William "Bill" W. Brown 1855 - 1941: Legend of Oregon's High Desert; Including a History of the "Wagontire Mountain Range Feud"
Salem, Oregon: Your Town Press, Inc., 1993.
First Edition. Paperback.
A biography of legendary Oregon rancher Bill Brown, "Horse King of the Northwest," who owned the largest branded horse herds on the Pacific Coast operating during the latter part of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. He owned 34,220 acres of land in the desolate regions of Crook, Deschutes, Harney and Lake Counties, including remote springs and waterholes which allowed his buckaroos to control another 100,000 acres of desert land. His story is legend - and much of the legend has been exaggerated. The author's intent in this epic is to separate the true story from the hyperbole.
From the preface: "This book is written in two parts but reads as one. Bill Brown's life on Oregon's High Desert is a book in itself. Brown was a man from whom legends are made. Stories of his eccentric behavior continue to be passed on from generation to generation. Some are true. Some are false. More importantly, Bill's way of life can now be understood. The second part deals with a more violent way of life which resulted in four men's deaths. Call it the "Wild West," right to survive, power of ownership, or just plain hatred: I call it the Wagontire Mountain Range Feud. Bill Brown was not a physical participant in the feud, but, at various times, employed all but one of the men involved. He was a land owner caught in the middle of two feuding factions. Bill’s life story cannot be told without knowing the reasons for the Wagontire Mountain Range Feud. Both histories rely on one another. The result is a monograph of a man who lived a different and difficult life in Central Oregon."
Item #901347ISBN: 0962260924
11 x 8-5/8”, stiff pictorial wrappers, 222pp, conclusion, appendix, bibliography, fully illustrated with maps, photographs, documents & line drawings by the author.
Clean, square, free of owner’s marks, long scratch to fore-edge, else near fine.
Price: $80.00