Buster Welch’s life could have been a disaster. His mother died when he was but a few weeks old. His father remarried, combining his brood of eight with his wife’s two and then had two more. The family struggled through the Depression and the war years. His dad went broke in the cattle business, then made a working man’s wage riding pipeline for the Atlantic Tank Farm.

Buster himself was a wild colt – headstrong and rebellious. He dropped out of school and ran away from home when he was but 14. Had Buster been born in New York City rather than in West Texas, he may have been just another social casualty. Instead, he grew up to become one of the most celebrated horsemen and cattlemen of the 20th century.

Some years ago, his longtime friend, Bud Wellman, a Texas history professor at Jarvis Christian College, wrote a 150-page manuscript chronicling his exploits. After reading it, Welch dismissed it as “just a bunch of bragging.”