It's 1961, the height of the Cold War and a young archaeologist sets
foot into the wild canyons of southeast Utah, searching for a rock-art panel that possibly holds the answer to the disappearance of the Anasazi. She is accompanied by her dog, Buddy Blue, and a mysterious sometime-companion she calls Mr. Yellowjacket.
Here, in her recently discovered journals, Chinle Miller records her
perhaps impossible quest for the elusive Bird Panel, as well as her journey through an inner landscape, seeking peace from betrayal by one of the great rascals of the era, Charlie Dundee, the Uranium King.
Happiness is a box of Dupont 50,
some Redhead Matches,
and a "project" or two.
- Cactus Rat
For the first time in recorded history, the complete short stories of the infamous* Chinle Miller have been compiled in a book that the
publisher hopes won't get anyone arrested (especially the publisher).
Come sit around the campfire with an archaeologist after he
unwittingly brings a unique curse upon himself; watch Ernie, the county road supervisor, accidentally bomb his own highway shed; discover a cryptic form of rock art just in time for it to save your
life; and discover how a Navajo uses a Hopi rain dance to start a fire in a gated development, shutting it down before it can even be built.
This book has it all – epic plane crashes, albino grizzly bears,
accidental movie stars, runaway rednecks, wild Aussies, and even
uranium miners with vanity plates on their old Dodge Power Wagons. And
you'll meet Annie, the sweet little old lady who unknowingly foils an
attempt to open a cyanide pit gold mine. As a bonus, you'll discover
the possible fate of Everett Ruess, the young artist who went missing
in the canyons many years ago. But best of all, included are the only
known writings of Cactus Rat and Yeller Cat, two of the world's finest
and, shall we say, most unique, desert rats.
Generously described as eco-humor, anything's fair game for Chinle's understated tongue-in-cheek writing. You'll love seeing the underdogs win for once, and if nothing else, you'll be left with a book you can innocently pass on to your favorite corrupt nature-hating developer or politician.
Anytime a cowpuncher brewed a cup of java, the “Arbuckle Cafe” was open for business. Rain or shine, both friend and stranger were welcome to a hot
steaming cup of coffee and a good story or two.
Arbuckle's Ariosa coffee was the preferred drink of
the range, and many a waddie warmed himself with the
buckaroo brew before a long night guard with the
dogies. “The Arbuckle Cafe” is a compilation of
classic cowboy stories, authentic, entertaining, and
honest as a well-looped riata.
Val FitzPatrick was a cowboy with the famous Two Bar
outfit in northwest Colorado and tells what it was
really like to be a cowpuncher on one of the West's
last frontiers.
“A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it
be contained in words.” - Ansel Adams
Come enjoy a slideshow or purchase
a gift photo for one of our unique Spotted Dog Ranch
frames. From Slickrock Bike Trail to the geysers of
Yellowstone, these photos will take you into the heart
of the West. Visit often to explore new places, new
adventures.
...[Go To Gallery]
Come enjoy a short story from one of our books or an
essay by one of our writers. Take a quick break and
drift away into another world, into tales of desert
rats, river rats, and occasionally even of our unique friends, Yellow Cat and Cactus Rat.
...[Go To "Tales"]
Heard at the
Watering Hole Musings from our Readers and Whatnot
“In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.”
~ Edward Hoagland
Dear Editors at Yellow Cat Publishing:
I would like to share some ideas I have for a book or
two on dogs, all from the dog's point of view. We
could call it something like:
The Politics of the Dog
The Great American Landscape, with Dog
How History was Changed by Dogs
How Dogs See Humans
Dogs and Crime
The Dogs of War
When Will my Master Come Home?
Dogs in the Lives of Saints (might get a few Catholics
here)
My Dog and You-Why You Will Lose Every Time
The Dog in Prophecy
How to Speak Dog
(might need to do some Lab work on
this one).
Anyway, I could describe a few things from the doggie
point of view, such as:
The street: a hard black ribbon where the big box
machines go.
The master's doghouse, where I must not pee.
The glass doghouse on wheels.
The magical food that appears in my master's hand.
Ditto the magical water dish.
The giant stick that grows from the bone-hiding dirt.
The infinite bushes which long to be peed on.
The round chewy thing that compels me to chase it.
The two-leggeds' extra skins.
The big white water dish, from which I must not drink.
The big rotting food bin, from which I must not eat.
The big soft raised place where my master sleeps, and
I may NOT (although sometimes I get to anyway).
The hole in the wall, which opens and closes and
allows the two-leggeds and us to come and go.
The strange platforms where my master sits, and I'm
not supposed to.
Ditto the place where he eats.
The master's food, which I plead for, and sometimes
(usually) get.
The strange place in the wall I can see through, but
can't get out of, through which I watch my master come
and go.
The big, long water dish where my master gets himself
and sometimes me wet.
The big, clean-smelling doghouse where my master takes
me to see other dogs, but instead a white-skinned
two-legged takes me and pokes me, which I do not like,
even though it makes me feel better.
Well, anyway, you get the idea. Please let me know if
I can get rich writing books, preferably SOON.
