Steber tells Western story at Paulina Springs

Rick Steber will tell one of the West's great true stories at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters on Saturday,

November 2.

Steber's newly released "Red White Black" tells the true story of the 1911 Pendleton Round-Up. Three men of different skin colors - Jackson Sundown, John Spain, and George Fletcher - are brought together during the finals of the Northwest Saddle Bronc Championship. What happened that September day, the judges' decision, and the reaction of the crowd in the aftermath, forever changed the sport of rodeo, and the way the emerging West was to look at itself.

Jackson Sundown was on the Nez Perce retreat, but rather than surrender at Bear Paw with his uncle, Chief Joseph, he escaped to Canada and lived with Sitting Bull. Returning to the United States as a fugitive, Sundown eventually, at age 53, whipped the cowboy at his own game and became the first man of color to win the all-around title at the Pendleton Round-Up.

John Spain was from white pioneering stock. When Buffalo Bill brought his Wild West show to Oregon in 1902, John and his brother were inspired to form a show of their own. They traveled the Northwest with a string of bucking horses and put on riding exhibitions. After a roping accident cost John his right hand, he had to learn to ride with his off-hand and made a comeback at the Pendleton Round-Up.

At the outbreak of World War I, the cowboys of Eastern Oregon formed their own cavalry unit, Troop D. George Fletcher, an African American, tried to join, but Jim Crow, the strict segregation of the races, was the law of the land and George was not allowed to join his peers. He was drafted into the segregated Army, served in France, was wounded and never again was able to compete in the sport of rodeo.

Steber, who spent four decades researching this story, has more than 30 titles under his belt and sales of over a million books. Rick is the only Oregon author to have won the prestigious Western Writers of America Spur Award - Best Western Novel. He is a keen observer of the changing American West and he articulates these changes in prose that is boldly descriptive, invigorating and creative. His writing has been compared to Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, McMurtry and Stegner.

The event is set for 6:30 p.m. There is a $5 admission charged, which will be refunded with the purchase of "Red White Black."

Paulina Springs Books is located at 252 W. Hood Ave. For more information, call 541-549-0866.