A Dog Named Tractor: And Other Assorted Cowboy Tales

By Dan Isom

New book is tribute to 'A Dog Named Tractor'
Dan "Mountain Man" Isom recalls happy memories, shares love for animals, nature

BENNETT, Colo. Life has not been always good for author Dan Isom. Just like the rest of the population, Isom has experienced both highs and lows in his personal journey. To exorcise the bad ones and highlight the good ones, he writes a tribute to "A Dog Named Tractor" (published by Xlibris) and reveals other stories of his life shared with nature and animals.

A self-confessed hunter, fisherman and cowboy, Isom has had many wonderful memories with the flora and fauna in his side of the world. This book being a tribute to his true friend and loyal business partner, Tractor, has a story that demonstrates how animals can be integral to man's everyday life, even to his happiness.

A confessed alcoholic as well, Isom tells how his sweet memories pulled him out of the bog alcoholism has put him in. A story of survival and overcoming his alcohol addiction meshed with his great time around nature and animals, this narrative sends a message that the good things in life always outnumber the bad ones.

Down-to-earth as he admits his dark side, Isom shows readers how they too can combat addictions and live life bathed in the beauty of the environment and its friendly creatures. Powerfully communicative amidst its simplicity as a narrative, "A Dog Named Tractor" spreads the message of enjoying each and every moment spent around nature and considering every situation an added learning experience.

"A Dog Named Tractor"
By Dan "Mountain Man" Isom
Softcover - 6 x 9in - 70 pages - ISBN 9781499016192
E-Book - 70 pages - ISBN 9781499016185
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499016185

Dan Isom

I was born Danny A Isom (not Dan or DanieI) Decemember 26, 1949 in Denver , Colorado I've got a lot years behind me; some of them good – some of not so good.

Book preview

A Dog Named Tractor

AND OTHER ASSORTED COWBOY TALES

DAN MOUNTAIN MAN ISOM

Copyright © 2014 by DAN MOUNTAIN MAN ISOM.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 05/27/2014

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

625072

CONTENTS

ASSORTED COWBOY TALES

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

MORE COWBOY TALES

CHAPTER FOUR

This Book is

Dedicated to

Jo Ann, my wife who helped me

in every way to make this happen.

Sheri Moore, my dearest friend,

who gave me the technical

advice and moral support to finish this project.

Marcia and Mary, who

both inspired me and

encouraged me to do this.

A DOG NAMED TRACTOR

AND OTHER ASSORTED COWBOY TALES

TOLD BY DAN MOUNTAIN MAN ISOM

I HAVE ENJOYED RECALLING THESE MEMORIES

AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY READING ABOUT THEM

WHEN I JOINED DAN UP AT BURNS, I FOLLOWED MY HEART

AND I’VE NEVER REGRETTED IT.

SOME CHILDHOOD DREAMS CAME TRUE.

THIS BOOK IS A LABOR OF LOVE FOR HIM AND ME,

AND I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT.

EVERYHING IN IT IS TRUE. I KNOW THAT FOR A FACT,

BECAUSE I WAS THERE.

JOANN ISOM

I was at the lowest point of my life ever in a van of homeless men headed north on I 25. I had everything I owned in a plastic garbage bag. I had gotten out of a five day stay at a detox center. I had ten dollars in my pocket, and was headed to a Christian based farm that provided men that were down on their luck a chance at life again. It provided you with a room, three meals a day, 10 bucks a week in exchange for your work on the farm. I had lost everything, the house I had built, the house of my dreams. The house I had owned with my second wife. Lost her also, my children and my pride all because of alcohol abuse and my second DUI.

When I arrived at the farm, we were given a room to share with another man. The chow hall was a quarter mile north, so it was a good walk three times a day. Everyone was given a job; mine was a position to care for the livestock, as I had experience doing this. We had cattle and pigs that we butchered to supply the farm with meat. We also had sheep, goats, turkeys and chickens, all had to be fed and watered twice a day and their pens kept clean.

It was my job to assign men to care for certain animals, their food and their pens and pastures, I buried myself in my work. We had prayer time and devotions at each meal, so you got time to reflect on the choices you had made and instructions on how to live a better life. Six months with this job and staying sober, I was promoted to Support Staff as livestock foreman, given a room of my own in the building with other support staff. I built a good crew and I also built a trust with my superiors and the farm in general. I would go to the weekly livestock auction in Ft. Collins, buy or sell livestock for our needs.

As we grew, I decided to start a petting zoo so inner city kids could come out, experience and enjoy new things and have a hands-on chance to learn. I would buy unusual and docile animals for the kids to enjoy. We had pygmy goats that would have babies about every six months; we had Lester a pygmy billy who was in charge of seeing that we had baby goats and he did the job well. We had pot bellied pigs, some Barbary sheep that grow four horns, a llama and Rufus, our stunted calf that did everything with us. You could ride him, even though he didn’t stop very well. Rufus loved the kids.

One particular day I was at the livestock auction when a woman came to where I was sitting. She had a box and said I have one left, you can have him if you want. In the box was a six week old solid black Australian Shepard pup. One look and I said you bet. A love affair was born. Little did I know this pup and I would be together 24/ 7 for the next nine years.

This pup was a true turning point in my life, I took him to my room and showed him home, and he was with me every step of the way from then on. My ex-wife and I were still good friends and she is an animal lover, too. By then he had a name Tractor cuz he loved riding in a tractor. I called her and she came up and fell in love too. The first time he saw her he ran down the stairs and did a somersault that was his calling card for several years. He would ride in my truck when we went to eat but he had to stay in the truck until we were done. After breakfast we had a prayer time and devotions. When the pup started howling, it was time to quit.

That first weekend my wife came up we rented a cabin in Poudre Canyon, the pup rode between us curled up in a ball sleeping. When we got stuff in and settled we went fishing, I had to carry him across the river; he was afraid of the moving water. Two girls were hiking and when they got close to us, that little ball of fur growled at them. Just a pup and he was already protecting us.

We worked on the farm together and he learned to move cattle. Aussies have the instinct, they just need to be fine tuned. He was easy tuning, he was obedient, smart and wanted to please. He became a great cattle dog. He worked cattle, sheep and goats really well but he hated pigs; he wanted nothing to do with them.

After two and a half years at the farm it was time to move on. I felt comfortable in my sobriety and had the tools to stay sober. I took a job at a cattle ranch at Burns, Colorado. I had a neat little log cabin that had been completely re-done on the inside. It was fifty miles to the nearest town and we backed up to the White River Wilderness Area. I had forty miles of back yard without even a road. The owners wanted you to be responsible for the ranch where you lived, so I had my own hay fields, my own ditches, that had to be maintained, my own equipment, my own set of cows. Tractor and I had a lot of responsibility. They furnished you a horse, a pickup, a four wheeler for irrigating and getting to ditches

Tractor loved to ride and got good at it; he also loved to run beside me and go exploring while I was setting water. I would put 40 miles on the machine in a morning, with him running along. With all his exploring he would run close to 50 miles a day so he was in great condition. We flood irrigated, where you put canvas dams in the ditches to back the water up and flood the field.

Tractor liked to chase the water when I pulled the dams, so I had to watch or he would follow me and pull the dams so he could chase the water. If I didn’t watch, sometimes I would have to reset them all.

My ex wife