Redskin and Cowboy

by G. A. Henty

First published 1892

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2.5(5)

William “English Bill” Tunstall begins as a miner in the American West before news from England forces him to confront the family history he left behind. His fortunes eventually draw a younger generation, including Hugh, into the mobile world of ranches, cattle drives and mining camps, where survival depends on riding, shooting and learning the informal rules of cowboy life.

The story ranges across the western plains through round-ups, prairie fire, dangerous journeys and attacks that expose the vulnerability of isolated travellers and settlements. Henty drew much of the cowboy material from first-hand accounts, and the novel spends unusual attention on daily work as well as adventure. Rather than tying itself to one famous campaign, it presents the West through changing occupations and communities, showing how migration, ranching and violence reshape a family over time.