Local man captures history of oxen teamsters in new book

CENTREVILLE – Give Rob Collins credit for his diligence.

The Centreville resident recently completed a book that took nearly 10 years to finish.

Now, flush with additional sources and content, Collins is considering a follow-up to his March release: "On the Shoulders of Giants: Conversations With Oxen Teamsters."

Collins said the 300-page book is an oral history that started innocuously as content for a newsletter distributed to members of the Midwest Ox Drovers Association, a group for which Collins previously served as president.

“In 2014, I approached a couple different members at an event, I stuck a microphone in their face and asked a few questions … I soon realized everybody’s got a story and at that point I knew nobody was recording how people were working oxen,” he said. “So, I then started doing longer interviews.”

Collins, a government and English teacher at Centreville High School, submitted pieces to niche publications such as Rural Heritage Magazine and Small Farmer’s Journal. He said he was encouraged when they were published, which soon planted the idea for a book.

By 2016, Collins said he committed to making a book from content provided through interviews with oxen teamsters and people with expertise in handling oxen.

The book is presented in question-and-answer format and features anecdotes from 21 different oxen teamsters. Collins, 51, said four of those 21 have passed away since they were interviewed.

Sources came from all over the country and most interviews were conducted over the phone. Collins said one upside to COVID was the fact many of the people he sought for inclusion in the book were able to afford him the time.

“Dick Roosenberg, who founded Tillers International, was my first big interview,” Collins said. “I had about four hours of material from our conversation, he’s included in three different chapters.”

Another high-profile interview involved Luke Conner. Collins explained Conner works largely in movies, and any movie that involves a team of oxen is almost guaranteed to include Conner and feature his expertise in working with oxen.

Collins said he enjoyed interviewing a log farmer who relies on oxen to help move timber. Another subject is an organic farmer in California who runs his farm with oxen.

“Pretty much the rest of the people I interviewed are living-history professionals, folks who work at places such as Williamsburg, Barrington Plantation in Texas and Virginia Folklife Center,” Collins said. “My favorite interview was with a guy named John Scarlett. He had been a homesteader since the 1970s in northern New York. It was 2017 and he was dying of liver cancer, he had just sold his last ox and he was very reflective. He provided some really good content and from a really, really reflective point of view.”

When Collins finished adding content that would comprise the book, he said he was unaware of the dozens of hours that awaited editing and layout.

“Done was the first time someone asked me to sign a copy of the book,” he said. “That was a great feeling. It was a surreal feeling … famous people sign books; I’m not famous.”

With at least 20 additional people he has on his “to-be-interviewed” list, Collins said he is considering doing a serialized, annual release as a follow up to the book. He said such a publication would be about 75 pages and continue with the theme of the book.

"On the Shoulders of Giants: Conversations With Oxen Teamsters" is self-published and available through Amazon’s print-on-demand option. Hardcover is $37, soft cover sells for $25. Collins also has a supply of copies on hand.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Local man captures history of oxen teamsters in new book