Monte Walsh could bust a bronco, turn a stampede, survive on mashed beans, take on two in a brawl, string barbed-wire barehanded, and do anything else that needed to be done.

He was the kind of man who preferred coffee to whiskey and horseback to an easy chair. Living in a routine where every day would seem alike if the weather weren't so cantankerous, Monte and his friends at the Slash Y Ranch typify what was strongest, most honest, and most admirable about the cowboys at the turn of the century.

"The publication of SHANE in 1949 brought Jack Schaefer instant recognition. But it is in MONTE WALSH, first published in 1963, that Schaefer finds room to express the breadth of his understanding and affection of the West." (B-O-T Editorial Review Board)