This book is very intensely focused on the sport of rodeo, with which I was only vaguely familiar before I started reading it.

I had hoped to read about life in small-town Utah, something for which I am very nostalgic. There was a little of that. I can remember as a kid being on a family trip sometime in the 1970s, and we pulled into a motel in Green River, Utah, one Sunday afternoon. Dad came back to the car from the motel office and said that there was a sign at the front desk that said the owners of the motel were in church, and would-be lodgers should take a key and let themselves into a room, and everything would be worked out when church services were over. Reference in this book to Toquerville reminded me of the scores of times I'd ridden on the highway through the town. I believe that it is one of the many Utah towns settled by pioneers who did so by calling, not so much by choice. There's still something special about those towns, made sacred by the settlers' sacrifices.

I had also hoped to read descriptions of the natural beauty of Utah. There was a little more of that. There were descriptions of the red-rock formations around Smith Mesa, and of the alpine landscape of the Tushar Mountains. It takes more work to see the beauty of Milford but I believe it can be done!

I admit to not being able to keep very good track of who is who in the Wright clan, but I was impressed by the unconditional love they had for each other. ( )

This book is well-written. Recommended not only for the general reader but also and especially for cattlemen, rodeo fans and anyone who wonders where their steak comes from or about the effort and skills required for cattle ranching and rodeo.

These cowboys (and their wives), the Wright family, Utah Mormons, work so long and hard it makes my teeth hurt just reading about it, but they never complain. Their courage and compassion are remarkable. Most of the men have enough metal device repairs in them from rodeo mishaps to jam a radar.

The writer researched well the Wright family and the cattle and rodeo businesses, and the reader is amply rewarded with the most arresting features. The book is primarily about rodeo, the most interesting calling of the Wright family, and several were national champions.

Don't worry, the Mormon business is rarely mentioned as such but rather noticed in the quiet ethos of the Wrights. ( )

A documentary of the first family of Saddle Bronc riding Rodeo, the Wrights. Unknown to the vast majority of Americans, this family has produced a group of Saddle Bronc riders who have dominated that event in Rodeo, like no other single rider or family. If this was Football, these riders would be known to the majority of Americans as great athletes. Unfortunately Rodeo is pretty obscure to most people. This is a well done look into the lives of this family. Perhaps too much detail and documentary of many rides in many rodeos for the average reader and somewhat obscuring the central theme that this is the kind of change ranch families in the American West are having to adapt to in order to somewhat protect their way of life and livelihood. ( )

"The Last Cowboys" is a look at a rapidly dying way of life that is pretty much unique to America. It tells the story of the Wright family, a Utah family that has produced world champion bronc riders for the last three generations. The family is so good, and so large, that it often dominates the Top Ten in world rankings in this brutal sport...and it is on the verge of spawning a fourth generation of champion riders.

In addition, the book tells the story of a family tied to the ranching tradition of the American West, a way of living that is being squeezed by the government's environmental regulations and the encroachment of tourists who make the land more and more valuable every day...so valuable, in fact, that it may be worth more being used for something other than cattle ranching.

"The Last Cowboys" is touching, inspiring, and entertaining. What more could you ask of it? ( )