The old "yaller" shirt by Ray Humphreys
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The old "yaller" shirt by Ray Humphreys is a Western short story written in the late 1920s. It centers on a rodeo bronc rider whose stubborn loyalty to a worn yellow shirt stirs conflict, tests character in the arena, and ultimately signals love and good fortune. A towering bronc buster, Thad Sowers, refuses his boss John O’Day’s order to replace his faded yellow silk shirt, even when threatened with dismissal. For his
supposed last ride, a rancher named Bernard Harley brings a notorious gray outlaw and insists the “man in the yaller shirt” ride it. Thad endures a brutal, spectacular bucking battle; the horse twice smashes into the rail, breaks its neck, and dies, while Thad, already badly hurt with a broken leg and ribs, never quits the saddle. Harley admits the bronc was tormented to hate yellow. Shaken, O’Day retracts the firing, pledges Thad a permanent place—and the right to wear the shirt. It’s then revealed the shirt was a good-luck gift from O’Day’s daughter, June; the two declare their love as the doctor assures Thad will live. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Humphreys, Ray |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Eggenhofer, Nicholas, 1897-1985 |
| Illustrator | Soare, William Fulton, 1896-1940 |
| Title | The old "yaller" shirt |
| Original Publication | New York: Climax Publishing Corporation, 1927. |
| Series Title | Produced from the August 1927 issue of Cowboy Stories magazine. |
| Credits | Prepared by volunteers at BookCove (bookcove.net) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | Western stories |
| Subject | Love stories |
| Subject | Colorado -- Fiction |
| Subject | Rodeos -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78412 |
| Release Date | Apr 10, 2026 |
| Last Update | Apr 12, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 333 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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