Old Fences, New Neighbors

by Peter R. Decker

A look at the changing culture and evolution of the American West through the perspective of ranching.

216 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

Peter Decker received a Ph.D. in American History from Columbia University, and taught at both Columbia and Duke University. After relocating to Colorado, he served as Commissioner of Higher Education, Commissioner of Agriculture, and a Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Denver. In addition to scholarly publications about the history of the West, Decker self-published Saving the West, a satirical novel. Decker makes his home on a ranch in Colorado.

Reviews

[Tami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Living in western Colorado, we see the cultural changes occurring between the old time rancher families and all of us who have moved to the area for it’s beauty, clear skies and lack of traffic plus just a simpler existence. This books documents how that transition happened in a community north of us - Ouray County which includes the towns of Ouray and Ridgeway. I haven’t found the similar story of our area (Durango,CO) but am guessing it’s out there, and the tale will mirror Mr. Decker’s experience ranching in Ridgeway.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is part memoir, part a history of Ouray County, CO (especially Ridgway and surrounding communities). The history is super interesting. The author is not actually originally from the area (this is ironic), but he seems to have paid his dues as a cattle rancher for about 20 years. He talks about the area's history, first with Native Americans (mainly Utes) then with the early miners and, eventually, farmers/ranchers. He talks about how agricultural life has changed in the Uncompahgre Valley, and particularly how the influx of outsiders from cities has changed things, and for most of the book he has a pretty nuanced take on the changes (for example, he praises those outsiders, like Ralph Lauren, who have bought lots of land but kept it as a working ranch and been good neighbors).

The book is pretty good, though the last few chapters are basically a long rant about how bad it is that wealthy people from cities have moved into the county. Of course, this creates a lot of pecuniary externalities that can have mixed effects on the welfare of incumbent locals. I'm sympathetic to the author, but also, it seems that he and a lot of locals don't want to take responsibility for their own decisions to sell their own ranch land for lots of money. Nobody forces them to sell! The author himself sold.

Separately, there is also an underlying theme of books like this that is basically the author arguing that the conversion of farm and ranch land into housing or recreational land is a risk to the food supply. There's a lot of contempt for city people with a sort of "they don't understand that they'll starve without us" assertion. But we know from the data, actually, that small family farms are extremely inefficient; we could feed everyone with a lot fewer inputs if more farming and ranching were done by large companies on large plots of land in ideal climates. It doesn't seem to me that mountain valleys are likely to be the most efficient places to raise cattle and crops, and it's probably only still happening because small farming and ranching is so heavily subsidized by the government (through direct subsidies and also indirect subsidies, like the federal water infrastructure without which the Uncompahgre Valley would have far less farming and ranching). From the standpoint of feeding people, it probably makes more sense to have Cargill doing most of it in Kansas.

That said, we do lose something when communities become uneconomical for farming. I don't know what the answer is. I'm just saying the complaining annoys me. And, I can do without the steady flow of contempt for people from other places. Having spent a lot of time in both rural and urban/coastal areas, I've seen plenty of contempt going both directions; but nothing matches the contempt rural folks have for city folks. It's really not a good look.

Anyway, if you are from the area, you will enjoy this book. The things I'm criticizing are concentrated in the last couple of chapters; prior to those, I learned a lot.

[Penny Jansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting although a little repetitive towards the end. Having grown up in Western Colorado, it was interesting to view the growth from the eyes of a relative newcomer from 1974. It was also interesting because I knew, or knew of, many of the ranchers mentioned in this book. The setting is very familiar.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, concise observation of the evolution of life around Ouray County, CO. Not preachy or
judgemental. Allows the reader to reflect on their own role and experiences in this evolution of life in the US West

[Pj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came to Colorado in '76 and after various life happenings..I'm back.(2012) This book spoke to the changing culture of a wonderful place in Colorado that has gone through the change from homesteading of old to the current yuppie type (for a lack of better word) homesteading of today....though differently, certainly more materialistic, the drive to 'homestead' is still in us all?

One subject I was thinking about while reading was the top large landowners of Colorado (among other states) who have put their land into conservation easements....and what 'exactly' does that mean!? (Oct. article in Forbes magazine)

Speaking of which the culture that has changed even in Forbes Park (yes, one of the same) where my parents have lived from '84 to now. Back in '84 it was 'live and let live' now with increased cost...tons of signs, increased watchfulness (not nec. needed), building out-buildings for meetings (2)...why not use peoples homes? ect.