From Publishers Weekly
Hedges, himself a working "buckaroo," spins a colorful yarn about 20th-century cowboys reminiscent of The Rounders. Narrator Tap McCoy is getting old. When he rolls into Denmar, a dot of a town on the Arizona highway, he just wants a haircut and a drink. But one drink turns into many, and the next thing he knows he's waking up in a strange room with a "scary" looking woman at his side and his boss's hands around his throat, seeking revenge for Tap's having damaged his truck during the bender. Fired, Tap is picked up by Dean McCuen, a young drugstore cowboy from back East who soon picks a fight that sends both him and Tap to jail. Dean pays his fine and is released, but Tap decides to stay behind bars to separate himself from his new "friend." When he gets out, he takes a job with a pack outfit that specializes in "real West" adventures for eager tourists-and there, in the next bunk, is Dean. The pair's further escapades-drinking, fighting, riding, rodeoing-fill out the remainder of this rollicking, affectionate novel. Appealing characters and an appropriately salty style make this a pleasure. A glossary of cowboy terms is included as an aid to the uninitiated. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Last Buckaroo: Winner of the National Cowboy Symposium Working Cowboy Award and the Mormon Letter Fiction Award.

Most Cowboy stories are written by "western writers." Less commonly you will find cowboy stories written by a literate cowboy. Big difference." - Baxter Black, cowboy poet and author of the novel, Hey, Cowboy, Wanna get Lucky?

Authentic buckaroo Mackey Hedges has written the western novel, the buckaroo's own version of what goes on in cow camps, ranches, pack stations, feedlots and trails of the west. Through the persona of Tap McCoy, larger-than-life narrator, tales of bucking broncos, a horse falling into and hanging upside down from the branches of a pine, eccentric cowboys who pull knives at the drop of a hat, barroom brawls, drunken cowboys dancing atop tables, spontaneous rodeos, and horse wrecks are spun. A cast of bizarrely real characters parade through the exploits of Tap and Dean. Practical jokers, stoic Indians, burly, reclusive buckaroos, egomaniacs, and brothel madams - all sides of human nature are examined through the unrelenting yet forgiving eyes of Tap McCoy. "This is a side of the West that only buckaroos have known in the past - rollicking, gritty, wacky, dusty, dangerous, nerve-wracking" - TRUE WEST Magazine

"Only a real buckaroo could have written this rollicking story, which reads like a campfire tale told over a fifth of whiskey or a case of beer. It is rich in the characters of the contemporary West, in the detail of ranch and camp life, and in the rugged society of the roadside bar and small-town jail"---Elmer Kelton, author of Stand Proud, The Man Who Rode Midnight, The Day the Cowboys Quit, and The Good Old Boys, now a hit TNT movie.

"Last Buckaroo was a joy to read. It held my interest to the point of not being able to put it down except to get some sleep." Alvin Davis, President, American Cowboy Culture Association, and President , Western Music Association -1995

In the unvarnished prose of Mackey Hedges, the life of real cowboys on cattle ranches, pack stations, and feed lots of the fading traditional West is deglamorized, but not denatured." The Salt Lake Tribune

Tap McCoy--a renegade, drifter, loner, and well-seasoned cowboy--can't shake tag-along greenhorn Dean McKuen, who has decided that Tap will be his mentor. What follows is a rousin', ramblin' tale of their exploits as they ride, rope, brand, and herd their way through ranches all over the West. It's also a tale of camaraderie and carousing as the two get thrown from their horses, get thrown in jail, save lives, see deaths, fight cowboys, and light up the pages with their escapades. "Appealing characters and an appropriately salty style make this a pleasure."--PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

"I enjoyed this book because cowboying has been my life"--Rex Allen

"When you start reading this book, if you're like me, you can't put it down."--Snuff Garrett.

Mac Hedges is a National Treasure!!!
Letter from Susan M. Sheldrake (Sacramento, CA)
I first met Mac Hedges in July of 1999 when I got a flat tire way up on the Summit Lake Indian Reservation in the northwest corner of Nevada. I'm a rockhound and was on my way from digging for fire opals in the Virgin Valley to hammering away at boulder opal in the Black Rock Desert.

The shortest route between the two places is straight up and over the hills-as the crow flies. Naturally, since only the crows are crazy enough to take this route, the road is the worse for wear. Hence the flat tire. Oh-did I mention it was pouring sheets of rain at the time and the wind was so strong it was near impossible to stand up to it. Well, it was.
And cold, too. The nearest hub of civilization was either back in Denio, 50 arduous miles behind me, or in Gerlach, an even more arduous and soggy 70 miles ahead.

It was then that I remembered the guest ranch at the base of the hills. This would be Soldier Meadows Guest Ranch in the far northern reaches of the Black Rock Desert-the domain of Mac and Candi Hedges. Two of the finest, most hospitable folks I have ever met.

Once the spare tire was on and the back of the truck was repacked, I headed off in search of the ranch. Mac and Candi welcomed me, topped off my spare and allowed me and my dog to stay the night. It was at that first dinner at the ranch that I experienced the phenomenal story-telling abilities of Mac Hedges.

