Barbed Wire

Barbed Wire by Elmer Kelton (1957)

Reader's Annotation

Doug Monahan vows revenge when an open-range cattle rancher and his brutal foreman burn his barbed wire fencing operation and kill his oldest friend.

Summary

Doug Monahan just wants to make a living putting up barbed wire fencing, but Captain Andrew Rinehart, owner of the biggest ranch in Kiowa County, wants the land to remain open range. When Rinehart's men burn Doug's fencing operation and  kills Doug's oldest friend, he vows revenge. A lot of struggling small-time farmers and ranchers in the county would like to use Doug's barbed wire to keep free-range cattle off their land, but only one, Noah Wheeler, is willing to stand up to Rinehart's intimidation. Together Doug Monahan's crew and the Wheeler family build their fence despite the worst that Reinhart and his men can do.

Evaluation

This is an old-style Western in the tradition of Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. It's one my father would have liked: hard-working heroes, no sex or foul language, violence that isn't too excessive. I enjoyed its treatment of the traditional Western theme of the rule of law versus the rule of strength and found it an interesting look at the changes that barbed wire brought to the Texas range lands.

Genres: Western
Subgenres: Cowboys