With this, the first of three volumes, Roy R. Moore, Jr. describes his life as a young man trying to live up to the standards set by his parents. His father homesteaded in Wyoming, built a cabin and became the leading seller of purebred rams for sheep ranchers throughout Wyoming. He documents his father's struggles in early Idaho, before it became a state. Roy's mother was daughter of a successful Canadian breeder of horses and sheep, who imported the first large trainload of bucks for sale in the western United States. Roy senior branched into raising cattle, and young Roy learned to be a cowboy. The family bought a ranch near Rock Springs, Wyoming. Young Roy relates his experiences learning to be a cowboy and then his education at Colorado State University learning the modern ways of the livestock industry. As he grows into adulthood, Roy begins to meld his father's teachings about salesmanship, honesty, and hard work with contemporary techniques of trading and finance. This volume sets the stage for the next books in the series describing Roy's maverick approaches to a wide variety of business endeavors.