In Trace of TR

Dan Aadland is a rancher, writer, and retired teacher who breeds horses in Absarokee, Montana. His books include The Best of All Seasons: Fifty Years as a Montana Hunter (Nebraska 2007) and Sketches from the Ranch: A Montana Memoir, available in a Bison Books edition.

List of Illustrations  

Acknowledgments  

Introduction: A Hunter’s Heart     

 

Part I. The Big Open

 

1. Pronghorns on the Powder: The cow camp; prongbucks TR style; Powderville, then and now; the young New Yorker and the buffalo bull; a “sadder man but wiser”; hunting in midday; Scooter and Partner; .30-30s and .45-70s; iron sights and eyeglasses; Partner’s initiation; a satisfying single-foot 

 

2. The Elkhorn Ranch: On the road with Redstar, Partner, and Emily; Miles City and beyond; Medora and the Maah Daah Hey; Black Gold on TR’s ranch; A pleasant porch on the Little Missouri; meadowlarks and mountain bluebirds   

 

3. Horses, Rifles, and a Man Named Magnus: Rosie and Elmer; mule deer in the sage; TR’s arsenal; the New Yorker and the Dane; Partner and Paycheck, Manitou and Muley

 

Part II. The Mountains

 

4. The Big Horns: David, Jon, Justin, and TR; a pretty park; alibis; tenderloins in camp; atv jockeys; ranchers and dudes; compass and gps; TR’s tally; Old Ephraim; Jedediah Smith; grizzlies through the canvas; a big, big buck    

 

5. The Absaroka: Children of the Large Beaked Bird; Buoyer and Leforge, Huskies and Indians; Plenty Coups and Cody; return of a warrior; mi patria chica

 

6. Slough Creek: Fire and wolves; a solo adventure; Xanadu; Little Mack and a flying mule; lady rangers; Bubba the gaited jack; “dinner bell grizzlies”; compatible companions; Orion; a Cheyenne friend; “I am Dutch Reformed”; Stewards of the Garden   

 

7. Gardiner, 2008 (and 1903): Memories of Eagle Creek, boys, horses, and elk; TR in Yellowstone; Roosevelt, Burroughs, and Muir; a bull for Jim; a .38 on a .45 frame; spring bear plans 

 

Part III. The Home Range

 

8. Back at the Ranch, Thanksgiving, 2008: Gobbler on the porch; “It looks good enough to eat”; sportsmen; “real food” and “not real food”; a morning buck; “You got him!”   

 

9. The Western Star: Cows and corrals; the end of the Elkhorn; the solitary singer; Hamlet and Fortinbras; the curlew and the thrush

 

Notes

Bibliography