Trail Fever: The Life of a Texas Cowboy by D. J. Lightfoot, John Bobbish (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

George Washington Saunders (1854-1933) rode in his first cattle drive at the age of five and got caught in his first stampede when he was ten. A Texas trail driver, he survived it all--freezing rains, lightning storms, desert dust, Kiowa and Comanche raiders, bandits, days and nights of herding without rest. In later life he compiled a unique historical record of the trail-driving era. The author has worked from Saunders's own writings and interviewed his grandchildren to produce an award-winning* biography of this important figure of the American West.

*Cited by the San Antonio Conservation Society for outstanding contribution toward the preservation of the history of Texas; recommended on Houghton Mifflin's "Bibliography for Level 4, Unit 4: The Civil War and the Closing of the Frontier," the University of Nebraska's "Children's Literature of the Great Plains," The English Toolbox's "Fun Books to Read: History," and other reading lists.

The New Advocate

Action predominates, assuring the reader will race through the brief chapters.

The Texas Aggie

A masterful job of capturing the flavor of an exciting life in early Texas. Though written for the younger generation, the book is thoroughly enjoyable reading for 'children' of any age."

Lone Star Library

A well-researched biography for young readers about a man who saw it all from the saddle, George W. Saunders, a cowboy on the Texas frontier who later researched the stories that went into the 1,000-page classic, The Trail Drivers of Texas.

Aura Magazine

A highly recommended biography, appropriate for readers grades 4 through 6, with action-filled drawings throughout.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-- The life of early Texas trail driver George Saunders is sketched in a simple style, with an emphasis on his cowboy years. Working from the subject's own writings, Lightfoot includes interesting details, dialogue, and lore from the man's childhood on a ranch during the Civil War to his teenage experience on his first real cattle drive north on the newly established Chisholm Trail. The hard life of riding and herding comes through, as does a love for challenges. An easy biography that Texas libraries especially will welcome, as will cowboy fans everywhere. --Ruth M. McConnell, San Antonio Public Library

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents