Edward Charles Abbott

AKA: E.C. Abbott "Teddy Blue"

Born 1860-12-17 Cranwich Hall, Norfolk County (England)

Died 1939-04-07
Giltedge, MT (USA)

Buried
Fort Maginnis Cemetery, Giltedge, MT (USA)

Born in England, E.C. "Teddy Blue" Abbott came to the United States with his father in 1871, and the family bought cattle in Texas and drove the herd to Nebraska where they settled on a farm near Lincoln. Abbott's father, who he described as tyrannical, wanted him to become a farmer, but he was only interested in becoming a cowboy. He left the farm at age 16 to join a cattle drive and become a working cowboy. Eventually he settled in Montana, marrying the daughter of one of his rancher employers, and thereby becoming a rancher himself. He became a prominent member of the Montana ranching community. Abbott's memoir and only book, We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher, was a collaborative effort with the Montana journalist Helena Huntington Smith, who became convinced that his stories deserved to be preserved after interviewing him for a local newspaper article. Abbott died only a few days after the publication of the memoir.

Places Lived

Lincoln, NE
Giltedge, MT

Author Of

Biography

Keywords

Cowboy Memoirs; Ranching History; Cattle Drives

Bibliography

We Pointed Them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher. 1938. (with Helena Huntington Smith)

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