Customer Reviews

Let the Cowboy Ride: Cattle Ranching in the American West (Creating the North American Landscape)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I came across this book while doing research about ranching in the American West -- this book is by far the most interesting, comprehensive and well-written book about the cattle industry that I've found.

Starrs knows ranching. He worked for six seasons as a cowhand before going to graduate school. He's now a professor of geography at the University of Nevada, and writes extensively on ranching and the West. This book reflects that knowledge, and is full of both factual material and analytical insights into the rural West.

Unfortunately, it's often weirdly organized. The chapters don't tell a chronological story, and they don't really organize around an analytical story. There's a group of chapters on "legacy" at the start and a group on the "future" at the end, with case studies of five counties in the middle. But the "future" chapters include a lot of the past, and the "legacy" chapters mix history, lifestyle, politics, geography, and literature reviews in ways that I never could sort out in my mind. The best single chapter, with an overview of his major themes, was Chapter 4. That's an odd place to put your overview.

The presentation could also be better oriented to the reader. For example, Starrs will refer to something, like the Kincaid Act or the Spanish Mesta, without defining it. Then, dozens of pages later after the initial reference, the object may (or may not) be explained. There is a glossary at the end, if you happen to notice it - - but here, as in many books, a glossary is a substitute for thinking through the best way to present the material so that the reader doesn't need a glossary.

Starrs is at his best when he's not trying to wrestle with the general, but instead telling stories about specific places. His five chapters on western counties are very interesting. He's selected these well, with a mix of landholding patterns, ethnic make-ups, and histories. You'll emerge from each of these chapters with a strong sense of place, and with a good sense of how to compare these counties with one another. Those middle chapters deserve at least four stars. Alas, the strangely-organized presentation of the (albeit interesting) material before and after them drags the book down.

Excellent academic look at the cultural evolution of ranching, from the Spanish entry to North America until modern times. Illustrates why ranching is important as a culture and livelihood, and, at its best, a sustainable and productive way to manage landscapes.

This book was written by a professor at the University of Nevada and is aimed towards the academically inclined. After weighing the various policy considerations of range management, it fails to reach a convincing conclusion. Government regulation is not the evil policy envisioned by the author, and is preferable than letting be set ad hoc by self-interested red neck cowboys.