A Ranching Saga

A Ranching Saga tells the story of father and son pioneer ranchers in the Southwest. Around the turn of the century, William Electious Halsell and Ewing Halsell were integral to the growing ranching industry in Texas and Oklahoma. Through newspaper accounts, legal documents, personal correspondence, and interviews with family members, friends, and acquaintances, A Ranching Saga recounts the lives of these two keen businessmen, proud civic leaders, and philanthropists. What is revealed is a legacy of hard work, moral character, and compassion, as well as a close relationship with the land. Texas historian William Curry Holden sifts through correspondence, reports and statistics, and extensive research to tell of three generations of the Halsell family, from their arrival in Texas in 1854 to the mid-twentieth century. Holden enriches the family narrative with personal accounts of the places, geology, flora, fauna, weather, economics, and history of the region. He interviewed more than 150 people to understand the characters and personalities of the two men whose cultural influence on Texas and the Southwest region spans more than a century. Illustrated with nearly two dozen drawings by José Cisneros , A Ranching Saga is the biography of family whose destiny was realized in the cattle they nurtured, the land they loved, and the people they encouraged along the way.

Praise for KINGS OF TEXAS "Kings of Texas is a fresh and very welcome history of the great King Ranch. It's concise but thorough, crisply written, meticulous, and very readable. It should find a wide audience." -Larry McMurtry, author of Sin Killer and the Pulitzer Prize--winning Lonesome Dove "This book is about the King Ranch, but it is about much more than that. A compelling chronicle of war, peace, love, betrayal, birth, and death in the region where the Texas-Mexico border blurs in the haze of the Wild Horse Desert, it is also an intriguing detective story with links to the present-and a first-rate read." -H.W. Brands, author of The Age of Gold and the bestselling Pulitzer Prize finalist The First American

The vast, fabulous, and powerful King Ranch, bigger than Rhode Island, is the most famous ranch in American history, and its story has the epic sweep and drama of classic movies like "Red River" and "Giant." In this gripping narrative about a majestic land and enterprising people, Graham explores the intertwined desires of land, ownership, and destiny.

She’s a cowgirl who can no longer ride because of her disability. He’s a cowboy drifter trying to find his place in life. What will it take to get her on a horse again? And what will it take to get him to stay… Cassidy Miller is usually hard at work on the family ranch, riding horses and doing chores. When an accident sidelines her, she’s beyond frustrated. Feeling useless, she’s determined to help. But what can she do? Mick is a traveling cowboy, moving west with his horse in search of… well, he doesn’t know what. He just knows he hasn’t found it yet. When he gets a temporary job at the Miller ranch, he’s drawn to his new boss. A spunky cowgirl named Cassidy who doesn’t know how wonderful she is. But he can’t do anything about it. She’s his boss, and he has nothing to offer a headstrong, rich woman with a close-knit family. Besides, life is harder for a black cowboy like him, and it’s best not to let others get too close. Can Cassidy break through her cowboy’s tough shell, before he heads west again and leaves her broken heart behind… Meet the Miller family - Three interconnected series – Tons of stellar reviews between all of the books. And enough reading to keep you busy for a long time!

Many of the great Texas ranches established during the cattle boom of the 1880s became immediate business successes, but as time passed, many of them failed. The historic ranches that have survived to the present are few. Oil, Taxes, and Cats is the story of one of the survivors and of the family that kept it alive.

“[An] action-packed history of the brothel that inspired the Broadway play and film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and the ZZ Top hit ‘La Grange’” (The New York Post). Thanks to its status as a pop culture icon, many people think they know the story of the infamous Chicken Ranch. The real story of this Texas brothel is more complex, lying somewhere between heartbreaking and absurd. For more than a century, dirt farmers and cigar-smoking politicians alike rubbed shoulders at the Chicken Ranch, operated openly under the sheriff’s watchful eye. Madam Edna Milton and her girls ran a tight, discreet ship that the God-fearing people of La Grange tolerated if not outright embraced. That is, until a secret conspiracy enlisted an opportunistic reporter to bring it all crashing down on primetime television. Through exclusive interviews with Milton, former government officials, and reporters, Jayme Lynn Blaschke delivers a fascinating, revelatory view of the Ranch that illuminates the truth and lies that surround this iconic brothel.

Traces the history and present-day operation of twelve prominent Texas ranches.