ROUNDUP YEARS:
OLD MUDDY TO BLACK HILLS
Bert L. Hall • Last Round Up Club • $100

Authentic cowboy voices recalling authentic frontier experiences. That's what you get in Roundup Years, a remarkable scrapbook of memoirs, letters, newspaper clippings, documents, brands, maps, and pictures detailing life on the South Dakota range. First published in 1956, the 696-page book is newly reissued in a handsomely bound, limited edition of only 1,000 copies.

These tales (many true and some tall) enthrall, entertain, and educate. For example, Pete Clausen reported one common question about old-time cowboys. "We were tending our herds when a buggy, occupied by a preacher, his wife, and small daughter, drove up. The daughter, after looking around carefully, turned to her mother and said, ŒDo cowboys eat grass like the rest of the cattle?' ŒNo,' her mother answered. ŒThey're part human.'"

Far from "civilization," cowboys had to make their own fun: Pat. J. Gallagher recalled a little impromptu diversion. "Our fussing around the water hole scared a big frog, which jumped out on the bank and was promptly captured. Having lots of whiskey, as I say, and feeling generous, someone had the idea of piping a drink into the frog. This was accomplished and repeated to our delight in watching the antics of a drunken frog."

For pure fun or research (an extensive index is included), Roundup Years is a wonderful addition to the Western bookshelf. You'll make some new friends­the hardy, fascinating men and women who worked the northern cattle frontier a century ago. You'll also have a rare, important and very collectible volume.

— Richard W. Slatta

JOURNEYS THROUGH THE WINDS OF TIME
By Bill Worrell • Shaman Arts, Inc. • $95

Bill Worrell's second book, Through the Winds of Time, includes rich, full-page photographs of his art alongside astonishing poetry that he has written journal-style. All entries include date, time, and place of his thoughts. Inspiring, insightful, philosophical, all of these things are descriptive of Through the Winds of Time.

Worrell began painting his well-known shaman figures after a canoeing trip down the Lower Pecos in 1979. There were prehistoric designs, along with tools of flint, bone, and wood; sotol and yucca weavings; and some skeletal remains left behind by the inhabitants of the Lower Pecos region. He was immediately inspired by the awesome beauty of the Southwest. For Worrell, a former university professor of art, his discovery was impressive and powerful—an experience that would forever change the direction and style of his work.

He describes his art as "interpretations of the ancient pictographs rather than a documentation of their historical value. I have my own intuitions and notions about the art of these ancients. For me, understanding it is a spiritual experience, a spiritual exercise. It is not unlike getting a musical instrument in tune."

Worrell adds, "People ask me, ŒWhat do these ancient paintings mean?' I don't know. What does a Helen Frankenthaler mean? What do R.C. Gormans and Doug Wests and Fritz Scholders, and Mimbres' pots mean? Why do we consider ourselves so different from past peoples? Maybe they, too, painted for the same reasons that we do. They can't come forward, and we can't back up, so we can never really know What beauty lies within this mystery!"

A typical Worrell response; straightforward, wise, and charming, Journeys Through the Winds of Time, is likewise. The book takes readers on a supernatural journey, back to a time and place where people relied on land and spirit. Timeless because the same natural laws apply now as they did then, and Worrell delightfully relays this to us his through thoughts on beauty, peace, love, and light.

Worrell enjoys a successful career as sculptor and painter. His art can be found in fine art galleries and collections across the United States, as well as in private and corporate collections worldwide. Journeys Through the Winds of Time and Worrell's first book, Voices From the Caves, are available at his website: shamanartsinc.com.

— Kelly Roberts

©2000 Cowboys & Indians