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_____Reuben Mullins (b.1863) left his home in Missouri in 1878._____ He spent the next several years in Iowa working as a miner and blacksmith._____ In 1884 he arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the age of twenty, utterly ignorant of the cowboy life._____ Over the next five years he mastered the trade on a variety of Montana ranches including: the Swan Land & Cattle Company as a blacksmith, the AU7, the 4W and finally the Hoe Ranch._____ In 1889, the incursion of sheepmen, settlers and their fences, and the brutal winter losses of 1885-7, prompted him to leave the business._____ He subsequently graduated from medical school then a Baltimore dentistry school, a vocation he followed for the rest of his life._____ . _____ Mullins typed these memoirs in 1932 to debunk the image of the cowboy in popular culture and detail the "drudgery, exposure and hard work" of the common cowboy in Wyoming._____ The resulting work was rejected by contemporary publishers._____ It lay dormant in the family until 1988 when a copy of the manuscript was discovered in the archive of the Wyoming State Historical Department and published under the title Pulling Leather._____ It was then hailed as a classic history of the Wyoming cattle industry, written in a literate and accurate manner. _____ This is an original manuscript for this important cowboy memoir._____ It consists of 240 sheets, 8.5 x 11", typed double-spaced on the rectos only._____ Bound, probably in the 1930s, with the title and the author's name, misspelled as "Mullens", in gilt on the front cover. _____ There are scattered typos throughout, corrected in pencil and type overs._____ Some of these were incorporated into the published book._____ The first three chapters here appear to have been conjoined and retitled in the published version._____ Chapters 30 and 31 here were melded together in the published book. _____ ._____This remarkable survivor came down within the Mullins family._____ Reuben Mullins had two sons Gifford (d.1983) and Robert (d.1984)._____ Gifford had had several children including one son Ronald, while Robert died without issue._____ This manuscript has an inscription on the front pastedown reading "For Ron / your Uncle Bob / would have wanted you to / have this Mullins biog(?) book / written by your Grandfather / Maxine(?) / 4/26/86." It was purchased, presumably from the Ronald Mullins family, in St. Louis County, Missouri, probably in the 2010s and later sold to us by that buyer. _____ Accompanied by six original photographs._____NUMBER 1_____ Four horse stage coach on a dirt road (4 x 7.75")._____ Written on the back "Taken near Cheyenne in 1884 / [signed?] Reuben B. Mullins." There is a 1/2" piece missing from the top edge, affecting only the sky. _____ This photo was included on page 14 of "Pulling Leather." . _____ NUMBERS 2 & 3._____ Two photos with card backings, 6 x 8.25"._____ These were originally cabinet cards but the unprinted margins of the backing cards have been removed._____ Each is rubber stamped on the rear by the Baltimore photographer._____ The first is of a large group of._____students in white lab coats._____ An arrow in pencil locates "Dad", obviously Mullins._____ The second is of the classroom with dentists chairs around the edge illuminated by windows._____ Again "Dad" is identified._____ In pencil on the rear of this one is "Dental Dept. University of / Md. / class 1904-1905.". _____ NUMBER 4._____ Small portrait photo, 5.5 x 4", of a young Mullins in fraternal uniform with sash and sword._____ This is probably Masonic as Mullins was a member once he left Wyoming._____ The photographer's imprint on the rear is from What Cheer, Iowa._____ Signed on the rear "R.B. Mullins / 1885.". _____ NUMBERS 5 & 6._____ Two photo portraits, 9 x 5.75", of an older Mullins again in full, and probably higher degree, Masonic uniform._____ The first is head and shoulders, the second is three-quarter length._____ Both were apparently removed from a scrapbook setting. Seller Inventory # R-45262
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