Queensland historian and bush poet Jack Drake has launched his second volume of 'The Outback vs The Wild West: The Wild West in Australia and America'.

Published by CQU Press, commonly referred to as Outback Books, this sequel tells us about the fantastic journeys of Australian drovers compared with America's cattle drives.

We read about ‘Old Bluey’, Nat Buchanan, the world's greatest drover. We also learn about the longest dry stage ever when cattle travelled 200 kilometres without water, and other harrowing trips with stock on 2 continents.

Jack writes about the chilling conflicts and massacres on both continents as Indigenous peoples fought their hopeless and heroic battles against invading Europeans.

Australia had its freedom fighters like 'Bielbah' who incited 3 separate tribes to resist white takeover in a desperate fight to regain their lands. America has carved a mountain in the image of 'Crazy Horse', but few have ever heard of the Australian resistance fighters.

The women of the Outback and the Wild West appear in all their various guises - heroine, harlot, harpy, fellow-workers and loyal wives, adding colour, romance, spice and sometimes stability to some of the harshest regions in the world.

Memorable frontier females like Australia's Annie Oakley, Claudie Lakeland, the Cape York Sharpshooter, and the Eulo Queen take pride of place and are compared with western women of the Americas and the scandalous Lola Montez who entertained gold rushers in both Australia and California.

Volume 2 concludes with a look at the legends of Australia’s Outback and the myths of America’s Wild West.

Jack Drake lives in Stanthorpe and is by profession a horseman, saddler, farrier and bushman. He writes in his own down-to-earth style on a subject that has been his passion for over 40 years.

These stories are the result of thousands of hours of study on the comparative history of 2 wide open and lawless frontiers.

'The Outback vs The Wild West Volume 2' is available through www.outbackbooks.com for $33.95.

Photo: Author Jack Drake and CQU Press publisher Professor David Myers at the launch of The Outback vs The Wild West Volume 2.