The Last Cowboys Audiobook By John Branch cover art

The Last Cowboys

Preview
Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

The Last Cowboys

By: John Branch
Narrated by: John Pruden
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.97

Buy for $13.97

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter's gripping portrait of one western family struggling to hold on to age-old American ways.

New York Times reporter and best-selling author John Branch takes listeners to the magnificent red soil and rocky arroyos of southern Utah, where the Wright family of Smith Mesa have for generations raised cattle and world-champion saddle-bronc riders - some call them the most successful rodeo family in history.

Filled with vivid scenes of cattle ranching and the high drama of rodeo, The Last Cowboys follows three generations of Wrights through the seasons as they are battered by drought, the falling price of beef, battles over land-use and federal regulation, and rodeo's ever-present risks of serious injury.

This is an epic but intimate story of real-life cowboys squeezed by social change in the 21st century, their soiled boots planted firmly in the past while they optimistically build a future.

©2018 John Branch (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Cultural & Regional Sociology Cowboy
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
Captivating Story • Insightful Family Saga • Excellent Narration • Engaging Cowboy Tale • Intriguing Western Story
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant
This book tells a great story about the changing culture of the US west and the story of a good family. Enjoy.

Excellent book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Great overview of cowboy life, gave me background I was looking for prior to trip to rodeo and ranch in Wyoming. Highly recommended.

Wonderful window into lives of contemporary cowboy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I have watched these cowboys perform and I had wondered about their exceptional family. This was a quick, easy read that holds your attention.

Wonderfully honest family story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Highly recommend this book. It is one of my favorite audible books the last couple of years

Super entertaining book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This was a fascinating page turner with an excellent narration. The author did a great job of mixing in the family history, and ranching business, with the competitive rodeo aspect that is an integral part of the story. Well done.

Really good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Very informative and enjoyable record of a family and profession. Being from Utah I know the area and wildness of the area. Enjoy this book and stay home. There are to many people trying to visit the high desert,so listen to the book and imagine it from the movies you have seen. If you want to preserve the west leave it to the cows and ranchers. And stay off it with your gear from REI. It is the outdoor groups that are polluting the west with overcrowding.

Enogh of my soap box.
Listen to the book

Cowboy up

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Great book with lots of interesting information. Help me to understand the American West and what it's going through now internal with globalization modernization and the push for the environment.

amazing story that gives depth to modern cowboy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

So good. Don’t miss this story of family, strength, kindness and rodeoing! Enjoyed and highly recommend.

Don’t miss this true story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

A deep dive into the legacy of farming cross referenced with a back stage pass to all things rodeo. Insightful, entertaining, and non-fiction. Felt like I was reading about rock stars and touring. The Last Cowboy is indeed all that.

Beats any 8-second ride

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I loved this book, I listen to it very quickly because I loved it so much. My little brother and his boys also rodeo, and they know some of the Wright family, so this was really fun for me to listen to.

The only mistake I noticed was that he thinks Luke chapter 2 is in the Book of Mormon and it is not, Luke chapter 2 is in the Bible it’s in the New Testament.

Great

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews