Book Review: Grass Beyond the Mountains
Grass Beyond the Mountains is a wonderful story about life on the modern frontier.
If you are interested in history, you likely understand the value of primary sources. Primary sources are historical sources that were created in a time period or event. They are great resources for historians because they offer an unfiltered view of what life was like. It’s not that they are always accurate (people have biases), but they don’t pass to you through a middleman. As a teacher, I explain it to my students this way. Would you rather learn about moon landing from me or Neil Armstrong? The answer is a no-brainer. If you apply this concept to other historical events, you begin to realize the value of primary sources. Reading a good primary source can feel like you’re sitting around a campfire and listening to an old friend tell stories. This is the case with Richmond P. Hobson Jr’s book Grass Beyond the Mountains.
Grass Beyond the Mountains is a book I’ve written about on this website plenty of times. References to it appear mostly in the Modern Frontier section of the website. The reason is that this book is essentially all about what I’d call the modern frontier. Not only does it describe handy information about wilderness living, but the author actually participated in the great adventure he describes. In that case, as a resource of history, it’s what we’d call a primary source. Now, let’s take a look at what the book is actually about.
Grass Beyond the Mountains retells the epic story of Hobson and his partner Pan Phillips. In the story, the duo sets out to stake a claim on some of the last remaining free range in North America. The two cowboys first met while working on a ranch in Wyoming in the 1930s. While working on the ranch, at one point Phillips lays out a map of Canada. He shows Hobson that a vast area was simply left blank. He suspected the blank area was a sprawling country full of free grass as big as Wyoming and Montana. Phillips meant to be the first cattleman on that range and claim it as his own. As recorded in the book, Phillips said:
“Grass! Free grass reachin’ north into the unknown country. Land - lots of it - untouched - just waintin’ for hungry cows, and some buckaroos that can ride and have guts enough to put her over.”
That was enough to convince a young and adventurous Hobson to throw in with him.
From that point on, the story follows the two frontiersmen as they travel to British Columbia and set up a temporary camp at the extreme end of the road. That first winter, they learn firsthand how miserable cold it can get that far north. When not battling the cold, they spend their time meeting the scattered settlers in the area, getting a lay of the land, and scraping together an outfit. At this point, Grass Beyond the Mountains offers an intimate look at the spartan life of the frontier. The settlers are several days’ ride from the nearest town and rely mostly on what they can make themselves. In a very real way, the book offers a glimpse into the reality of life on the old American frontier.
After managing to survive the first winter, the pair then has to get their small herd of cattle over the imposing Itcha Mountains to the grassland on the other side. Hence the book’s title, Grass Beyond the Mountains. This is no small task, and the cattle drive over the mountains becomes a test of survival. It has gone down in history as the “Starvation Drive.” Hobson describes their suffering in a way you might expect from a buckaroo with enough “guts” to try such a trip. No complaining.
Eventually, the cattle drive gets over the Itcha Mountains and they discover a great grassland on the other side. According to Hobson,
“And then the last vestige of fog and cloud vanished suddenly in blue sky, and we stared in amazement at a wide greenish yellow world that dipped in a great low curve into an empty horizon. We were on the edge of a gigantic hay meadow. Its immensity struck us speechless, but we still had no realization of the magnitude of the cattle country that we had discovered.”
Like all frontiersmen, just reaching the destination wasn’t the end of the struggle. At that point, they had to get themselves situated to actually live in the untouched world. As you might imagine, this isn’t easy and will once again test the mettle of the explorers.
Grass Beyond the Mountains is a wonderful book for a few reasons. First, it is very entertaining. It’s a great adventure, and who doesn’t like to read those stories? Secondly, it can be counted as a good historical resource. Like other great primary sources on the frontier, the author actually experienced the events he wrote about. Finally, Grass Beyond the Mountains offers a few practical tips and tricks about wilderness living. If you are interested in living in the outdoors, there are some treasures to be mined from these pages.
If you are looking for a great book that offers adventure, history, and practical tips, Grass Beyond the Mountains is a sure thing. I’ve read my copy multiple times and loaned it to several friends. Every time it gets returned, I always get roughly the same reaction, “Wow. What a great book.” It surely is a 5-star book in my opinion.
If you are interested in books on the American frontier, you are sure to enjoy the History of the West series. This series follows two characters as they carve out lives for themselves on the 19th-century American frontier. Not only are the stories entertaining, but they’ll also accurately describe life on the frontier.