The Cattle Driver
Short Story – 2018, Red Dashboard
WINNER OF THE 2019 WILL ROGERS MEDALLION – “SHORT WESTERN FICTION”
The Model T changed the world. And it introduced a whole new world to a crusty cowboy still trailing through dirt on his horse. There was to be no modern machinery on his Texas ranch—the man hated anything that dimmed the spirits of the old west. But when his children pitched together for a birthday gift and presented him with four wheels and a seat, curiosity got the best of him. The aging cattle driver finds new life in the fast lane while those around him, including his dusty penned-up horse, fear for the future.
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“The Cattle Driver is like one of those 1930’s Old West movies – the good ones – that were rich in colour and character. You can almost feel the dust and wind as you read about old ways surrendering to new ways. It may be set in the past, but the tale has resonance with the present and even the future.”
– D’Arcy Kavanagh, Writer/ Journalist
“It reminded me a lot of Steinbeck’s The Red Pony. I enjoyed the story. Sure would be easy to make a teleplay out of it!”
– Gord Tolton, Writer/ Historian
“Uytdewilligen captures the spirit of the Old West and the cowboy way of life inevitably giving way to so-called progress. His tone is playful, and the story moves along enjoyably almost like a tall tale or one with a moral.”
– A. L. Peevey
Ryan Uytdewilligen 