Trail's End
The Mike Isnardy Story
Written by Judy Alsager
Judy Alsager's new book "Trails End" will put you on the back of a good Cariboo/Chilcotin horse as you ride this trail of life with BC Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee Mike Isnardy.
A cowboy in every sense of the word Isnardy was born to a family of 18 siblings where he learned the true spirit of the words "to share". The year was 1923 and times were hard for the settlers trying to make a living at the beginning of the century. The Isnardy family was no exception and this book will put you into their log cabin, sharing clothes, making food stretch working the land, and embracing the love and companionship to be found in a big family.
Mike's ranching career took him from work horse, to cow horse, to tractors. He even tried his hand at potato farming until the call of the saddle put him back where he belonged, with the horses.
The trail of life for a cowboy offered no luxuries, no fancy beds, no TV. Days started well before first light and ended after dark - if you were lucky.
Judy Alsager brings the cold wind off the mountains, the loneliness of the trail, and the winter snows right up to your bedside table.
Share the desperation that the men and women of the Cariboo/Chilcotin experienced while they fought to be able to feed stock through some of the coldest winters on record, and help them rejoice when they succeeded.
There is wonderful humour in the pages of this book as Mike meets the characters of the day and helps to create his own memorable moments. For a working cowboy the dangerous and often humorous run-ins with livestock are endless - it's part of the lifestyle.
As the story unfolds so does the history of the Cariboo/Chilcotin. The immensity of the famous Gang Ranch, and the sad history that has befallen her over the years. The emergence of other ranches and homesteads that have, and will, leave their names in the history books of that era. The settlers and ranchers of the area, some who lost it all and some who beat the odds and came out winners.
Enjoying recreational roping and bronc riding with friends at his ranch in the early sixties Mike went on to become an icon of the sport and a founder of the British Columbia Rodeo Association. A father of rodeo in Western Canada, Mike's famous bucking horses are still talked about and their names will be long remembered.
Mike's trail got a lot harder in the prime of his life when a freak accident took his saddle away and left him to ride a wheelchair. He now found himself in the fight of his life to climb the tallest mountains his trail had even brought him to. But he did, and he won.
"Trails End" will take the reader into a time of the past where life was simpler yet harder. Where friendship and cameraderie shared on the trail from the back of a good horse was all that a man required to make his life complete.
Come, take a ride with Mike and Judy. You'll be glad you did.
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