To the Discussion Leader
The Journal of Joshua Loper: A Black Cowboy takes readers on a journey herding cattle along the Chisholm Trail in 1871. Written from the point of view of a sixteen-year-old Black cowboy on his first trail ride, the journal entries help young readers taste the dust kicked up by the herd; delight in the meals of stew and corn pone; experience the chaos of a stampede; feel the fear of an attack by rustlers; and watch young Joshua grow into the saddle of manhood.
Walter Dean Myers, Coretta Scott King and Newbery Honor winner, chronicles the important role of the Black cowboy in America. His trail ride portrait is not the Hollywood image created from countless western movies. The cowboys in Joshua's journal do backbreaking work over endless days followed by night watches to protect the herd.
The Journal of Joshua Loper: A Black Cowboy pumps life into the history of the American West. The Buffalo Soldiers, Wes Hardin, and Bill Hickok walk through the pages of this book. The diverse cast of characters in Joshua's journal shows readers just why the American cowboy was known for strength, individualism, determination, and ruggedness.
Summary
"No drinking...No gambling...No being stupid...No falling asleep on night watch." Joshua Loper, who at sixteen was the youngest rider in the group, listened intently to the trail boss's rules.
As they bedded the herd down for the first night, one of the more experienced cowboys explained to Joshua that "those beeves will spook if they hear a flea fart." As predicted, the herd panicked and Joshua faced the first of many stampedes and sleepless nights. "When we got back on the trail after breakfast I was feeling like a horse that had been run all night and put away wet." During subsequent late-night watches, Joshua discovered that his singing soothed the cattle as well as his own spirits.
Other lessons came quickly: how to lasso a straggler without severing his own fingers; how to ford a river, eat terrible food, and live without bathing.
Flashes of excitement - arguments and gunfights, as well as confrontations with rustlers and Indians - prevented the cattle drive from becoming boring and repetitious.
Joshua Loper, son of a former slave and a free Black man, thought that becoming a cowboy seemed like an impossible dream when he was living on the Slash M Ranch in Texas. Three months later Joshua sensed he "was right in the middle of that dream and riding high." As he reflected on his experiences, Joshua was able to say, "I had learned a lot about what it took to go on the trail with a herd." Walter Dean Myers's contribution to the My Name Is America series describes a diverse group of trail hands who risked their lives preventing stampedes while guarding thousands of cattle from rustlers, lightning, and imaginary frights. But even more, The Journal of Joshua Loper: A Black Cowboy details a young boy's passage into adulthood and adventure.
Thinking About the Book
1. At the beginning of Joshua's journal, he writes about why he wants to join the cowboys on the trail and why his mother does not want him to go. What are Joshua's reasons for going? What are his mother's reasons for having him stay?
2. What one incident from Joshua's journal do you remember most? Why?
3. Joshua writes, "Ain't nobody who went up the trail was talked about like they was a boy. You went up the trail you were a man" (April 30). By the end of the trail ride, how has Joshua changed?
4. How does Joshua feel about the Captain? Do the Captain's thoughts about Joshua change by the end of the trail ride?
5. Joshua's father taught him how to read. Mr. Muhlen warns Joshua, however, "...not to go washing nobody's face in my learning because that is how people got themselves hurt" (May 17). What did Mr. Muhlen mean?
6. Did the characters and actions in The Journal of Joshua Loper: A Black Cowboy differ from the image of cowboys and cattle drives you've seen on television or in the movies?
Student Activities
1. In his journal, Joshua Loper introduces readers to many unique terms that describe life on a trail ride. What do each of these words mean?
- drags
- points
- swings
- flanks
- wrangler
- remuda
2. On May 14th, Jake tells a tall tale about a trail ride he was on where it got so cold, "...the snakes all froze and folks was using them for walking sticks." Go to the library and read about the tall tale adventures of another cowboy, Pecos Bill. What makes tall tale stories so funny? Write your own tall tale set in the wild West of 1871.
