Boof Review Pastures of beyond

John Christopher Fine

150 Puritan Drive

Scarsdale, New York 10583

914 725 0655

BOOK REVIEW

Title: THE PASTURES OF BEYOND

Author: Dayton O. Hyde

Reviewer: John Christopher Fine

He’d been up in a tree watching a nest of birds too long. Instead of climbing down, the thirteen year old relieved himself from his perch in the branches just as his mother and her bridge group were passing below.

Thirteen-year-old Dayton Hyde high-ailed it, hopped a freight from Marquette, Michigan to Chiloquin, Oregon. It was in the days of hobo camps when riding freight trains was a practiced art.

No money in his pocket, except fifty cents a hobo called Gus gave him, in the same dirty clothes he had on when he left the horse chestnut tree on Spruce Street, the kid bought a chocolate cake, ate it all, then found an Indian loading groceries for ranches and lumber camps.

When he spotted a box marked Yamsi, he asked the Indian for a lift to his uncle’s ranch. The driver made him scrub up first at a sink inside the store.

This was the inauspicious beginning of his life on an 8,000 acre cattle ranch with other vast land holdings and herds of Hereford cattle and horses. It was a time when everything was done a-horseback by hard manual labor among a fellowship of cowboys.

“These are the stories of old Indians I knew, old cowboys I knew. Old horses I knew. All gone now, traveling the great green ranges of heaven. This is partly my own story—of a lonesome kid, maybe the only one in history to run away from Marquette, Michigan, to ride saddle broncs and fight Brahma bulls in rodeos, who was lucky enough to grow up on one of the great cattle ranches of the West,” Dayton wrote in a prologue to the book.

Dayton Hyde is a master story teller. In THE PASTURES OF BEYOND, AN OLD COWBOY LOOKS BACK AT THE OLD WEST, he takes the reader with him on cattle drives, into freezing snow, among his pals snoring in the bunk house and with cut-throat Indians who killed many men but took a liking to the kid.

These and other hands he’d worked with, learned from, loved as brothers, and his uncle who he really came to love as a father, make up the grist of Dayton’s life.

The American West that Dayton knew before the war is gone. His new book laments its passing and preserves its history.

Through Dayton’s descriptive prose there’s a feel for getting bucked by Yellowstone, Blackhawk or Sleepy or any of Yamsi’s legendary horses like Whingding, a special horse only seasoned hands got in their string.

He finally got to ride Whingding when winter found him alone on the ranch with only a couple of old timers to move a herd of cattle over the mountains before they’d get snowed in.

Dayton’s new book is sentimental in the best sense of the word. There are times when the reader smiles or laughs along with cowboy antics, jokes or happenings. There are times when a reader’s heart will well with emotion as 80-year old Dayton looks back on his life growing up on the ranch.

Dayton Hyde is still at it. Eighteen years ago he founded the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary west of Hot Springs, South Dakota. When I talked to him on the phone yesterday, he had to make a long drive to Nebraska to see if he could get a bailer to use. His broke down and he had to put up hay in case a harsh winter made it necessary to feed the 400 wild horses he saved from slaughter.

Dayton makes his home on the 11,000 acre sanctuary where he realized a dream to have a place where wild horses would be able to live and run free.

Dayton Hyde is the author of 17 books, fiction and non-fiction, for children and adults. THE MAJOR, THE POACHER AND THE WONDERFUL ONE TROUT RIVER published by Boyd’s Mills Press in 1986 makes fly-fishermen of us all. DON COYOTE, recently republished by Johnson Books describes Dayton’s love of wild things and how he learned nature’s balance. ISLAND OF THE LOONS is a touching story about a boy kidnapped on an island by an escaped convict.

THE PASTURES OF BEYOND is a book of true stories and reminiscences about his life as a cowboy told by a master story teller. Dayton keeps the old West alive in words and by his life’s work, testimony to his love for wilderness and wild horses.

THE PASTURES OF BEYOND was published in 2005 by Arcade Publishing, Inc., New York. Autographed copies are available from the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary bookstore for $30 includes postage. Proceeds from the sale go to support the wild horses. Visit their website at www.wildmustangs.com or write PO Box 998, Hot Springs, SD 57747.


