Clarence Mitchell

Montana Montage: Memoir of a Dude Wrangler Clarence Mitchell

Owen Wister's The Virginian, considered to be the archetype western novel, left an imprint on American and European writers of that genre. Clarence Mitchell breaks from that mold in this, his final book, using the broader base of historical journalism. Montana Montage describes a sweltering summer in 1931, when a young man decided to follow his dream by going west. Mitchell left his small hometown in rural Illinois and drove to Billings, Montana, to work at the Reverse B. K. Bar Ranch, one of the earliest dude ranches in the country. There he spent a season among a cast of colorful characters. The Old West was changing, but bronc busters, gun fighters, remittance men, rattlesnakes, renegade outlaw stallions, and roaming bulls were still part of the larger-than-life landscape. Montana Montage is a unique look back at a bygone era, told with humor and insight by a keen observer. Readers will find themselves stepping back in time and being caught up in the drama that is reflected in the chapter titles, such as "The Rustler", "Midnight Canyon", "The Poker Game", "Bronc Breaking", and "The Gunfighter". Like the author himself, readers will feel this surely was a summer never to be forgotten.