A ""natural"" for the West and Southwest, this record of the cattle industry of this country. From Cortez and the first cattle, on through the days of the Mexican vaquero to the modern cowbody and dude wrangler, Paul Wellman traces the history and personalities of the Western cattle country. He shows the changing West, dating from the barbed wire fences and the sheepmen, the new laws regarding water rights and he brings his tale down to the last ignominy, the duderanches.