Book excerpt: The Montana Cowboy brings together true stories of real cowboys and cowgirls from across the Treasure State. Cowboys who have chased wild horses in the Missouri River badlands, ridden through freezing blizzards, and followed the roundup wagons while branding calves in the spring and gathering in the fall. Many of these stories come from early day settlers and exhibit the fortitude and toughness needed to survive when Montana was little more than a land of wolf tracks and unfenced grass. Others relate more modern experiences, some dangerous, others unpredictable, as so often happens when working with livestock. Through them all, a thread of humor and respect for fellow man runs like an invisible strand, just as the cowboy’s heart is never far from a jest or a practical joke.