6,000 Miles of Fence

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. During her years as a ranch wife, Cordia Sloan Duke wrote a diary; excerpts from her written recordings are here brought together with the reminiscences of the ranch hands. Their forthright, yet picturesque, discussion of ranching hardships and dangers dissipates Hollywood and TV glamorizing, and instead they relate in honest cowboy language what actually happened inside the XIT's 6,000 miles of fence.