PIERRE, S.D.—Editor Cathie Draine and illustrator Mick Harrison will be discussing their book published by the South Dakota State Historical Society, Cowboy Life: The Letters of George Philip,and signing copies at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 12.

 

Draine wrote the introduction for the book in which she discusses the man she knew as “Granddad,” and his legacy from the open-range era. Award-winning artist Harrison contributed 20 black-and-white illustrations to the book. His original artwork is currently on display in the Cultural Heritage Center. Harrison will discuss the process and the inspiration for his drawings.

 

Cowboy Life features 21 letters from George Philip (Scotty Philip’s nephew) to his children, detailing hard days and hi-jinks in the saddle in South Dakota in the early 1900s. During his years on the range, Philip epitomized the American cowboy as he rode across the ranges around central South Dakota. Through his letters, readers can gallop into rattlesnake country on ornery horses, share the dreaded Texas Itch, and take midnight rambles in graveyards and trips to Mexico. These are not tall tales though. Philip does not romanticize cowboy life, instead he tells it as it was—boils and all.

 

Philip provides fascinating insights into the development of the West, South Dakota, and the cowboy’s life, from branding and roping to navigating across the plains by stars and buttes. His mixture of humor, hard-nosed horse-sense, and poignant reflection inject these places and characters with life.

 

Cowboy Life can be purchased from the Heritage Store in the Cultural Heritage Center for $25.95 plus tax. To find out more about the book, or for more information about the signing, visit www.sdshspress.com or call (605) 773-8161.

 

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