6000 Miles of Fence: Life on the XIT Ranch of Texas

Cordia Sloan Duke, Joe B. Frantz

ISBN 10: 0292775644 / ISBN 13: 9780292775640

Published by University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, 2002

About this Item

U of Texas Press, Austin, TX. 2002. Softcover/Trade Wraps. Stated 7th Printing of the softcover. Book is tight, square, and unmarked. Number One of the M.K. Brown Range Life Series. Book Condition: Near Fine; tip bump on front; slight rubbing. No DJ. Pictorial card stock wraps. Wraps are not bent or folded; spine is not creased or split; text is secure in binding. 231 pp 8vo. This book on the XIT ranch is based on the recorded details of the wife of Robert L. Duke, a XIT division manager. Mrs. Duke set about interviewing and drawing the words from reticent, sometimes reluctant, ranch hands the impressions of the XIT which they had retained through the years. A clean pristine copy.

Seller Inventory # 001993

Bibliographic Details

• Title: 6000 Miles of Fence: Life on the XIT Ranch of Texas
• Publisher: University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0292775644
• ISBN 13: 9780292775640
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 5th or later Printin
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Southwestern History
  • Regional Histories
  • Ranching, cattle ranches, farming, rural life

About this title

Synopsis

The fabulous XIT Ranch has been celebrated in song, story, and serious history. This book of reminiscences of old XIT cowmen puts on record the everyday life of the individuals who made the ranch run. Their forthright, yet picturesque, discussion of ranching hardships and dangers dissipates Hollywood and TV glamorizing. They relate in honest cowboy language what actually happened inside the XIT's 6,000 miles of fence.

Cordia Sloan Duke, wife of an XIT division manager, Robert L. Duke, many years ago realized that only those who had experienced ranch life could depict it with deep understanding. As the young wife of a rising young ranch hand, she kept in her apron pocket a notebook and pencil, recording all manner of interesting details as they caught her attention. This diary was the nucleus for the present book. Conceiving of an account of life on the XIT as presented by XIT cowboys, Mrs. Duke set about drawing from reticent, sometimes reluctant, ranch hands the impressions of the XIT (occasionally written down by their more literate wives or daughters) which they had retained through the years. Cordia Sloan Duke and Joe B. Frantz have organized the reminiscences around key aspects of ranch life, retaining the language of the cow hands.

About the Author

Cordia Sloan Duke (1877–1966) contributed several articles to The Cattleman.

Joe B. Frantz (1917–1993) was holder of the Walter Prescott Webb Chair in History at the University of Texas in Austin.