By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A book about the life of a well-known Cedar Point rancher who died in December, co-authored with Kansas State University associate professor of history and director of the Chapman Center Bonnie Lynn-Sherow, is now for sale as a fundraiser for a Flint Hills ranching heritage education center.

“Sauble: Stories from the Flint Hills,” chronicles the life of natural-born storyteller Pat Sauble.

Pioneer Bluffs Center for Flint Hills Ranching Heritage north of Matfield Green is selling the books for $25 with all proceeds going to support the center. The book can be mailed for an additional $5.

“He was a natural storyteller,” said co-author Bonnie Lynn-Sherow. “He was highly practiced. He probably started telling stories as a child.”

Lynn-Sherow said she and Sauble began working on the book in 2017. She was inspired by a suggestion from Emporia author Jim Hoy.

“I just kept hearing Pat’s name everywhere I went,” Lynn-Sherow said. “It just seemed he kept showing up everywhere I went.”

She worked with Sauble to get his stories, then put them in chronological order.

“The best complement I’ve heard so far is, I’ve had several people tell me they hear Pat’s voice,” she said. “That’s a wonderful complement.”

Lynn Smith, executive director of Pioneer Bluffs, said people have told her reading the book is “like sitting across the table talking to him.”

Smith said one of her favorite quotes from Sauble is on raising children: “My dad said ‘If you try to tell ’em what to do they won’t amount to a damn. Let ’em do what they want to do, and they’ll amount to something.’ ”

“He was working until shortly before he died,” Smith said. “He accomplished so much in life.”

Smith said Sauble donated the first printing of books to Pioneer Bluffs, which she considers a special gift. Books are selling quickly, with only 30 left after having them in for a week. A second printing might be ordered.

“The money for the book is going to the same fund as his memorial funds, and is going to be used to create a special exhibit in Pat’s memory,” Smith said. “In talking with the family, everybody agrees it should be about chickens.”

At one point in Sauble’s life, during a drought that caused cattle profits to plummet, he raised 60,000 chickens to boost his income. Profits from three chickens equaled the profit from one cow.

Sauble’s grandfather, David Sauble, was one of the earliest settlers in the Flint Hills. The family ranch, DS Ranch, is the oldest continuously operating ranch in Kansas and among the oldest in the nation.

Sauble attended Kansas State University from 1939 to 1942, then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot. He transported troops from one end of the country to the other as World War II wound down.

He returned to the family ranch in 1946.

He became an outspoken conservationist when DS Ranch was threatened by condemnation for flood control.

To order the book, buyers can email Smith at lynn@pioneerbluffs.org, go to the Pioneer Bluffs web page and click on the donate portal and say the donation is for the purchase of a book, or mail a check to: 695 Kansas Highway 177, Matfield Green, KS 66862.