John Bratt's Trails of Yesterday
First Hand Account of A Cowboy’s Life In Midwestern United States
As the western United States opened during the 1800s, the need for cowboys to drive cattle from grazing lands to market became a needed necessity. John Bratt was such a cowboy. He was born in Staffordshire, England on August 9, 1842. He was twenty-one years old when he arrived in America.
Before moving to Nebraska, he lived for a time in Chicago and the south. He moved to Nebraska City, Nebraska in 1866. He took a job as bullwhacker, a driver of oxen, with a freighting company going to Fort Phil Kearney, Wyoming. Later he worked as a courier, ranch caretaker, teamster, wood and hay contract foreman, contractor’s agent and manager.
On the Trail
Bratt’s book, Trails of Yesterday, gives a vivid description of an 1874 prairie fire where he and about fifty men slept in shifts and with their clothes on in order to tend to the fire without hesitancy.
Bratt tells the story of one particular family, the Boslers from Pennsylvania, who invested in cattle, land, and the railroad. The Boslers claimed the range east of Blue Creek to the west of Brown’s Creek in Nebraska. Another family, the Boyd Brothers, planned to stake a claim in the area east of the Blue Creek for their cattle to graze. This did not sit well with the Boslers’ Foremen, W.C. Irvine and Tom Lawrence and several confrontations took place. Bratt describes how he would physically put himself between the Boslers’ foremen and the Boyd Brothers’ foremen in order to keep a fight from breaking out.
Fort Phil Kearney Massacare
One of the most descriptive areas in Bratt’s book was when he described the massacre at Fort Phil Kearney. He stated that many men killed as many Indians as they could, before turning the gun on themselves. He said this was done because the men would rather die than become captives of the Indians. Bratt shared how he would commit suicide himself if were in a situation where he would be taken captive. His fear was eventually being murdered and then mutilated by his captives.
Cowboy’s Language
Bratt’s language is simply spoken. At times, it seemed illiterate, however, Bratt considered himself well educated in books of the American west. While in England, Bratt said he read everything possible about America and the west. Overall, his language is stereotypical of the frontier and the time in which is lived.
Visuals of the Trails
The author was not short on the number of pictures he placed throughout the book. A few of he pictures include:
- Red Cloud
- Sitting Bull
- An Irish Jaunting Car
- St. Edward’s Parish School
- Brigham Young
- A Branding Scene
- John Bratt
- Miss Elizabeth Burke
This book is helpful to anyone who is interested in reading how the opening to the west progressed and what events took place during the 19th century.
Source:
Bratt, John: Trails of Yesterday. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, (3rd Edition) 1980.
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