I'm not quite sure how I stumbled upon Barbed Wire: the Fence That Changed the West, by Joanne S. Liu, but I did, and I'd glad! It's a well written history of something that changed lives and livelihoods dramatically for everyone from the native peoples, to the ranchers, the cows, to how the cattle were managed and brought to market. The impact was huge. In the past fences were made of wood or stone, but these were rare in the west, and the area to be covered vast, making those options extremely expensive. Barbed first showed up in France, and there were a two or three designs from there. (There are all kinds of variations on the 'barb'). At first it was made by hand (just thinking about that made my hands hurt). It was sold door to door. Even then it was considered inhumane, and, it was subject to lightning strikes. All in all, just a fascinating read ... and all the while a few lines from the musical Oklahoma! by Rodgers and Hammerstein ran through my mind. (From The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends) (about the cowman, two singers) "He come out west made a lot of changes." "He come out west and built a lot of fences! And built 'em right acrost our cattle ranges!"

When Aime Tschiffely gave a lecture about his ride from Argentina to Washington, D.C. Ana Beker was in the audience that day and it inspired her to take her own long distance ride. She was a woman, well, a girl, according to the male dominated society she grew up in, and certainly would be unable to undertake such a journey! (The men she challenged to come along turned her down, and even Tschiffely didn't think she could do it). Her ride took her from Buenos Aires to Ottawa. The Courage to Ride: One Woman's 17,000-mile Mounted Odyssey From Argentina to Canada, by Ana Beker is the story of that ride. A fascinating read!

Reading Hermit With Dog