Hollywood the Hard Way: A Cowboy's Journey

Dickinson has done a skillful job of bringing twentieth century history alive through the life of an Oklahoma individual whose saga is fascinating. Well-written, I found this book to be a great way to enjoy popular history and learned many things I didn't know about the recent past and the people who moved through it.

Amazing true adventure story; a real page turner!If your grandfather bet a Hollywood movie star cowboy that you could make a little ride to prove that real cowboys still existed and the ways of the old west were not dead, would you do it? Now imagine that in order to win you had to ride a horse 1500 miles from Oklahoma to Hollywood, CA in 50 days, would you? Oh yeah, and throw in barbwire fences, raging rivers, rattlesnakes, murderous robbers, a gunfight, suspicious police, Apaches, and getting lost in the Mojave Desert. Could you? Well, real life hero Jerry van Meter and his Osage indian pony, Fan, almost died doing it in 1946 as the old west was disappearing under post WWII development. He never profited by his adventure. In fact, his grandfather, cowboy legend Rolla Goodnight, never even told him what he bet!Jerry was barely 20 years old when he made the ride. He is now 73 years old and lives in Kalispell, Montana. By chance, writer Patti Dickinson heard about Jerry when she stopped for a hamburger one day in Montana. It took her a year to track him down and verify his story. She tells it in a straight-ahead style that makes you feel that you are riding along with Jerry and Fan all the way. Thank you Ms. Dickinson for finding and preserving a fascinating part of our American history.

Oklahoma, 1945. Rolla Goodnight and Rolla's best buddy Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton are arguing with Jimmy Wakely, the Hollywood picture cowboy and Monogram Movie Star. Jimmy says the cowboy way of life is as good as dead. Rolla and Frank know better. They make a small bet with Jimmy: It used to take three months to drive drive a herd of cattle along the Goodnight-Loving Trail between the Brazos and Denver--about fifteen hundred miles. Hollywood was about the same distance. Why, a good cowboy could make it, on horseback, in fifty days. They volunteer Jerry Van Meter, Rolla's grandson for the job.Jerry honors his grandfather's bet, mounts Fan, his Osage indian pony and heads for Hollywood-the Hard Way.With only a compass and map to guide him across rangeland, mountains and desert, young Jerry meets and defeats life-threatening danger from man and beast, the elements, loneliness and hunger, becoming a man in the process.The author vividly parallels Jerry's journey with the newspaper headlines of the day, carrying the reader back to a time when this nation was on the verge of technology, a time when life was still simple and a man's word was his bond.A true story. A great read.

This true life adventure is an incredibly amazing story, filled with the kind of challenges and wide open country not many people experience these days -- or could ever dream of experiencing.  Additionally, the complex, interdependent relationship between a cowboy and his horse is captured by Dickinson in beautiful, gut-wrenching detail. Jerry Van Meter is a man whose personal journey makes for one heck of a good story -- fitting for someone who is one heck of a man. Through him, through this story, comes the true meaning of Hero, of courage, of strength, of honor. Kudos to Dickinson for the patience it took in drawing it out from him, and the vision it took in recognizing the importance and worth of writing it! Highly recommend!

It's unusual in this day and age to find a story of true life adventure that can be read and enjoyed by all members of the family. Yet the story's full of excitement and is a real page turner. There's not a single cuss word in the entire book, but it's certainly not a wimpy story. The main character, Jerry Van Meter, is a real person, a comman man, who faces life threatening situations over and over during his treck; not only meeting and overcoming dangers he encounters on the trail, but also overcoming his innermost fears, becoming a man in the process. The book is an inspiration for all, proving that decent honorable people can succeed in life while overcoming both violent criminals and natural hardships, yet remain true to a code of honor with respect for all people and animals. I'd strongly recommend this book for anyone who would love an exciting, clean, true life adventure story involving a cowboy, a horse, and one heck of a inspirational journey across the western states.