In the freewheeling days of the open range, a group of English gentlemen saw and seized a unique opportunity to graze huge herds of cattle free of charge on public lands in the unsettled American West. The fledgling railroad system would carry their stock to market in Chicago or through Canada to England, where the beef would fetch commanding prices. Cattle companies were swiftly formed, their boards of directors bristling with peers of the realm who were prepared to invest enormous sums into the venture. These British gentlemen went into business on a truly imperial scale -- some American "ranches" were as large as three million acres -- and for a time reaped handsome profits, until a series of reverses and the gradual settlement of the West brought the free-range era to an unexpected end. In the first full account of this little-known chapter of American history, Lawrence M. Woods provides a deft and winning portrait of an eccentric cast of characters -- a highly improbable colony composed of second sons, adventurers and sportsmen, and a few very black sheep. Woods artfully contrasts the often harsh lot of the ordinary cowpoke with the luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by members of the exclusive Cheyenne Club, where gentlemen dined on fresh oysters, smoked fine cigars, and toasted their guests -- among them Oscar Wilde and Lillie Langtry -- with imported French champagne. He also gives a fascinating introduction to the free-range cattle industry, a quintessentially American enterprise about which, thanks to the Hollywood version, not much is really known. - Jacket flap.