A cow town is simply a town in which cattle were taken to put on railroads. The only problem is, these towns are located in Kansas, about 1000 miles from Texas, a trip that usually takes up to 3 months. Because of this and water worries, low pay, and lack of sleep, I, along with 2/3 of those on this year’s drive, will not re-up for next year’s long drive.…
The Only Way to Have a Cow" by Bill McKibben tries to inform humans to decrease the intake of meat eating and how this habit could harm our environment. Cow would release harmful substance like methane when they fart or belch. These actions could actually lead to a bigger problem, global warming. Turning into vegans could make environment more friendly. Eating grass fed cows are more healthy that eating corn fed cows. However another problem forms, grass fed cows are more expensive then corn fed grass which causes people with low incomes couldn't afford to eat…
The book renders a cowboys' strike - a fascinating concept - that actually happened, on ranches in the Canadian River region of west Texas circa 1883.…
The book Badluck Way by Bryce Andrews is a story about a young man searching for his place in life and finds not only himself but a love for wildlife and wilderness on a ranch in Montana. On this ranch he experiences nature, first hand. All throughout the book his attitude toward the ranch and its work changes, along with his attitude toward wolves. He also explains how he has found happiness at the ranch and he also include short stories preceding the chapters.…
The Day the Cowboys Quit by Elmer Kelton is a historical fiction novel detailing the Great Cowboy Strike of 1883. The main character, Hitch, finds himself stuck between the striking cowboys and the rich owners of the cattle ranches. Set just two decades after the civil war, barbed wire and the idea of trespassing came about in the plains. The big cattle companies began to take losses when the end of free grazing came, so the cowboys’ meager pay is not raised and their right to start their own small brand is eventually taken away.…
Times were difficult in Habersham County. The skyrocketing prices of fuel and food were threatening to bankrupt the Johnson family’s small farm, which was no match for the multi-million-dollar mega-farms that had been popping up all over the southeast. Joseph, the family patriarch, was especially troubled by the farm’s financial circumstances. He knew that this year’s corn crop was his best chance to save the farm, and his distress was evident to his family as they sat around the dinner table.…
Bill Mckibben, author and environmentalist, explains why being a vegetarian is beneficial for the environment in the article "The Only Way to Have a Cow." He argues that the manufacturing of corn and beef releases harmful gasses into the atmosphere. Eating less meat would decrease the amount of those gasses and improve the environment. I believe there is some truth to what McKibben is saying but his tone is slightly like that of someone who is or thinks they are superior.…
The opening of the novel presents a prelude of how life for the 19th century cowboy was and how contrary to belief, the cowboy was a very civilized individual. Unlike the common misconception of the cowboys being a drunk individual with itchy trigger fingers, Kelton displays many of the characters in the novel as modest men, sober when on the job, and without a gun around their waist. It tells of how Texas was one big nesting ground for cattle with wide open space that stretched for miles. The prelude defines the cowboys as an independent bunch that have the tumultuous job of herding cattle from here to there. The cowboys have a distinct way of life, a distinct set of skills, and a distinct set of beliefs and rules. The main dilemma in the novel arises when the cowboys’ way of life is challenged by changing times as well as the big corporations encroaching on their freedom as the possession of cattle becomes a key point.…
As I stepped into the mud colored cattle car, just the sight of it had made me wince. As I entered, it was like the other passengers were staring at me with shame, since if you were in the cattle car you had to of done something bad. I quickly put my head down. I could just feel the sticky wretched smell of feces and body odor in the car. My mother and I put our suitcases on the shelves, heaving them with all our strength to the very top shelf. We waited hours for in the dark, crammed, and smelly car before we started moving.…
In the article The Myth of the Cowboy, Eric Hobsbawm argues that the tradition of the American cowboy has become an invented myth. All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy explores the journey of John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins, who leave Texas and travel to Mexico where they acquire the cowboy lifestyle. The text could fit into the same category Hobsbawm describes but it also serves as a more realistic and honest description of the cowboy experience.…
Knickerbocker, Conrad. "One Night on a Kansas Farm." The New York Times. N.p., 16 Jan. 1966. Web.…
Finally the writer’s journey in the story ends at Rainy Mountain actually not the mountain itself but the journey ends at his grandmother’s house and grave. While He looks back once to see the Rainy Mountain, it tells him that it’s important to know why we arrived and departed. The way to the rainy mountain was full of ups and downs and full of barriers. . It also taught him how to appreciate his ancestors even more because they were traveling by horse-back or by foot. This might be an excellent example of patience. If you are patience enough you can travel through any…
They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake…
This is an excellent way for young prospective ranchers to get into the business without having…
Bill McKibben’s essay “The Only Way to Have a Cow” establishes a sense of comfort as his approach to the meat eating controversy is superbly logical. The current industrial approach to livestock has birthed an issue pertaining to the sustainability and healthy feeding of our lives. Yet there is another problem in relation to our consumption, which tends to be overlooked. If the pricing of meat reflected in the damage done to our environments, feedlot beef would cost more than grass-fed beef both financially and environmentally. It is the rapid, inhumane dietary feeding of the cow which is insulting, not the consumption of it, and taking no responsibility for the run-off is an offense to the earth and it’s inhabitants. These costs alone are part of the reasoning for the current system which is inefficient and uneconomically feasible. The…