Born on a farm in Utah, E.J. Bird - who, according to the dust-jacket blurb, worked as a ranch hand and a professional artist - presents nine western tales in Chuck Wagon Stew, all related to him by the genuine "reformed" outlaw, Matt Warner. Told in colorful vernacular - lots of "varmints," instances of "he had him a..." and so on - these stories feature cowboys and outlaws, bears and bulls, and are quite entertaining. The accompanying line drawings, also done by Mr. Bird, are full of motion and excitement.

Here the reader will encounter the amusing pourquoi tale, Blood Brothers, in which Swen and Olaf Swenson exchange "gifts," thereby explaining the presence of mosquitoes in Minnesota, and rattle-snakes in the West. A cunning three-toed bear, described by the narrator as the original "Arkansas Traveler," features in Old Three Toes, while the unusual friendship of a bull and a jaybird is laid out in Big Red and the Jaybird. The tough life of the fugitive is evident in stories like The Outlaws, in which the eponymous band lose their money, along with one of their companions; in Big Money, where they just lose their money; and in Miss Lily, where, after enjoying their idiosyncratic hostess's hospitality, they make off with two horses that may, or may not, stay with them. Huckleberries for Breakfast, in which the narrator and his friend attempt to find some milk for their employer's wife, and Gone to Fetch the Bull, in which the same two set out to find a city-born co-worker who was dispatched to bring back a bull, both address the life of a professional cowboy. Finally, Owl Feather is the tale of the great-grandfather of Warner's Shoshone friend, Old Smokey, and the winter he decided not to die.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Chuck Wagon Stew, as I am not really a great fan of cowboy tales, and was rather afraid that it might include some egregiously offensive depictions of Native Americans. Happily, the stories were engaging, and although the last three included Shoshone characters, it was in a matter-of-fact, non-romantic way. All in all, an appealing collection of legends from the American West, that I particularly recommend to young folklore enthusiasts with an interest in cowboys and outlaws. ( )