Once the spare tire was on and the back of the truck was repacked, I headed off in search of the ranch. Mac and Candi welcomed me, topped off my spare and allowed me and my dog to stay the night. It was at that first dinner at the ranch that I experienced the phenomenal story-telling abilities of Mac Hedges.

He comes in right off the range and hangs his hat on a peg inside the door. Then he clomps around the dining room in his boots and chattering spurs and piles the food high on his plate. He takes his seat at the head of the table and checks in with each and every person there. What did y'all do today? Where'd ya go? Did you see this? Did you do that? And then the story telling begins. His brilliant blue eyes just dance and sparkle with the sheer joy and humor of the stories he tells. Every one of us at the table is entranced and fully absorbed into his special world. He soon has us all in stitches and rolling on the floor with the antics of his cowboy life.

I have since returned to the ranch and dinnertime is always the highlight of the day. With all the stories I have heard Mac tell, he has never repeated a single one and not a one of them appears in this book. Mac-this book is TERRIFIC and I hope you sell a million of them. I hope you get a movie made of it some day, too. You are truly a National Treasure and should be recognized as such. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys life and looks to live it to its fullest, because that's what this book is all about.

Born a Hundred Years Too Late, a student of the old fashioned ways, Barnes and Nobel Reviewer09/30/2002

Mackey Hedges makes it evident with the little details that he includes in his book, the ones that only those who have done the same work would pick out, that he knows what he talking about, and has actually been in the same situation. This book is for those of us who have grown up in the working cowboy environment and who really appriciate a good wreck, which is a must seein' how that's pretty much what this book is; a book of wrecks. Mackey Hedges goes beyond the romanticized west to bring readers the real story behind the saddle tramps that used to be found all over the west. The story of Tap and Dean takes a look into the life of a couple of the last real buckaroos, and follows the path Dean takes, with Tap as his mentor, to become one the elite old fashioned hands of the west.

CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!, October 26, 2000
Reviewer: An Amazon Reader
Finally, a "real cowboy" story by a real cowboy. None of this make-believe Hollywood bull-puckey here! Having ridden in the same saddle as Hedges many years ago, it is refreshing to read a well-written and true-to-life tale of two migrant buckaroos as they work and play in some of the most beautiful and off-the-beaten paths in the Great American West. One of the few books that makes me laugh out loud! A must for any serious WESTERN fan (Never use country and WESTERN in the same sentence!). A tip of the ol'Stetson to Mackey Hedges. Here's to the next book!

Last Buckaroo, March 9, 2000
Reviewer: An Amazon reader
It seems so rare that you come across a book suitable for all ages. Last Buckaroo has no bad language and no torrid sex. It's simply a funny book that almost anyone can enjoy. I also liked the glossary in the back for us city folks who are not use to a lot of the Western terminology.

Entertaining, Funny, best book ever, March 8, 1999
Reviewer: An Amazon reader
Mackey Hedges takes you into a world that most of us could never do or even experience, yet he makes you feel like your right there. His tails of the overzealous young Dean and the wild and woolly Tap kept me in stitches for days. As my husband read the book he would call to me to read to him because he was laughing to hard and his eyes were watering. I wish I could read more books like this. Am ordering five copies for my friends. A book like that I could never lend out.

Great book. Funny, Fast Reading and Impossible to Put Down, June 5, 1999
Reviewer: An Amazon reader
I bought this book two years ago for a father's day present. My father read it and has been rantin' and ravin' about it ever since so I thought I would buy myself a copy. I began reading and couldn't put it down. The story telling is fantastic and I was continually laughing out loud at the witty dialogue and wild antics of the characters. I highly recommend this book. One of my favorites.

This is one of the best books I've ever read describing the day-to-day, real-life work of cowboys. There is something of a story to follow in this novel, but once you get past the fairly far-fetched antics at the beginning, you're treated to an informative description of what it's like moving from one ranch job to the next -- each time getting used to a new boss, a new bunch of cowboys and horses, and the conditions of various kinds of ranch operations and cow camps in various seasons of the year. There are a few digressions, as Tap the narrator in his sixties recalls adventures from earlier times. Mostly it's the absorbing accounts of working cowboys who seem completely real, like they could walk right off the page.

The novel is set in the Great Basin of the West, so the lingo, the gear and the cowboy way are all buckaroo-style, harking back to the vaqueros from old California. The terrain is mostly Nevada and Oregon. In northern California the two heroes take jobs packing dudes into the mountains. Later they settle down for a while working in a huge feedlot operation. There's also a side trip to Arizona, where our boys fetch up with an outfit of Apache Indians, and the author explores in fascinating detail the uneasy relationship between white cowboys and their Native American counterparts.

It's also a story of friendship, as old-timer Tap acquires a young, greenhorn sidekick, Dean, who knows kickboxing but not much about what it takes to be a cowboy. Over the seasons and years, the boy learns a great deal, giving the reader a chance to learn some things along with him. The author captures the romance of cowboying without denying the discomforts, the dangers and risk of accident and injury, and the potential for conflict between men who don't get along. The novel is punctuated with several violent fights, and there are two or three accounts of accidents sending cowboys to hospital emergency rooms.

This book was a great pleasure to read. I'm happy to recommend it to anyone with an interest in cowboying, ranching, and the West. By Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles)