the stock yards and railroad junction that was Ogallala, Nebraska. For me the pulp western is not complete until a rattlesnake appears. There are no rattlesnakes in this book, just cowpokes, stubborn scared cattle and indians who wanted their share for traveling through their land. Capps makes all these and more jump off the page and come to life.

[Tyler Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever wondered what it would have been like to be part of a 900 mile cattle drive in the mid nineteenth century, then hold on to your boot straps because this book is for you. Capps provides a realistic narrative of dialog and character profile. The arduous job of keeping 3000 head of cattle that are skittish and often want to split up and run in all different directions is time consuming and threatens to delay them with their schedule. This is a great story and reads like you are watching a movie.

[Rodney Haydon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fine western, and deservedly won not only the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America but also the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award. I aim to read more novels from Benjamin Capps.