The Last Cowboys

By: John Branch

Narrated by: John Pruden

Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter's gripping portrait of one western family struggling to hold on to age-old American ways.

New York Times reporter and best-selling author John Branch takes listeners to the magnificent red soil and rocky arroyos of southern Utah, where the Wright family of Smith Mesa have for generations raised cattle and world-champion saddle-bronc riders - some call them the most successful rodeo family in history.

Filled with vivid scenes of cattle ranching and the high drama of rodeo, The Last Cowboys follows three generations of Wrights through the seasons as they are battered by drought, the falling price of beef, battles over land-use and federal regulation, and rodeo's ever-present risks of serious injury.

This is an epic but intimate story of real-life cowboys squeezed by social change in the 21st century, their soiled boots planted firmly in the past while they optimistically build a future.

©2018 John Branch (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Excellent book

This book tells a great story about the changing culture of the US west and the story of a good family. Enjoy.

Wonderful window into lives of contemporary cowboy

Great overview of cowboy life, gave me background I was looking for prior to trip to rodeo and ranch in Wyoming. Highly recommended.

Wonderfully honest family story

I have watched these cowboys perform and I had wondered about their exceptional family. This was a quick, easy read that holds your attention.

Super entertaining book

Highly recommend this book. It is one of my favorite audible books the last couple of years

A wonderful break during this crazy year

This wonderful book provided some relief from a world gone a bit crazy from the pandemic, riots, and too much politics. The book offers wonderful insights into the life of modern cowboys and how they work a ranch and perform in the rodeos. When you read this book you'll want to be a cowboy at least for a little while. Like every little boy this man always wanted to be a cowboy. Now after reading this book I really want to give it a try and know just how much work it would be.

Absolutely love it.

If you follow rodeo you'll know who the Wright family is. This family is the true example of what rodeo is.

Inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time

As the ranchers supplanted the indigenous people before them, cowboy culture is being supplanted….
This story was told as a heartfelt saga, gently folding in the dilemma of the damage we’ve all wrought on the land and how those closest to the land pay dearest. It portrayed the grit, tenacity, humbleness and courage… of the people who, though not flawless, provide us our food that we so conveniently pick up in neat little packages at the grocery store at our leisure.
I see this as a valuable historic record. The tone and tenor of the narrators voice was impeccable. He truly brought this tale of the intrepid Wright family to life. Very much appreciated and unforgettable.

Really good

This was a fascinating page turner with an excellent narration. The author did a great job of mixing in the family history, and ranching business, with the competitive rodeo aspect that is an integral part of the story. Well done.

Cowboy up

Very informative and enjoyable record of a family and profession. Being from Utah I know the area and wildness of the area. Enjoy this book and stay home. There are to many people trying to visit the high desert,so listen to the book and imagine it from the movies you have seen. If you want to preserve the west leave it to the cows and ranchers. And stay off it with your gear from REI. It is the outdoor groups that are polluting the west with overcrowding.

Enogh of my soap box.
Listen to the book

amazing story that gives depth to modern cowboy

Great book with lots of interesting information. Help me to understand the American West and what it's going through now internal with globalization modernization and the push for the environment.