"Next time you steal a horse, you better not steal that one. He's the smartest horse in the world." That's what Johnny told a horse thief about Old Sam. Old Sam was smart, and he was fast, too, though with his disfigured back leg he didn't look like the thoroughbred-trotting champion he had once been.
Old Sam helped Johnny and his brother Lee stand up tall against the yardstick by which men were measured in the Dakota Territory of the 1880's. A man gained stature if he could deal fairly with his neighbors, take good care of a horse, live intimately with the rugged land and wisely handle a gun. These two stories, Old Sam, Thoroughbred Trotter and Old Sam and the Horse Thieves, are based on the author's true-life, homesteading experiences near the town now known as Ellendale, North Dakota.
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