3. Walter Dean Myers gives his readers a flavor of the wild West through his descriptive language. Billy characterizes one of his bosses as "touchy as a rattlesnake sliding down a cactus plant" (May 13). Why is this a good way of describing someone in a bad mood? Work with your small group to create your own descriptions for people who are:
- Beautiful
- Happy
- Angry
- Sad
- Hungry
- Tired or just worn out
4. Find out more about African American cowboys, Buffalo Soldiers, and the history of cowboys and cattle drives. Look at the books Walter Dean Myers recommends in the author interview in this guide. Also, see what you can find on the Web.
Here are some Internet sites to start your search:
5. Music is an important part of Joshua Loper's life. One of his favorite songs and one the cowboys asked him to sing was "Just Before the Battle, Mother." If you go to the Web site listed below, you can read the lyrics and listen to the music. Why do you think this was such a popular song with Joshua and the other cowboys?
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/justbef.html
6. Cattle rustlers and thunderstorms were just two of the many dangers the cowboys faced on the trail. List up to six other major dangers. Each member of the group can give a talk or presentation to convince the rest of the group that one particular danger was the greatest.
An Interview with Walter Dean Myers
Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D. &
Linda M. Pavonetti, Ed.D.:
You've won awards for both your fiction and nonfiction writing for teens, but this marks the first time you've written in this particular journal format. How did you enjoy writing the fictional journal of Joshua Loper, and how did the writing and research process differ from your other books?
Walter Dean Myers: Having had a life-long longing to be a cowboy, this book was sheer pleasure to write. On the other hand, my idea of what a cowboy was had been garnered primarily from films, and the research showed what a hard job trailing a herd actually was. It also provided an insight into the hardy men who were the cowboys.
RFA & LMP: What did you discover that surprised you most about Black cowboys in the late 1800s?
WDM: The ruggedness of the men was the greatest surprise. It was a backbreaking job.
RFA & LMP: If readers of The Journal of Joshua Loper wanted to read another book about Black cowboys or the Buffalo Soldiers, are there a couple of titles you would recommend?
WDM: William Loren Katz has written two excellent books: The Black West, and Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage. Bill Pickett, Bulldogger by Colonel Bailey C. Hanes is a good book, and so is The Buffalo Soldiers by William H. Leckie.
RFA & LMP: Two of the most important relationships in this book seem to be Joshua's relationship with his mother and with the Captain. Why are these two very different people so important to Joshua's growth?
WDM: Joshua knew that his mother depended on him at home. In accepting the job as a cowboy, he assumed a responsibility to the Captain, who was the trail boss. In accepting the responsibility of being a cowboy Joshua became a man.
RFA & LMP: In your novel Fallen Angels, war is described as "hours of boredom and seconds of terror." In some ways that describes Joshua's time on the trail ride. Even though one hundred years separated them, do you think any parallels could be drawn between the experiences of young cowboys like Joshua Loper and the soldiers who fought in Vietnam?
WDM: An important aspect of the cowboy's job was his ability to get along with the other men on the trail. In this regard it's very much like a squad of men in a fighting unit. The friendships, the kidding, the relying on each other, made these cowboys seem a lot like the soldiers in Fallen Angels.
RFA & LMP: Joshua's journal describes a very different experience from the Hollywood western we are used to. As you wrote in the Historical Note for this book, "The faces of the men were more diverse than Hollywood has shown." How do you think omitting these Black and Mexican cowboys has affected young people's perception of America and of history?
WDM: As a kid I didn't see Black cowboys on the screen. What that said to me was that there were things I couldn't do or be because of my color. What we see others like us do gives us permission to expand our own horizons. We need to tell young people that America was built by men and women of all colors and that the future of this country is dependent on the participation of all of our citizens.
RFA & LMP: If you could ask young readers of Joshua's journal one question after they finished reading the book, what would that question be?
WDM: I would like to know if the job of cowboy seems like a good one now that I've shown it in a less glamorous light.
RFA & LMP: What is one thing you hope young readers will take with them after reading The Journal of Joshua Loper?
WDM: I admired the work ethic of the cowboys I read about. The idea of these young people taking on this much responsibility was impressive. I would like modern readers to have an appreciation of this.
Discussion Guide written by Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D., Professor of
Literature for Children and Young Adults, University of Houston, Houston,
Texas, and Linda M. Pavonetti, Ed.D., Assistant Professor, Oakland
University,
Department of Reading and Language Arts, Rochester, Michigan.
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