1.2 Early writing career

Dobie began to publish his first articles in 1919. In 1920, he left the faculty at the University of Texas to work his uncle's ranch, where he discovered a desire to put the rich experience of Texas ranch life into words.

After a year on the ranch, he returned to the University of Texas and began to use its library and the resources of the Texas Folklore Society to write articles about the vanishing way of life on rural Texas ranches. In 1922, he became secretary of the Texas Folkore Society and began a program for publication. He held the post of secretary-editor of the society for 21 years. He joined the English faculty of Oklahoma A&M University for two years in 1923 when he was unable to achieve a promotion without a Ph.D.. While in Oklahoma, he wrote for the Country Gentleman. He returned to Austin in 1925 after receiving a token promotion with the help of his friends.

After returning to Austin, he published he first book, A Vaquero of the Brush Country in 1929, which helped establish him as a voice about Texas and southwestern culture. The book was based on autobiographical notes by John Young, an open-range vaquero who had fought against the encroachment of barbed wire. This was followed by a series of books in the 1920s and 1930s, leading up to the publication in 1941 of The Longhorns, which is considered one of the best descriptions of the traditions of the Texas Longhorn cattle breed during the 19th century.

In 1939, Dobie began publishing a Sunday newspaper column in which he routinely poked fun at Texas politics. A liberal Democrat, he often found an easy target for his words in state politicans. Regarding state politics, he once wrote, "When I get ready to explain homemade fascism in America, I can take my example from the state capitol of Texas."

1.3 Later writing career

During World War II, he taught literature at Cambridge University and returned to Europe after the war to teach in England, Germany, and Austria. He later wrote of his experiences at Cambridge in his book A Texan in England.

In 1944, after a fellow professor was fired from the University of Texas for his liberal views, Dobie became outraged, leading to a statement by Texas governor Coke Stevenson that Dobie should be dismissed. Dobie's subsequent request for an extension of his leave-of-absence in Europe was rejected and he was dismissed.

After his dismissal from the University of Texas, Dobie published another series of books and anthologies of stories about the open range. On September 14, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson awarded him the Medal of Freedom. Dobie died four days later on September 18. His funeral was held in Hogg Auditorium on the University of Texas Campus and he was buried in the Texas State Cemetery . A university dormitory tower was later named in his honor.

2 List of works

• A Vaquero of the Brush Country
• Rattlesnakes
• I'll Tell You a Tale
• The Mustangs
• The Ben Lilly Legend
• Mustangs and Cow Horses, editor
• The Longhorns
• The Voice of the Coyote
• Gauchos of the Pampas and their Horses, editor
• Coronado's Children
• Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver
• Tales of Old-Time Texas
• Legends of Texas
• Cow People
• Some Part of Myself
• Prefaces
• A Texan in England
• Tongues of the Monte
• Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest

Many of Dobie's works are featured in Ramon Adams' Six-Guns and Saddle Leather and The Rampaging Herd, two well respected bibliographic works on the history of the American West and the cattle industry.

3 Quotation

• From the introductory comments to Dobie's Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest: "Not copyright in 1942. Again not copyright in 1952. Anybody is welcome to help himself to any of it in any way."

4 External link

• Handbook of Texas Online: J. Frank Dobie

Dobie, J. Frank Dobie, J. Frank

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