	John Christopher Fine 150 Puritan Drive Scarsdale, New York 10583 914 725 0655 BOOK REVIEW Title: THE PASTURES OF BEYOND Author: Dayton O. Hyde Reviewer: John Christopher Fine He’d been up in a tree watching a nest of birds too long. Instead of climbing down, the thirteen year old relieved himself from his perch in the branches just as his mother and her bridge group were passing below. Thirteen-year-old Dayton Hyde high-ailed it, hopped a freight from Marquette, Michigan to Chiloquin, Oregon. It was in the days of hobo camps when riding freight trains was a practiced art. No money in his pocket, except fifty cents a hobo called Gus gave him, in the same dirty clothes he had on when he left the horse chestnut tree on Spruce Street, the kid bought a chocolate cake, ate it all, then found an Indian loading groceries for ranches and lumber camps. When he spotted a box marked Yamsi, he asked the Indian for a lift to his uncle’s ranch. The driver made him scrub up first at a sink inside the store. This was the inauspicious beginning of his life on an 8,000 acre cattle ranch with other vast land holdings and herds of Hereford cattle and horses. It was a time when everything was done a-horseback by hard manual labor among a fellowship of cowboys. “These are the stories of old Indians I knew, old cowboys I knew. Old horses I knew. All gone now, traveling the great green ranges of heaven. This is partly my own story—of a lonesome kid, maybe the only one in history to run away from Marquette, Michigan, to ride saddle broncs and fight Brahma bulls in rodeos, who was lucky enough to grow up on one of the great cattle ranches of the West,” Dayton wrote in a prologue to the book. Dayton Hyde is a master story teller. In THE PASTURES OF BEYOND, AN OLD COWBOY LOOKS BACK AT THE OLD WEST, he takes the reader with him on cattle drives, into freezing snow, among his pals snoring in the bunk house and with cut-throat Indians who killed many men but took a liking to the kid. These and other hands he’d worked with, learned from, loved as brothers, and his uncle who he really came to love as a father, make up the grist of Dayton’s life. The American West that Dayton knew before the war is gone. His new book laments its passing and preserves its history. Through Dayton’s descriptive prose there’s a feel for getting bucked by Yellowstone, Blackhawk or Sleepy or any of Yamsi’s legendary horses like Whingding, a special horse only seasoned hands got in their string. He finally got to ride Whingding when winter found him alone on the ranch with only a couple of old timers to move a herd of cattle over the mountains before they’d get snowed in. Dayton’s new book is sentimental in the best sense of the word. There are times when the reader smiles or laughs along with cowboy antics, jokes or happenings. There are times when a reader’s heart will well with emotion as 80-year old Dayton looks back on his life growing up on the ranch. Dayton Hyde is still at it. Eighteen years ago he founded the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary west of Hot Springs, South Dakota. When I talked to him on the phone yesterday, he had to make a long drive to Nebraska to see if he could get a bailer to use. His broke down and he had to put up hay in case a harsh winter made it necessary to feed the 400 wild horses he saved from slaughter. Dayton makes his home on the 11,000 acre sanctuary where he realized a dream to have a place where wild horses would be able to live and run free. Dayton Hyde is the author of 17 books, fiction and non-fiction, for children and adults. THE MAJOR, THE POACHER AND THE WONDERFUL ONE TROUT RIVER published by Boyd’s Mills Press in 1986 makes fly-fishermen of us all. DON COYOTE, recently republished by Johnson Books describes Dayton’s love of wild things and how he learned nature’s balance. ISLAND OF THE LOONS is a touching story about a boy kidnapped on an island by an escaped convict. THE PASTURES OF BEYOND is a book of true stories and reminiscences about his life as a cowboy told by a master story teller. Dayton keeps the old West alive in words and by his life’s work, testimony to his love for wilderness and wild horses. THE PASTURES OF BEYOND was published in 2005 by Arcade Publishing, Inc., New York. Autographed copies are available from the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary bookstore for $30 includes postage. Proceeds from the sale go to support the wild horses. Visit their website at www.wildmustangs.com or write PO Box 998, Hot Springs, SD 57747.