Choate Cowboy Fiction Collection
The Choate Cowboy Fiction Collection of 197 titles was donated to the Library in 2014 by former University Librarian, Ray Choate. After 25 years of service, Ray retired in June 2015, donating countless books to the Library, including this fascinating collection of cowboy fiction, originally belonging to his father, Alton William 鈥淏ill鈥 Choate.
Bill was born on 24 May 1913 in Fairfield, a small city in Clay County, Nebraska.听 When he was just 2, his family moved to Goshen County, Wyoming, where they lived in a Hawk Springs homestead. Although he finished 10th grade, the highest available at the time in such a small settlement, he did not go on to college. He was much more interested in the outdoors, particularly in horses, and was reported as saying 鈥淭here was always a horse out there some place that somebody said I couldn鈥檛 ride, but I thought I could.鈥漑1] As a young lad Bill was always searching for untamed horses, making five dollars for each one he broke.
In 1934 Bill married Byrel Harden and the couple lived on various ranches before settling at Hawk Springs in 1956. Byrel was not keen for her husband to continue breaking in bucking horses so Bill swapped to roping 鈥 calves initially and then team steer roping. Over eig